BJA FY24 National Initiatives: Law Enforcement Training and Technical Assistance | O BJA 2024 172189

Opportunity Information: Apply for O BJA 2024 172189

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is offering a discretionary funding opportunity titled "BJA FY24 National Initiatives: Law Enforcement Training and Technical Assistance" (Funding Opportunity Number: O-BJA-2024-172189). The award mechanism is a cooperative agreement, which usually means BJA expects to have an active role in shaping or coordinating the work during the project period rather than simply issuing a grant and stepping back. The opportunity sits in the Law, Justice, and Legal Services funding area and is listed under CFDA 16.738. The solicitation was created on June 25, 2024, and the original application deadline was August 5, 2024.

The overall purpose of the solicitation is to fund four separate national training and technical assistance (TTA) programs that provide support to law enforcement and broader criminal justice stakeholders. In practical terms, the funded programs are expected to deliver nationally scoped training, resources, and hands-on assistance that helps agencies strengthen operations, build capacity, and implement evidence-based criminal justice approaches. BJA is structuring the work into four categories, each representing a distinct national initiative: (1) Task Force Leadership, Operations and Management; (2) Specialized Units TTA; (3) Crime Gun Intelligence Center TTA; and (4) Police Recruiting and Retention Among Underrepresented Groups. An applicant would generally apply in relation to one of these categories, with the goal of operating as a national hub for expertise, training delivery, and ongoing technical assistance.

Category 1 focuses on task force leadership, operations, and management. This area typically covers the nuts and bolts of how multi-agency task forces are run, including governance structures, operational planning, supervision, information sharing, partnership coordination, performance measurement, and managing risk and compliance. A national TTA provider in this category would be expected to help task force leaders and participating agencies improve effectiveness and accountability through standardized practices, training curricula, and problem-solving support tailored to real-world operational challenges.

Category 2 is "Specialized Units TTA," and the solicitation highlights additional eligibility limitations for this category. The intent here is to support agencies that operate specialized law enforcement units by providing training and technical assistance aligned with evidence-based criminal justice programs. Depending on how BJA defines "specialized units" in the full solicitation, this can include units focused on particular crime problems, investigative functions, community engagement strategies, or other targeted operational missions that require advanced skills, policies, and oversight. The Category 2 TTA provider would typically be expected to translate proven approaches into practical guidance, help agencies assess their unit structures and practices, and offer implementation support that improves consistency, effectiveness, and adherence to best practices.

Category 3 supports Crime Gun Intelligence Center (CGIC) TTA. CGIC work generally centers on improving how law enforcement and partners collect, analyze, and act on gun crime intelligence to disrupt violent crime patterns. A national TTA provider in this category would likely support participating jurisdictions in building or strengthening processes that connect investigative leads, forensic and ballistic information, and interagency coordination. The emphasis is commonly on improving timeliness and coordination so that intelligence leads to actionable investigations, better case outcomes, and more strategic violence reduction efforts.

Category 4 addresses police recruiting and retention among underrepresented groups. This category is aimed at helping agencies broaden and diversify applicant pipelines, reduce barriers that discourage qualified candidates, and improve retention through organizational practices that support career development and workplace culture. A national TTA program here would typically provide tools, promising practices, training, and implementation support to help agencies design recruitment strategies, strengthen community outreach, update hiring processes, and improve retention efforts in ways that are measurable and sustainable.

Funding-wise, BJA expects to make four awards total, aligning with the four national TTA programs described. The award ceiling is $1,000,000, indicating that awards can be up to that amount (though final amounts depend on BJA decisions and the strength and scope of proposed work). Because the solicitation anticipates four awards, the competitive landscape is likely to be selective, with an emphasis on applicants demonstrating national reach, strong subject-matter expertise, and the ability to deliver high-quality training and technical assistance at scale.

Eligibility is broad overall and includes public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, federally recognized tribal governments, tribal organizations, nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education), for-profit organizations (including those other than small businesses), small businesses, and other entities as allowed under the solicitation. However, for Category 2 specifically, the opportunity states that only national nonprofit organizations, for-profit (commercial) organizations (including tribal nonprofit or for-profit organizations), and institutions of higher education (including tribal institutions of higher education) are eligible, and they must have expertise and experience managing training and technical assistance for evidence-based criminal justice programs. This Category 2 limitation is important because it narrows the field compared to the broader eligibility list and signals that BJA wants organizations with demonstrated, national-level capacity to run structured TTA programs rather than purely local or single-jurisdiction efforts.

In summary, this BJA solicitation funds four national-level TTA providers to strengthen law enforcement and criminal justice practices in task force management, specialized unit support, crime gun intelligence center implementation, and recruiting/retention strategies focused on underrepresented groups. Awards are cooperative agreements with up to $1,000,000 per award, with four awards expected, and a key special rule is that Category 2 applicants must be national organizations (nonprofit, for-profit, or higher education) with a track record managing evidence-based criminal justice TTA.

• The Bureau of Justice Assistance in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJA FY24 National Initiatives: Law Enforcement Training and Technical Assistance" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.738.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-06-25.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-08-05. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

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