SUPPORTING STATEMENT
COPS Application Package
Part A. Justification:
Necessity of Information Collection
The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) was established under the authority of the Attorney General to implement Title I of the “crime bill,” the Public Safety Partnership and Community Policing Act of 1994 (the Act). The Act authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to States, units of local government, Indian tribal governments, other public and private entities, and multi-jurisdictional or regional consortia thereof to increase police presence, to expand and improve cooperative efforts between law enforcement agencies and members of the community, to address crime and disorder problems, and otherwise to enhance public safety.
The Attorney General has authorized the COPS Office to establish grant and cooperative agreement programs to advance community policing as well as the criteria used to determine eligibility for these programs. The COPS Office funds grant and cooperative agreement programs that advance community policing as an effective crime prevention strategy. COPS Office program funding is obligated to many different areas in an effort to enhance community policing. These funding categories may include: salary and benefits of new, additional sworn officer positions, civilian personnel, basic issue equipment, advanced department-wide equipment and technology, specialized problem-oriented policing projects, as well as training and technical assistance. COPS Office grants range from one-year grants to three-year grants depending upon the type of program. The COPS Application Package includes all of the necessary forms and instructions that an applicant needs to review and complete to apply for COPS grant funding.
Needs and Uses
The COPS Application Package includes all of the necessary forms and instructions that an applicant needs to review and complete to apply for COPS grant funding. The package is used as a standard template for all COPS programs. The Application Guide includes instructions and program information which describe the administrative and legal requirements governing COPS Office funding. The application forms and budget detail worksheets outline the applicants funding request and the applicant’s commitment to community policing. The forms collect all the necessary data to make funding decisions. The COPS Office is also required to use the SF-424. The SF-424 does not include all of the necessary and statutorily required data elements for applicant review. Thus, the additional COPS application forms collect critical data elements that are necessary for COPS to properly review applications for funding
Efforts to Minimize Burden
The COPS Application Package is the result of a COPS Office business process reengineering effort aimed at streamlining as required under the grant streamlining requirements of P.L. 106-107, the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999, as well as the President’s Management Agenda E-grants Initiative. The Application Package forms are standardized across all COPS Office programs and should reduce the burden on applicants due the applicant’s ability to use the same form for multiple programs, thus reducing the need for applicant’s to learn how to complete multiple differing forms. In addition, the COPS Application forms will be completed online. Applicants will benefit from online instructions and field validations.
Efforts to Identify Duplication
There is no duplicative effort.
Methods to Minimize Burden on Small Business
This collection instrument will have no significant impact on small business.
Consequences of Less Frequent Collection
Less frequent collection is not possible. Funding for the COPS Office’s grant and cooperative agreement programs is appropriated on an annual basis. For additional funds in future years, applicants may be required to reapply to the program. Interested agencies cannot become eligible for COPS Office grants without first reviewing the application information within the Package.
Special Circumstances Influencing Collection
There are no special circumstances that would influence the collection of information pertaining to the COPS Application Package.
Reasons for Inconsistencies with 5 CFR 1320.6
The COPS Office received a comment related to this collection, and the comment was taken into consideration. After review of the comment, however, the COPS Office determined that the comment did not have rationale, as it did not specifically address any of the four points outlined in the notices for the Federal Register. Therefore, the COPS Office will not make changes to any of the forms submitted under this collection.
Payment or Gift to Respondents
The COPS Office does not provide any payment or gift to respondents. Furthermore, it is not permitted under the terms of the grants.
Assurance of Confidentiality
No assurance of confidentiality has been made to respondents.
Justification for Sensitive Questions
There are no questions of a sensitive nature. No information commonly considered as private is included in the proposed requested information.
Estimate of Hour Burden
There may be as many as 14,100 COPS Office applicants annually who will be required to review the information within the COPS Application Package. The estimated hourly burden to the applicant is 11.3 hours for each respondent to review the instructions and complete the application.
11.3 hours per respondent x 14,100 respondents = 159,330 hours
Total Respondent Burden Hours: 159,330 hours
There is no record keeping burden for this collection.
Estimate of Cost Burden
Reviewing the COPS Application Package will not generate any costs other than those associated with the applicants’ time. Therefore, the estimated burden cost is 0.
Estimated Annualized Cost to Federal Government
The estimated annualized cost to the Federal Government for reviewing, compiling, and processing the projected 14,100 grant applications is approximately 2 hour sper form. No special equipment, other than currently in-use computing equipment is required. The cost to the Federal Government is as follows:
2 hours per form X 14,100 forms = 28,200 hours
28,200 hours @ $29.93 per hour = $824,286
Total Annualized Cost to the Federal Government for reviewing the COPS Application Package= $824,286.
Reason for Change in Burden
In FY2011, the COPS Office established an office-wide initiative to enhance the integration of the community policing principles into its grant programs. One of these enhancements includes requiring hiring grant applicants to complete a more comprehensive community policing plan that incorporates a problem-solving component asking applicants to specify crime issues that they will target with hiring funding. Therefore, the hiring portion of the COPS Application Package has been modified as a result of this office-wide initiative.
In addition, the COPS Office re-evaluated the number of potential applicants by individual grant program. This resulted in a more accurate assessment of the number of potential respondents to the collection.
Publication
This data collection will not be published.
Request not to Display OMB Control Number
The COPS Office will display the OMB approval number and expiration date on the upper right hand corner of the collection instrument.
Exceptions to Certification Statement
The COPS Office does not request an exception to the certification of this information collection.
Part B. Statistical Methods:
This collection of information does not require the employment of statistical methods.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | SUPPORTING STATEMENT |
| Author | Preferred Customer |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-02-01 |