NIJ FY 09 Predictive Policing Demonstration and Evaluation Program

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is the research, development, and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and a component of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP). NIJ provides objective, independent, evidence-based knowledge and tools to enhance the administration of justice and public safety. NIJ solicits applications to inform its search for the knowledge and tools to guide policy and practice. NIJ seeks qualified applicants to develop and demonstrate predictive policing models that can be subjected to rigorous evaluation for criminal justice outcomes and impacts. Through a companion solicitation, NIJ will seek qualified applicants to act as an independent, multisite program evaluator for this effort with which successful applicants will be expected to collaborate as a condition of award. Predictive policing includes strategies and tactics that improve the situational awareness of law enforcement concerning individuals or locations before criminal activity occurs. The efficacy of these novel strategies and tactics can be measured in terms of traditional policing performance metrics, and in terms of broader social and justice outcomes and impacts. Successful applicants will be expected to demonstrate an integral (either inhouse or as part of their team), competent analytical and evaluation research support capability to design and monitor the predictive policing models as they are developed and implemented. Demonstrations must be structured so that objective evaluation methods can be applied from the beginning of the project to determine short- and/or long-term outcomes. To facilitate this program, NIJ is funding grants to interested law enforcement agencies or regional law enforcement compacts to support the planning, demonstration, and evaluation of specific predictive policing interventions in their jurisdiction or jurisdictions. Applicants and/or their partners will be expected to contribute resources to this effort. An applicant’s contribution might be in-kind funding, for example facility costs, or leveraging existing information infrastructure. As another example, an applicant may team with a vendor that supplies “free” hardware and/or software for the purpose of demonstrating and evaluating its product(s). (See, for reference, the “Predictive Policing Analytic and Evaluation Research Support” solicitation.) This application must be submitted through the Office of Justice Programs’ Grants Management System (GMS). For technical assistance with submitting the application, call the GMS Support Hotline at 1–888–549–9901, option 3. Note: The GMS Support Hotline hours of operation are Monday–Friday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. eastern time.