FY 2026 COPS Community Policing Development: Law Enforcement Products and Resources
Opportunity number: O-COPS-2026-172561
Program owner: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office)
Summary: Federal cooperative agreements for developing nationally distributable law-enforcement products and resources and operating the COPS Training Portal. Eligible applicants are for-profit organizations, nonprofits, institutions of higher education, community groups, and faith-based organizations; law-enforcement agencies are intended beneficiaries and partners but are not expressly listed as direct applicants.
The COPS Office will fund 24-month cooperative agreements under two categories. Category 1 supports nationally distributable products and resources that advance crime fighting and community policing, including training, guides, policy resources, pilot programs, evaluations, videos, webinars, websites, and related tools. Category 2 supports operation and expansion of the COPS Training Portal and development of two eLearning courses.
Projects address law-enforcement priorities including human trafficking, gang violence, immigration and border security, child exploitation, cybercrime, opioids and drug markets, officer recruitment and retention, domestic terrorism, unmanned aerial systems, vagrancy and squatting, and violent crime. Category 1 projects must benefit the national law-enforcement field rather than only a state, region, or small group of agencies.
Police departments, sheriff’s offices, corrections agencies, prosecutors, and other criminal-justice agencies are not expressly listed as eligible direct applicants. Eligible public and state-controlled institutions of higher education may apply, and law-enforcement agencies are expressly contemplated as beneficiaries, partners, pilot sites, and users of the resulting resources.
Who is eligible?
Applicant types: Category 1 and Category 2: for-profit commercial organizations, nonprofit organizations, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, community groups, and faith-based organizations. Category 2 expressly includes small businesses and further requires demonstrated experience with high-volume eLearning platforms, long-term program marketing, and development of law-enforcement eLearning.
Eligibility is limited to for-profit organizations, nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, community groups, and faith-based organizations. Eligible educational entities include public and state-controlled and private institutions of higher education. Police departments, sheriff’s offices, corrections agencies, prosecutors, and other law-enforcement or criminal-justice agencies are not expressly listed as eligible direct applicants.
What can the funding be used for?
Category 1 supports nationally distributable law-enforcement training, guidebooks, policy guides, promising-practices reports, pilot programs, case studies, evaluations, roll-call videos, podcasts, webinars, self-assessment tools, interactive websites, checklists, short-form videos, and justified comparable products. Projects must address human trafficking; gang violence; immigration and border security; child exploitation; cybercrime; opioids and drug markets; officer recruitment, hiring, and retention; domestic terrorism; unmanned aerial systems and drones; vagrancy and squatting; or violent crime. Category 2 supports hosting and administering the COPS Training Portal, maintaining its learning-management system and website, preserving user records, providing support and outreach, deploying courses, and developing two new eLearning courses.
Restrictions
Category 1 will not consider projects that fail to address a listed priority, benefit only a state, region, or small set of agencies instead of the broader national law-enforcement field, or duplicate an existing COPS Office or other DOJ product or resource. Category 2 proposals that do not address all portal requirements and deliverables will not be considered. The NOFO refers applicants to the separate Application Resource Guide for additional unallowable activities.
How to apply
Submit the SF-424 through Grants.gov by August 24, 2026, at 4:59 p.m. ET. Submit the complete application and required attachments through JustGrants by August 31, 2026, at 4:59 p.m. ET. Applicants must follow the DOJ Grant Application Submission Checklist and applicable COPS Office Application Resource Guide.
Required materials
Step 1 requires the SF-424 through Grants.gov. Step 2 requires Standard Applicant Information, a Proposal Abstract, required application data forms, a Proposal Narrative, a Budget, a Budget Narrative, curricula vitae or résumés for key personnel and specified outside experts or evaluators, and a Project Timeline. When applicable, applicants must provide a noncompetitive justification, indirect-cost-rate agreement, consultant-rate documentation, or memorandum of understanding. Letters of support are recommended for multijurisdictional or multiagency projects.
Program contact
COPS Office Response Center
[email protected]
800-421-6770
Official sources
- COPS Office checked September 2, 2026
Grant details can change. Confirm all requirements on the official source before applying.