BJA FY 20 Supporting Small and Rural Law Enforcement Agency Body-Worn Camera Policy and Implementation Program | BJA 2020 17011

Opportunity Information: Apply for BJA 2020 17011

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), within the U.S. Department of Justice, offered the FY 2020 Supporting Small and Rural Law Enforcement Agency Body-Worn Camera Policy and Implementation Program (SRA-BWC) as a discretionary funding opportunity designed to expand effective body-worn camera (BWC) adoption in smaller and rural jurisdictions. The central purpose is to promote the safety of both officers and community members, improve evidence capture, and support better justice outcomes by helping agencies implement BWCs in ways that are thoughtful, policy-driven, and aligned with broader law enforcement goals.

The program is grounded in the idea that BWCs can deliver real operational and community benefits when they are implemented correctly. Research and practitioner experience cited in the opportunity note that BWCs may help moderate behavior during police-public encounters, reduce use-of-force incidents, and lower citizen complaints, while also creating valuable audio and video documentation that can strengthen investigations and case outcomes. Importantly, the solicitation emphasizes that cameras alone are not the solution; the benefits are maximized when agencies pair the technology with clear policies and sound practices that address officer safety, accountability, training needs, efficiency, and issues related to disparities in policing outcomes.

A defining feature of this opportunity is how the funding is structured. Rather than making many direct awards to individual police departments, BJA planned to make one large cooperative agreement award to a single provider organization. That provider would then run a competitive subaward program for small and rural law enforcement agencies and deliver training and technical assistance (TTA) to the agencies that receive subawards. This setup is meant to remove common barriers that smaller agencies face, especially those that are underserved, have limited administrative staff, and may not be competitive for, or able to manage, the heavier compliance, fiscal, and reporting requirements that come with direct federal grant awards. In other words, the provider would handle much of the administrative and program infrastructure while local agencies focus on adopting cameras and building workable policies and practices.

Eligible applicants for the prime award included a broad range of organizations capable of serving as the nationwide provider and subaward administrator: public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status, for-profit organizations other than small businesses, and other entities as allowed under the solicitation’s additional eligibility guidance. The award instrument was a cooperative agreement, which generally signals a more hands-on federal role in the project, with substantial involvement by BJA in coordination, oversight, or program direction.

From the published opportunity details, the funding opportunity number was BJA-2020-17011 under CFDA 16.835. The opportunity was posted on March 6, 2020, with an original application deadline of May 5, 2020. BJA anticipated making one award, with an award ceiling of $10,000,000. Overall, SRA-BWC was positioned as a capacity-building effort: it aimed to get BWCs and implementation support into small and rural agencies through subawards, while ensuring those agencies also receive tailored guidance on policy development, training, and operational integration so the technology improves safety, accountability, and justice outcomes rather than becoming an unfunded mandate or a standalone equipment purchase.

• The Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance in the employment, labor and training, information and statistics, law, justice and legal services, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJA FY 20 Supporting Small and Rural Law Enforcement Agency Body-Worn Camera Policy and Implementation Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.835.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 06, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 05, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $10,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for BJA 2020 17011

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