Small and rural departments never have enough money. That’s why Lexipol’s Alyson Trowbridge taught attendees at the National Sheriff’s Association annual conference in June how to bridge the gap between what they have and what they need by accessing discretionary grant funding.
Grant funding obstacles
Small agencies stumble on multiple obstacles when they seek grant funding. Time and experience are two of the most common. Few small and rural towns or counties have grants departments, which can leave a night shift sergeant banging away on a grant application between calls and report reviews, or overstretched chiefs and sheriffs writing grants themselves.
Requirements to describe return on investment can seem hopeless: how do you compare a 10-officer agency serving a small population to a larger city department serving hundreds of thousands?
Another ironic obstacle is money; many grants require match funding. Complexity and opaque systems discourage many small, rural and tribal agencies from ever applying.
I talked with Trowbridge by phone to find out how small departments can scale these walls. She listed useful resources, explained the many different kinds of grants, and explained the steps government agencies are implementing to help with applications.
Simplifying grant applications
Some sources are simplifying and clarifying the language in the applications themselves, recognizing that underserved rural places rarely have specialists on tap to interpret jargon. A pilot program offers different ways to apply, besides the traditional detailed application narrative. These include submitting a project plan built with the help of a questionnaire, creating a video in place of the written application, or an oral presentation to the grants agency staff, conducted virtually.
There are now grants specifically targeting the needs of small, rural and tribal law enforcement agencies, and even some grants from larger pools that are setting aside funds for them instead of forcing an agency of, say, 25 officers to compete with one of 2,500 officers.
Some of the points Trowbridge emphasized in her presentation included broadening searches for available grants, and learning to tell your department’s story in application.
There are both federal and state agencies with funds available for law enforcement agencies, and some of it is earmarked specifically for small, rural and tribal departments. However, Trowbridge encouraged attendees to consider applying for grants they need even if the words “small/rural” aren’t in the grant or agency title; many sources are beginning to prioritize underfunded and underserved areas as part of their general mission.
The importance of telling your story
Trowbridge also spent time teaching conference attendees the way storytelling plays into grant applications. Law enforcement officers can tend to be linear thinkers; report writing for court use reinforces that. This leads to a dry list of numbers, dollars and statistics: the what, without the why.
Instead, she encourages grant writers to think in terms of identifying challenges and strengths, connecting both to make a compelling case for access to new funds.
If your department is applying for a grant for the first time, or has applied in the past without success, it’s important to say so.
Identify challenges specific to your area. Has staffing eroded over time because of budget cuts? Are levels of opioid trafficking and addiction higher in your area than in comparable localities? When was the last time your technology was upgraded? Does it still work? Can you get parts when it needs repair?
Instead of stating “We need body worn cameras but we can’t afford them,” be specific about community challenges affecting funding. Is your tax base small because of remote geography and sparse population? Has your funding been impacted by the closure of a mill or factory, or by a natural disaster like a hurricane or wildfire? If so, tell the reader that.
Include information about strengths specific to smaller communities, like close relationships with local citizens and collaboration with other small departments. These can be framed to emphasize the return on investment for grant dollars. A grant application requesting funds for a drone might explain how the drone will be a force multiplier for your agency and the other agencies with which you interact. For example, if your tribal police department can buy a drone, you can use it to help the sheriff’s office with search and rescue or surveillance for a standoff, besides your own officers’ purposes.
Leverage your department’s community relationships by asking community stakeholders, such as faith-based organizations, non-profits, local businesses, and other agencies that may benefit from or otherwise support the intended project, for letters of support to include with the application package.
Trowbridge emphasized that updated technology and equipment can actually be more impactful for a small, isolated department than for a larger one with more resources. If you only have one investigator, then the hours saved by cell phone forensic software exponentially increase their productivity so more cases get solved. That helps everyone.
Finally, the presentation included sources of grant funding, and what they can provide. These are good places to begin. Don’t hesitate to reach out to the agencies, or to Lexipol’s PoliceGrantsHelp division for free assistance.
Grant programs for small/rural agencies
- Provides up to $125,000 for three years; 25% match.
- Eligibility: State, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) agencies w/ primary law enforcement authority (must respond to calls for service).
- Purpose: Advancing public safety through community policing by funding additional full-time career law enforcement positions to help meet or expand law enforcement agencies’ community policing strategies.
- Priority placed on applicants meeting rural designation.
- Provides up to $2,000 per camera unit; 50% match.
- Eligibility: LE agency w/ 50 or fewer FTE sworn; Rural agencies (non-urban or non-metro counties); Federally-recognized tribes
- Purpose: Funds must be used to purchase or lease BWCs and may include reasonably related expenses. Pilot BWC programs, the establishment of new BWC implementation, or the expansion of existing programs are eligible project types.
- Provides up to $300,000; no match.
- Eligibility: City, town, county governments (including prosecutors’ offices serving eligible communities or departments); Federally-recognized tribes.
- Definitions: “Small": LEA w/ 250 or fewer sworn; “Rural": (a) serving any area or community outside of a standard metropolitan statistical area (MSA) or (b) serving within rural census tracts.
- Purpose: To strengthen the capacity of rural and small agencies to combat violent crime through enhanced implementation of critical elements identified in the Violent Crime Reduction Roadmap (Dec 2023 – DOJ), Violent Crime Reductions Operations Guide (BJA w/ the Major Cities Chiefs Assoc), and the Prosecutors’ Guide to Reducing Violence and Building Safer Communities (BJA w/ Aequitas); Implement programming and activities to enhance capacity.
- Technology/equipment can be no more than 30% of total budget request ($90,000).
Rural Domestic Violence, Dating, Sexual Assault and Stalking
- Typically between $500,000 -$700,000; no match required.
- Eligibility: SLTT & non-profit (public or private) entities.
- Purpose: Projects that implement, expand, and establish cooperative efforts among LEOs, prosecutors, victim service providers, and other related parties to investigate and prosecute incidents; projects that provide treatment, advocacy, counseling, legal assistance, or other victim services to victims in rural communities; or develop or strengthen programs addressing sexual assault, like Sexual Assault Response Teams and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Programs.
- Eligibility: Public bodies, community-based nonprofits, Federally-recognized tribes in rural areas with less than 20,000 residents.
- Purpose: Funds can be used to purchase, construct, and/or improve essential community facilities; purchase equipment; and pay related project expenses. Public Safety services include police stations, police vehicles and equipment.
- Priority: communities with 5,500 or fewer residents; LMI (MHI 80% below state nonmetro MHI).
- Max funding: up to 75% of the total project cost on a rolling basis dependent on population size and median household income; work with your local rural development office to determine specifics of your area and project.
- Estimated over $50B available over two decades, but still a moving target as settlements with additional companies is ongoing.
- Contact your State’s Attorney General’s Office.
