NIJ FY22 Research and Evaluation on Policing | O NIJ 2022 171247

Opportunity Information: Apply for O NIJ 2022 171247

The NIJ FY22 Research and Evaluation on Policing solicitation is a discretionary research grant from the Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs, administered by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). The overall purpose is to fund rigorous studies that can improve public safety and policing policy while advancing civil rights and racial equity, increasing access to justice, supporting victims and justice-involved individuals, strengthening community safety, and building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. In practical terms, NIJ is looking for research that helps decision-makers understand what is changing in American policing, what strategies work, what unintended consequences might exist, and how reforms can be implemented and sustained over time.

The opportunity invites research and evaluation proposals across four topic areas. Three of those areas are explicitly named: diversifying responses to public safety needs (for example, alternative or co-responder models for mental health, substance use, homelessness, or other non-criminal calls), implementation and sustainment of long-term organizational change within policing agencies (how departments adopt reforms and keep them in place), and police recruitment, retention, and training in the current environment (including the realities of hiring pipelines, workforce stability, training content and delivery, and how these factors affect outcomes). In addition to those priority areas, NIJ also welcomes investigator-initiated projects on contemporary policing topics that fall outside the listed themes, as long as they meaningfully contribute to understanding policing changes in the United States and their effects on policy and practice.

A major emphasis of the solicitation is methodological rigor. NIJ expects applicants to propose the strongest research design that can credibly answer the stated research questions. Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches are all allowable, but NIJ signals a preference for randomized controlled trials when feasible, followed by strong quasi-experimental designs when randomization is not practical or appropriate. This preference reflects NIJ's interest in producing evidence that can support clear causal conclusions about the impact of policies, programs, training approaches, or organizational changes. At the same time, the solicitation acknowledges that certain policing questions may require other rigorous approaches, including high-quality qualitative research, especially when studying implementation processes, organizational culture, or community experiences.

Partnerships with practitioner agencies are strongly encouraged when they strengthen the research. If the proposed project involves collaboration with law enforcement or other criminal justice agencies, the application is expected to include a strong letter of support from each partner, signed by a decision-making authority. These letters are not meant to be generic endorsements; they should demonstrate that the partner understands the project, will cooperate in a meaningful way, and agrees to key requirements, including data sharing and long-term archiving obligations. NIJ also expects that, if funded, the grantee will have formal agreements in place with partnering agencies by January 1, 2023, and those agreements must include language ensuring the project can meet NIJ's data archiving rules.

Data transparency and preservation are built into the award conditions. Specifically, de-identified data derived from, provided to, or obtained through the project must be archived by the grant recipient with the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) at the end of the award. The partner agency letters of support must acknowledge this archiving requirement, and applicants are encouraged to review NACJD policies and protections in advance so the research plan, data governance, consent considerations (when applicable), and memoranda of understanding are realistic and compliant.

The solicitation also includes important administrative and eligibility details for multi-entity projects. Only one organization may apply as the primary applicant; any additional partners that will receive federal funds to carry out project work must be listed as subrecipients. This matters for budgeting, oversight, reporting, and compliance responsibilities, since the lead applicant remains accountable for the whole award. The solicitation defines "state" broadly to include U.S. states and territories such as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

A notable condition tied to DOJ discretionary funding under Executive Order 13929 (Safe Policing for Safe Communities) affects many proposals that involve law enforcement agencies. State, local, and campus (college or university) law enforcement agencies must be certified by an approved independent credentialing body, or have begun the certification process, to be eligible for FY 2022 DOJ discretionary grant funds. To qualify for certification, agencies must meet two mandatory requirements: their use-of-force policies must comply with applicable federal, state, and local laws, and those policies must prohibit chokeholds except where deadly force would be legally allowed. This certification requirement applies not only to direct recipients but also to agencies receiving funding through subawards, so applicants planning field partnerships or subrecipient arrangements with such agencies need to account for this early.

Eligible applicants are broad and include governmental entities (state, county, city/township, special districts), independent school districts, public and private institutions of higher education, federally recognized tribal governments and certain tribal organizations, public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status, and for-profit entities (including small businesses). Federal agencies may apply as well, but any award to a federal agency would be made through an inter-agency reimbursable agreement rather than a standard grant. Foreign governments, foreign organizations, and foreign colleges/universities are not eligible to apply.

From a funding mechanics standpoint, the award instrument is a grant in the science and technology / research and development category (CFDA 16.560). The listed award ceiling is $8,000,000, and the original closing date for applications was May 20, 2022. Finally, the solicitation makes clear that no recipient or subrecipient may take profit or a management fee from the award, including for-profit organizations. This is an important budgeting constraint that affects how indirect costs, contractor relationships, and administrative expenses should be structured in proposals.

Overall, the opportunity is designed to generate actionable, high-quality evidence about policing strategies, reforms, workforce challenges, and evolving public safety response models, with an emphasis on strong research designs, meaningful practitioner collaboration, and clear commitments to data archiving and transparency.

• The National Institute of Justice in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIJ FY22 Research and Evaluation on Policing" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.560.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-04-04.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-05-20. (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 $8,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have 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, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for O NIJ 2022 171247

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