[Federal Register: December 3, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 232)] [Notices] [Page 66816] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr03de98-70] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Office of Community Oriented Policing Services; FY 1999 Community Policing Discretionary Grants AGENCY: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, Department of Justice. ACTION: Notice of availability. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (``COPS'') announces a new grant program, COPS in Schools, designed to combat school violence by helping local law enforcement agencies hire community policing officers to work in schools. This program provides an incentive for law enforcement agencies to build working relationships with schools and to use community policing efforts to combat school violence. The COPS in Schools program will help reduce the local match requirement for local law enforcement agencies seeking to hire additional new officers to be used in or around schools. DATES: Use the Universal Hiring Program application to apply for COPS in Schools grants. The application deadlines are December 4, 1998, February 5, April 2, June 4 and July 16, 1999. If your agency already was awarded a FAST, AHEAD or UHP grant, you may request additional officers at any time. Note on your application if you are requesting officers that will be assigned to primary or secondary schools. ADDRESSES: To obtain a copy of an application or for more information, please call the U.S. Department of Justice Response Center at 1-800- 421-6770 or (202) 307-1480, or visit the COPS web site at http:// www.usdoj.gov/cops/. Departments that have a pending application under the Universal Hiring Program that are interested in applying that request to the COPS in Schools initiative should contact their grant advisor at 1-800-421- 6770. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The U.S. Department of Justice Response Center, (202) 307-1480 or 1- 800-421-6770 or your grant advisor. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Overview The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Pub. L. 103-322) authorizes the Department of Justice to make grants to increase deployment of law enforcement officers devoted to community policing on the streets and rural routes in this nation. The COPS in Schools program is specifically designed to combat school violence. Many communities are discovering that trained, sworn Law enforcement officers assigned to schools make a difference. The presence of these officers provide schools with on-site security and a direct link to local law enforcement agencies. Community policing officers typically perform a variety of functions within the school including, teaching crime prevention and substance-abuse classes, monitoring troubled students, and building respect for law enforcement among students. School Resource Officers combine the functions of law enforcement and education. To help hire community policing officers to work in schools, the COPS Office is offering up to $60 million to local law enforcement agencies. The COPS in Schools initiative provides an incentive for law enforcement agencies to build working relationships with schools to use community policing efforts to combat school violence. The COPS in Schools initiative reduces the local match requirement for law enforcement agencies seeking to hire additional officers in and around schools. Grants will be awarded to provide for a designated portion of the salary and benefits of each new officer over three years. The maximum is $125,000 per officer; any remainder is paid with state or local funds. Funding begins when new officers are hired or on the award date (whichever is later). Funds are distributed over the course of the grant. COPS grants must not replace funds that eligible agencies otherwise would have devoted to hire officers in the future. In other words, any hiring under the COPS in Schools program must be in addition to, not in lieu of, officers that otherwise would have been hired. Grant recipients must develop a written plan to retain their COPS-funded officer positions after Federal funding ends. This plan must be submitted with the application. To be eligible to receive funding under this grant program, applicants must be eligible to receive funding under the current guidelines established for the Universal Hiring Program (UHP). UHP guidelines are available from the U.S. Department of Justice Response Center. Applicants must also provide assurance that the officers employed under this program will be assigned to work in primary or secondary schools and must enter into a partnership agreement with either a specific school official or with an official with general educational oversight authority in that jurisdiction. In addition to these general program requirements, agencies seeking funding under this program will be asked to provide supporting documentation in the following areas: problem identification and justification, community policing strategies to be used by the officers, quality and level of commitment to the effort, and the link to community policing. An award under the COPS in Schools grant program will not affect the eligibility of an agency to receive awards under any other COPS program. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) reference for this program is 16.710. Dated: November 20, 1998. Joseph E. Brann, Director. [FR Doc. 98-32198 Filed 12-2-98; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4410-AT-M