All grants require justification. To provide the funder with justification, you need to thoroughly research the data related to your grant project. When writing a grant for law enforcement the first stop should be the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
All topics related to law enforcement industry, crime type, courts, criminal justice improvement and victims is aggregated and logically organized as a resource for researching data for grant purposes. Data analysis tools, statistics, and funding information is available. Crime data collections and surveys for law enforcement include:
• City-Level Survey of Crime Victimization and Citizen Attitudes
• Emergency Room Statistics on Intentional Violence
• National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)
• National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
• Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS)
Law enforcement collections and surveys include:
• Arrest-Related Deaths
• Census of Law Enforcement Training Academies
• Census of Medical Examiner and Coroner (ME/C) Offices
• Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories
• Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies
• Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP)
• Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS)
• National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
• National Survey of DNA Crime Laboratories
• Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS)
• State Police Traffic Stop Data Collection Procedures
• Survey of Campus Law Enforcement Agencies
You also have data analysis tools for aggregating your own data needed for your specific project. This includes the areas of arrest data, Census Bureau data, corrections, crime trends, OJJDP juvenile tools, Federal criminal case processing tools, Nation Crime Victims Survey and the Prisoner Recidivism Analysis Tool. All of the analysis tools are easy to use and are kept as current as possible. In grant writing, most funders require data which is no older than three years.
The BJS website also contains a library of publications and products which are useful in scientifically proving your approach and strategies within your grant project. It can be manipulated by a simple search, topical search or product type which includes publications, data tables, press releases, working papers and research papers. The requirements of grants today require that the department is up-to-date with the industry and its strategies, scientifically-proven approaches and sound justification. This information will assure that you are current.
Trend data is also available in the Key Statistic area of the site. Each key statistic includes a description, table, graph, and links which can all be used in the development of your grant justification process
Of course, your local state, county and municipal data will be needed for your project as well. Each state has its own repository for the collection of state data. Much of that data has been integrated with the data bases and aggregated data found at the Bureau of Justice Site. Make sure you consult with this site before your develop your strategies within your grant project. It will provide you with a better chance of being funded!
