2007 Buyer's Guide
Back to Air Beat
Back Issues Index
THE GRANT TOOLKIT
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The
secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into
small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.†- Mark Twain
The goal of grant funding is to provide officers with the
equipment and resources to do their job more effectively, safely and
efficiently. The community is the ultimate benefactor.
Many departments struggle to purchase the equipment
needed for daily operations. Budgets are tight, departments are under
funded, and there are often other priorities. Grant funding allows local and
state law enforcement agencies to purchase products and solutions that will
enable more effective service in the community. Thermal imaging cameras fall
in this realm of beneficial technology.
Grants take a lot of effort and time to research and
apply for, but the end result is well worth the effort. A number of
different types of grants are available. Many grants come from government
agencies, like the Department of Justice (DOJ), Counter-drug Technology
Assessment Center (CTAC) and generic community funding like Community
Oriented Policing Services (COPS). Some grants are established for specific
types of products, such as bulletproof vests or drug enforcement technology.
Often, grants won’t pay for existing services, but instead will fund
supplemental products or solutions, such as thermal imaging cameras.
Below is a list of helpful sites that contain grant
opportunities and links to pages that offer grant writing and administration
tips. Please visit these sites often, as information on new deadlines for
2007 will soon be appearing.
QUICK REFERENCE SITES:
National Law Enforcement &
Corrections Technology Center
www.nlectc.org/virlib/InfoList.asp?strType=Funding
www.nlectc.org/equipment/ctac.html
Policeone.com
www.policeone.com/grants/
National Institute of Justice
www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/funding.htm
Office of Justice Programs
www.ojp.usdoj.gov/fundopps.htm
www.whitehouse.gov/government/fbci/quality_proposal.pdf
Bureau of Justice Assistance
www.bja.ncjrs.org/g2g/
www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA
Community Policing Services
www.cops.usdoj.gov/
The Grantsmanship Center
(Grant Writing/Proposal Assistance)
www.tgci.com
www.grantsoffice.com
Federal Funding Opportunities
www.fedgrants.gov/Applicants/index.htm
Counterdrug Technology
Assessment Center (CTAC)
www.epgctac.com
This information was compiled by Nord Atlantic USA.
www.nightvisionforce.com.
(Back to Top)
SHOW ME THE MONEY!
You can't win if you don't play
Remember that popular marketing phrase for the money
lottery games? Well, the same challenge applies to winning in the “lotteryâ€
of grants. If you don’t play by making well thought-out and thorough
applications, then you can’t win. You already realize that no one is out
there just trying to throw money at you, but that there IS money being given
to police agencies all around you.
The key is that you have to ask for it, and you have to
make your appeal in a more effective way than the other guys (the
departments or agencies that may be applying for the same grant) because
most of the grant programs out there are competitive in nature. Grantees are
selected based on grantor perception of need and whether the prospect is
deserving based on program criteria. If your needs and your representation
of why you deserve the money or equipment are more compelling than the next
guy, you win!
So again, the irony is that there IS money out there.
Grant authorities WANT you to have this money. Many of these programs,
especially those funded via federal budget, live or die on their success in
getting money and equipment into the hands of the responders for whom these
assets are intended.
For 2006 alone, monies or assets that were available to
law enforcement through federal grant programs included the following:
-
Law Enforcement Grant Program - $400M
-
Port Security - $150M
-
State Homeland Security Grants - $1 Billion
-
Commercial Equipment Direct Assistance - $50M
-
Urban Area Security Initiative - $850M
There are a number of basic but very important actions
you can take to be successful in pursuit of any of these grants. The key
here is that all of these grant providers, public or private, are looking
for the same information. The format may vary, but the essentials are the
same.
Know Your Department & Community
Have a firm grasp of the demographics; size of the department, number of
paid officers, significant crime statistics, area patrolled (square miles)
and general population are the basics.
Clearly Define Your Need
Be specific. What will you do with the money or equipment? What will you
buy? How will you use it? How will this better arm you to solve the
significant challenges within your department and community? A very
important theme here is interoperability. More and more grants are
emphasizing the requirement that an applying department be able to
demonstrate how the acquired equipment will support interoperability with
other responder entities. Many Bullard thermal imagers (TacSight, TI
Commander, TI, TIx, T3, T3MAX) may be equipped with wireless transmitters
and receivers that operate on the same frequency, so that the same visual
information can be shared across departments to ensure communication for
command and control.
Respond to the Grant Objectives
While most grants ask for the same general information, each one usually has
a very distinct stated objective, whether it is to protect seaports, protect
large urban areas, or respond to terrorist actions. Be sure to acknowledge
that objective in your narrative. To win consideration, your defined need
must line up with the grant objectives.
Here’s a final tip: assemble all of this information NOW.
Don’t wait for that time-pressured application to hit your desk. Do the
research and build the framework of common information early, and you will
have it “at your fingertips†when that opportunity surfaces. Then “all†you
will have to do is tailor it to the grant specific criteria. That way, you
will have more time to go grant hunting, and you’ll spend less time sweating
the details.
(Back to Top)
CEDAP
Equipped to Assist
Agencies and departments of all sizes have been called on
to undertake vital homeland security tasks. Key components of our nation’s
infrastructure, including petroleum pipelines, power grids, water supplies,
agriculture and public transportation, are located in suburban or rural
areas. The agencies and departments protecting these components must have
the proper equipment to carry out their missions, as well as support larger,
neighboring cities.
The Commercial Equipment Direct Assistance Program (CEDAP)
offers agencies the opportunity to obtain the equipment needed, such as
night vision technology. The night vision monocular offered by CEDAP
provides a valuable surveillance tool useful in both terrorism prevention
efforts and carrying out routine operations, including search and rescue,
domestic disturbance response, patrols, fugitive apprehension and drug
busts.
CEDAP is designed to complement the State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSGP)
and Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) by transferring equipment
directly to smaller and more rural jurisdictions as well as non-UASI
metropolitan areas. In doing so, CEDAP is intended to assist agencies and
departments that would otherwise find it difficult to purchase or acquire
critical equipment.
Eligibility
Law enforcement agencies and departments that have not received funding to
meet equipment requirements through UASI, SHSGP or any other DHS program are
eligible to apply for equipment through CEDAP. To be eligible, applicants
must also express how the equipment, if won, will be used in partnership
with other first responder agencies, including but not limited to equipment
sharing, regional response efforts and joint training and operations.
Equipment
The general categories of equipment available through CEDAP are: a) personal
protective equipment; b) rescue tools; c) thermal imaging, night vision and
video surveillance tools; d) chemical, biological and radiological detection
tools; e) information technology and risk management tools; and f) an
interoperable communications gateway. Agencies and departments should
consider carefully what available piece of equipment will best fulfill their
existing needs and apply for that equipment accordingly. Applicants can
download the complete CEDAP catalog online.
Application
The CEDAP Phase II application period opened on November 7, 2005, and will
close on January 13, 2007. For future phases, eligible agencies should begin
preparing immediately to take advantage of CEDAP and obtain critical
equipment to assist in preventing, fighting and responding to crime and
terrorism. All applications must be submitted online through the Responder
Knowledge Base (RKB).
There are two components of the application: the first
establishes eligibility and the second incorporates multiple choice and
essay questions to gather details about the applying agency or department’s
specific situation, needs and plans. The essay questions are particularly
important in that they give the applicant the opportunity to explain, in
detail, why the agency or department needs equipment through CEDAP in order
to meet homeland security requirements and expectations. It is crucial that
applying agencies and departments make clear how the requested piece of
equipment would be used in regional counterterrorism efforts and emergency
response plans as well as daily operations.
Additional Resources
Applicants can submit their equipment requests using the RKB at
www.rkb.mipt.org. During the
application process, applicants also may call SLGCP’s Centralized Scheduling
and Information Desk at 1-800-368-6498 to speak with a help desk
representative. For best results, thoroughly review CEDAP guidelines and
materials before calling for assistance.
(Back to Top)
ACQUIRING 1033/1122 SURPLUS EQUIPMENT
Any federal or state law enforcement agency whose
officers have arrest and apprehension authority can qualify to receive
surplus Department of Defense property under section 1033 of the National
Defense Authorization Act. Under section 1033, the DoD may transfer to
federal and state agencies personal property of the Department of Defense,
including aircraft that the DoD determines is suitable for use by the
agencies in law enforcement activities.
The current LESO aircraft National Priority List (NPL)
for aircraft is calculated and prioritized based upon the following criteria
approved by Office of the Secretary of Defense:
-
The number of excess aircraft available to the LESO
program
-
The date the request was received by LESO
-
Fair and equitable distribution
-
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA)
-
Geographic responsibility
All requests for aircraft from state and local law
enforcement agencies must be submitted through the appropriate state
coordinator for approval. A listing of all state coordinators is available
from the Defense Logistics Agency’s Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO).
If you qualify and choose to participate, your organization will become one
of over 17,000 local law enforcement agencies that have taken advantage of
this unique opportunity.
The LESO does not support the sale of flyable aircraft
obtained under the 1033 Program in order to purchase new equipment. The DLA
Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the 1033 program requires that aircraft be
maintained by the recipient for a minimum of five years. At the end of this
period, if the aircraft is no longer needed by the recipient organization,
yet remains flyable, LESO request that the recipient organization return the
aircraft to DoD so it can be transferred to other authorized 1033 customers
awaiting aircraft of this type.
Additionally, the LESO serves as a liaison between the
state point of contact (SPOC) and DLA for the 1122 program. The 1122 program
allows state and local governments the opportunity to take advantage of the
discounts available to the federal government due to its large volume
purchases and to maximize their budget dollars in purchasing items required
for the completion of their missions. Currently, 44 states are in this
program.
The authority for the “1122 Program†resides with the
Department of Defense. Under the provisions of the statute, GSA is
responsible for the development of a catalog, which not only explains the
1122 Program, but also delineates those products that may be procured under
the program. More information can be found at
www.gsa.gov.
For specific information, you may write to the Defense
Logistics Agency, J-3, 8725 John J. Kingman Road, STOP 6233, Fort Belvoir,
VA 22060-6221, PH: 800-532-9946. The website is:
www.dla.mil/j-3/leso/
(Back to Top)