FY 2026 COPS Hiring Program (CHP)
Opportunity number: O-COPS-2026-172611
Program owner: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office)
Summary: Competitive federal grants for eligible state, local, territorial, and tribal law-enforcement agencies to hire or rehire additional full-time career sworn officers or deputies for community policing and crime-prevention work.
The FY 2026 COPS Hiring Program supports eligible law-enforcement agencies in hiring or rehiring additional full-time career sworn officers and deputies to increase community-policing capacity and crime-prevention efforts.
Awards cover up to 75% of entry-level salary and fringe benefits for three years within a five-year period of performance. Absent an approved waiver, recipients must provide at least a 25% cash match, and the federal share is capped at $125,000 per approved position over three years. Recipients must retain each funded position for at least 12 months following the three years of grant funding for that position.
Who is eligible?
Applicant types: Government entities applying for established and operational local, state, territorial, or tribal law-enforcement agencies that have primary law-enforcement authority for the jurisdiction served.
Eligible applicants are limited to established and operational local, state, territorial, and tribal law-enforcement agencies with primary law-enforcement authority for the jurisdictions served. Eligible governmental entity classifications include states, counties, cities or townships, special districts, Native American tribal governments, and other units of local government. Where law-enforcement services are provided under a written contract, the jurisdiction receiving the services must be the legal applicant. Correctional officers may be funded only if they meet the statutory definition of a career law-enforcement officer and are deployed in community-oriented policing.
What can the funding be used for?
Hire new full-time career sworn officers or deputies in positions additional to the agency's currently funded sworn level; rehire full-time officers or deputies previously laid off because of state, local, or Bureau of Indian Affairs budget reductions; or rehire officers or deputies scheduled for qualifying future layoffs. Up to 2% of the federal award may be requested for direct award-administration costs. Funded positions must support the applicant's selected community-policing problem or focus area.
Restrictions
Funds may not supplant existing state, local, or Bureau of Indian Affairs funding for budgeted sworn positions. Pre-award costs are unallowable, and in-kind contributions cannot satisfy the required match. Additional unallowable activities and costs are identified in the FY 2026 CHP Application Resource Guide.
How to apply
Apply in two steps: submit the SF-424 through Grants.gov by July 23, 2026, at 4:59 p.m. ET, and submit the complete application through JustGrants by July 29, 2026, at 4:59 p.m. ET. Applicants seeking a local-match waiver must request it in the application; waiver requests are evaluated based on severe fiscal distress reflected in the applicant's fiscal-health data.
Required materials
Required components are the SF-424 submitted through Grants.gov and, in JustGrants, Standard Applicant Information, Data Requested with Application, a web-based Budget Detail Worksheet with narrative justification, and required disclosures, assurances, and certifications. Letters of support are optional. An SRO memorandum of understanding is not required with the application, although an existing applicable MOU may be attached; funded SRO recipients must submit a signed MOU after award as required by the program.
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.