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Healthy, vibrant communities are places that provide the opportunities, resources, and an environment that children and adults need to maximize their life outcomes, including high-quality schools and cradle-to-career educational programs; high-quality and affordable housing; thriving commercial establishments; access to quality health care and health services; art and cultural amenities; parks and other recreational spaces; and the safety to take advantage of these opportunities. Unfortunately, millions of Americans live in distressed communities2 where a combination of crime, poverty, unemployment, poor health, struggling schools, inadequate housing, and disinvestment keep many residents from reaching their full potential. Research suggests that crime clustered in small areas, or crime "hot spots," accounts for a disproportionate amount of crime and disorder in many communities. The complexity of these issues has led to the emergence of comprehensive place-based and community-oriented initiatives that involve service providers from multiple sectors, as well as community representatives from all types of organizations, to work together to reduce and prevent crime and to revitalize communities.In many ways, community safety and crime prevention are prerequisites to the transformation of distressed communities, including the revitalization of civic engagement. Addressing community safety is the role of criminal justice agencies, the community, and its partners as a whole. To improve and revitalize communities, all relevant stakeholders should be included: law enforcement and criminal justice, education, housing, health and human services, community and faith-based non-profits, local volunteers, residents, and businesses.Given the significant needs and limited resources of some of these communities, local and tribal leaders need tools and information about crime trends in their jurisdiction and assistance in assessing, planning, and implementing the most effective

NIJ is seeking applications for funding research and evaluation projects that will improve our knowledge on how to identify, prevent, and reduce white collar crime in the United States. There are many types of offenses that may be classified as white collar crime. This solicitation focuses on three types of white collar crime: health care fraud, cyber-crime against individuals, and elder fraud. NIJ will support scientifically rigorous research and evaluation projects that will advance our understanding of white collar crime and effective approaches for identifying, preventing, investigating and prosecuting white collar crime related to health care fraud, cyber crime against individuals, and elder fraud and financial exploitation. This solicitation supports the U.S. Department of Justice’s strategic goals associated with enhancing national security and promoting the rule of law, integrity and good government.

The purpose of this program is to support jurisdictions with an established gang presence to coordinate gang suppression efforts and activities by prosecutorial and law enforcement agencies. OJJDP has a long history of supporting community efforts to combat gang crime. Through OJJDP's Comprehensive Gang Model, communities can implement a comprehensive approach to gang crime and youth violence reduction. Suppression is a key component of OJJDP's Comprehensive Gang Model. Focused deterrence and suppression strategies can dissuade individuals and gangs from committing crimes. Such approaches highlight the punishments or legal recourse that will ensue in the commission of a crime and discourage the person or group from committing crimes in the future. These efforts, coupled with the other key components of the Comprehensive Gang Model, offer a holistic approach to support the efforts of law enforcement in combatting gang crime and promote public safety in communities. Eligible applicants will be required to implement OJJDP's Comprehensive Gang Model by working with the National Gang Center, and may use grant funds to support gang suppression activities.

NIJ is seeking research and evaluation related to hate crime perpetration and victimization. The purpose of this solicitation is to support research and evaluation to: 1) understand the motivations and pathways to hate crime offending; 2) determine whether programs targeted at hate crime offenders are effective at reducing reoffending; 3) determine whether programs that work with victims of hate crimes and their communities are effective at reducing the harms caused by hate crimes; and 4) provide information that will improve investigative and prosecutorial outcomes. Other proposals that address research related to hate crimes will be considered.

The National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X) Initiative is part of a national movement to expand the number of law enforcement (LE) agencies reporting crime data to the FBI™s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). NCS-X seeks to transition a select sample of 400 LE agencies from across the country, including all of the largest agencies, to NIBRS, in order to use NIBRS data to generate national crime statistics. Under this funding announcement, BJS, in partnership with the FBI, seeks proposals from state Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Programs to expand the state™s capacity to report data to NIBRS. The typical mechanism by which a local agency contributes data to NIBRS is through its state pipeline, where agencies report their crime data to the NIBRS-certified UCR Program in their respective state, and the state Program sends data from all of the state™s contributing agencies to the FBI. Transitioning local agencies to NIBRS reporting requires the state pipeline to be enhanced, to ensure state UCR Programs are capable of receiving and processing local incident-based crime data. Funding under this solicitation will support that effort

With this solicitation, NIJ seeks to build upon its research efforts to understand and aid in accelerating the process of desistance from crime. Applicants should propose research projects that have clear implications for criminal justice policy and practice in the United States. NIJ encourages applicants to submit proposals for innovative approaches to advance the field’s conceptualization of desistance, novel ways of understanding the processes underlying desistance from crime, and integrating desistance into criminal justice practice and policy. NIJ is particularly interested to receive applications for: > Research on the dynamic process of desistance that considers changes in individual offenders’ psychological states, developmental capacities, life events, and social context and how these changes relate to changes in offending over time. > Research to better understand the underlying mechanisms inherent in the process of desistance from crime, in particular whether and how these mechanisms may vary by race/ethnicity, gender, neighborhood context, and the like. > Research on desistance from crime for subgroups of offenders or those who specialize in specific crime types for example burglars, drug offenders or violent offenders. > Research that includes longer term follow-up periods for previously collected data or evaluations of programs that demonstrated promise for reducing offending. > Formative examinations of criminal justice programs or practices that fully incorporate desistance principles into their logic models and theories of change.

This is a new solicitation undertaken this year to address the administration’s interest in better understanding the nexus of crime and immigration, both legal and illegal. This will involve research on the contributions of illegal immigrants to violent crime and other forms of crime as compared to legal immigrants and native populations – to include subcategories of illegal immigrants and crimes. It will also include research on how illegal immigrants are processed through the criminal justice system relative to other population; as well as research on enforcement activities and crime in 287(g) jurisdictions that have entered into agreements with ICE to delegate immigration authorities to local law enforcement.

The National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X) Initiative is part of a national movement to expand the number of law enforcement (LE) agencies reporting crime data to the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). NCS-X seeks to transition a select sample of 400 LE agencies from across the country, including all of the largest agencies, to NIBRS, in order to use NIBRS data to generate national crime statistics. Under this funding announcement, BJS, in partnership with the FBI, seeks applications for funding to enable small and medium local LE agencies in the NCS-X sampleâ€Â"those agencies with fewer than 750 or more sworn officers that are currently not reporting incident-based data to the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Programâ€Â"to report crime data to the FBI’s NIBRS, either through their state UCR Program or directly to the FBI. Enhancing the ability of LE agencies in the nation to submit incident-based data to their state UCR Program or to the FBI directly is an effort jointly supported by BJS and the FBI.

The Smart Prosecution Initiative, administered by BJA, is part of BJA's "Smart Suite" of crime fighting programs including Smart Policing, Smart Probation, and Smart Pretrial. Funding for this initiative is anticipated through the FY 2015 appropriation. BJA established the "smart suite" over five years ago with the creation of the Smart Policing Initiative. The smart suite supports criminal justice professionals in building evidence-based, data-driven criminal justice strategies that are effective, efficient, and economical. BJA's smart programs represent a strategic approach that brings more "science" into criminal justice operations by leveraging innovative applications of analysis, technology, and evidence-based practices. Historically, prosecutors have worked tirelessly to address criminal justice problems in their community. In recent years they have recognized a need to adopt innovative strategies and to engage in data-driven decision making to proactively contribute to crime prevention and response. They also recognize the effectiveness of collaborating with other criminal justice partners, stakeholders and the community to reduce violent crime and achieve safer communities. The Smart Prosecution model builds off of the lessons learned from BJA's other smart suite programs and seeks to pair action researchers with prosecutor offices to develop solutions-such as "hot spot" strategies, sophisticated crime analysis, offender-based policies, and risk and needs assessment-that create prosecution strategies in an effort to break down information silos, advance communities, improve public trust and confidence in the justice system, and increase public safety. Smart Prosecution seeks to act as a catalyst, promoting criminal justice and non-criminal justice information sharing to improve results for communities. Lessons learned from Smart Prosecution will develop a rich body of evidence for use by prosecutors nationally as they seek to work w

This Notice of Funding Opportunity is released by the Department of State's Office of Global Criminal Justice (J/GCJ) in cooperation with the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Office of Assistance Coordination (NEA/AC). J/GCJ promotes criminal accountability for abuses and violations in Iraq and Syria, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The investigation and prosecution of atrocity crimes is a crucial part of holistic transitional justice strategies in which countries must address legacies of pervasive abuses. Criminal trials - whether they occur in the context of an international or regional tribunal, or domestic systems that have jurisdiction - can build adherence to the rule of law, reinforce the unacceptability of the crimes committed, demonstrate that impunity will not be tolerated, and deter future harm by punishing perpetrators. Trials can also help transitional societies come to terms with their own histories and rebuild stable, democratic institutions. Evidence presented in court can help to establish a historical record of atrocities, give victims an opportunity to be heard, and rebut denials by victimizers and their political allies that such atrocities ever occurred. Finally, criminal trials can also help to restore the dignity of victims and their families by providing a public acknowledgment of the gravity of the wrongs done to them. The Department of State will consider funding programs that include components to develop local investigative and judicial skills; to collect and preserve evidence and maintain the chain of custody of evidence; provide information to national authorities with jurisdiction over crimes, and to conduct other activities that directly support investigations and prosecutions of perpetrators of atrocities in Iraq and Syria. Applicants should be able to demonstrate an awareness of existing work in the field.

This program focuses on high crime communities with concentrated distress and hot spots of crime and directly supports the Department's priorities to reduce violent crime (sometimes associated with gang activity), assist communities struggling with drug abuse, and support law enforcement officers by integrating officers and enforcement strategies into community-based crime reduction efforts.

The study of adult offender decision-making and desistance to commit crime typically has been approached from a rational choice perspective and a life-course perspective, respectively. With this solicitation NIJ seeks to expand the existing research by examining the process of adult offender decision-making. NIJ requests proposals that either expand the rational choice model and/or life-course model, use other theories to explain either the choice to commit crime or to desist from committing crime (e.g., behavioral economics, business models, psychology, or cognitive models), or any combination of these. Proposed research also should consider issues such as social context, emotions, default choices, or possibly environmental context to gain a better understanding of the overall decision-making process to commit or desist from committing crimes.

This program focuses on high crime communities with concentrated distress and hot spots of crime and directly supports the Department's priorities to reduce violent crime (sometimes associated with gang activity), assist communities struggling with drug abuse, and support law enforcement officers by integrating officers and enforcement strategies into community-based crime reduction efforts.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) seeks an agent to execute the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) Instrument Redesign and Testing Project. The project is designed to provide scientific and technical support for the redesign and testing of the NCVS roster control card, crime screener (NCVS-1), and crime incident (NCVS-2) instruments in support of BJS's efforts related to increasing the efficiency, reliability, and use of the NCVS. In addition, the project will evaluate the use and content of the NCVS supplements. Through this project, BJS seeks to evaluate and modernize the organization and content of the NCVS instruments; improve the efficiency of the instruments and the current core-supplement design; develop a procedure for introducing routine improvements to the NCVS in order to capture emerging crime types and time-relevant topics; develop a systematic process for testing item reliability, validity, and burden; conduct cognitive tests of current and proposed items on the survey instruments; and pre-test the modified NCVS. BJS intends to fund the project through a cooperative agreement for a 3 year period.

With this solicitation, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) seeks proposal for research and/or evaluation projects to examine the impact of police crime-reduction practices and strategies on four variables. Those are: (1) crime, (2) officer safety, (3) criminal investigations, and (4) criminal prosecutions. NIJ will accept proposals for research examining person- or place-based practices and strategies. NIJ is particularly interested in examining the practice of proactive policing and its related strategies, especially focused deterrence. NIJ will not accept proposals for projects that do not include crime as a variable, nor will NIJ accept proposals that only address crime without consideration of at least one other of the three remaining variables.

Measuring Success in the Criminal Justice System's Response to Domestic/Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking: A Pilot Project will develop and pilot test a set of indicators for gauging success in the criminal justice system's response to VAWA crimes. OVW expects this project to produce outcome measures that OVW grantees engaged in law enforcement, prosecution, and/or court-based activities can use to track their progress in combating crimes addressed in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The indicators established through this project do not have to be comprehensive in scope. They do not have to cover the justice process from initial report through final disposition, and they do not have to address each VAWA crime. However, the indicators must be: a) authentically linked to good practices in the criminal justice response to VAWA crimes; b) matched to the activities grantees can undertake with OVW funding; c) useful to grantees for data-driven decision-making; d) feasible to implement, and e) minimally burdensome for grantees to use.

The W.E.B. Du Bois Program furthers the Department's mission by advancing knowledge regarding the confluence of crime, justice, and culture in various societal contexts. It supports research on the intersections of race, offending, victimization, and the fair administration of justice for both juveniles and adults. This solicitation seeks investigator-initiated proposals to conduct research on topics linked to race and crime in violence and victimization, crime and prevention, and justice systems (policing, courts, community and institutional corrections). For FY2017, NIJ is particularly interested in research on homicide and other violence in minority communities, and criminal court topics. Funding categories include: 1) W.E.B. Du Bois Scholars who are advanced in their careers; and 2) W.E.B. Du Bois Fellows who are early in their careers.

With this solicitation, NIJ seeks applications for the W.E.B. Du Bois Fellowship for Research on Race, Gender, Culture, and Crime FY 2015. The Fellowship program seeks to advance knowledge regarding the confluence of crime, justice, and culture in various societal contexts. The Fellowship places particular emphasis on crime, violence, and the administration of criminal justice in diverse cultural contexts within the United States.

With this solicitation, NIJ seeks applications for the W.E.B. Du Bois Fellowship for Research on Race, Gender, Culture, and Crime FY 2015. The Fellowship program seeks to advance knowledge regarding the confluence of crime, justice, and culture in various societal contexts. The Fellowship places particular emphasis on crime, violence, and the administration of criminal justice in diverse cultural contexts within the United States.

NIJ seeks applications for the W.E.B. Du Bois Fellowship for Research on Race, Gender, Culture, and Crime FY 2014. The Fellowship program seeks to advance knowledge regarding the confluence of crime, justice, and culture in various societal contexts. The Fellowship places particular emphasis on crime, violence, and the administration of criminal justice in diverse cultural contexts within the United States.