FY25 COPS Blue Alert Program

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The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office, https://cops.usdoj.gov is pleased to announce that it is seeking applications for funding for the FY25 COPS Blue Alert program. In 2015, Congress passed the Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu National Blue Alert Act, named in honor of two New York City police officers killed in an ambush attack on December 20, 2014. The act directs the Department of Justice (DOJ) to establish a voluntary nationwide system to give authorities an early warning of threats against law enforcement and to aid in the apprehension of suspects who have killed or seriously injured an officer or deputy, and finding an officer when they are missing in connection with their official duties. In 2016, the COPS Office was given the honor of implementing the act and established the National Blue Alert Network. The primary objectives of the cooperative agreement to be funded under this notice of funding opportunity are to support states participating in the National Blue Alert Network and to raise awareness, educate, and inform non-Blue Alert states of the Blue Alert Network (e.g., production of an educational video, factsheets, newsletters, presentations, etc.), provide monthly summaries of Blue Alert activations throughout the country, including detailed accounts of heroism involving Blue Alert events, and research, gather, and compile accurate and timely information, from credible sources, about all reported incidents where on duty law enforcement throughout the United States, territories, and tribal lands are shot in the line of duty. The COPS Office welcomes applications under which two or more entities would carry out the federal award; however, only one entity may be the applicant. Any other entities carrying out the federal award must be identified as proposed sub recipients. The applicant must be the entity that would have primary responsibility for carrying out the awards, including administering the funding, managing the entire project, and monitoring compliance. The terms and conditions of the federal award are also applicable to subrecipients. Please note the distinction between a subaward that creates a financial assistance relationship to carry out a portion of the federal award and a contract that creates a procurement relationship for the purchase of goods and services needed under the federal award. To assist in making subrecipient and contractor determinations, please refer to the guidance in 2 C.F.R. § 200.331. All future awards will comply with Executive Orders and Attorney General memoranda to advance the Administration’s priority of reestablishing law and order to include the increased hiring and retention of state and local sworn officers, state and local law enforcement collaboration with federal task forces, cracking down on the open use of illegal drugs, interrupting the distribution of fentanyl and other dangerous drugs, preventing crime, promoting nuisance abatement, countering human trafficking and child smuggling, and enhanced immigration enforcement and border security. All awards are subject to the availability of appropriated funds and any modifications or additional requirements that may be imposed by law. As community policing is common sense policing, throughout the NOFO materials, the terms ‘community policing’ and ‘common sense policing’ are used interchangeably, unless otherwise specified.