Fiscal year 1995 appropriated funds for the Community Policing Act totaled $1.3 billion. About 92 percent of jurisdictions that applied for a COPS grant received initial award approval. The Higher the Crime Rate, the More Likely a Jurisdiction Was to Apply for a COPS Grant

We estimated that about 42 percent of all law enforcement jurisdictions applied for a COPS FAST or COPS AHEAD grant. From our telephone survey, we estimated that 62 percent (plus or minus 11 percent) of the nonapplicant jurisdictions did not apply for a COPS FAST or COPS AHEAD grant due to cost-related factors. The estimated 62 percent included about 40 percent (plus or minus 12 percent) of nonapplicants who said uncertainty about the jurisdiction’s ability to meet the requirement for continued officer funding after the 3-year grant period was the most important reason for not applying. Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

As agreed with the Committee and Subcommittee, our objectives were to review various aspects of the COPS programs and describe the grant application, selection, and monitoring processes for COPS: Phase I, COPS FAST, and COPS AHEAD. The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services provided written comments on a draft of this report.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed various aspects of the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program, focusing on the reasons some jurisdictions did not apply for federal community policing grants.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) jurisdictions with higher crime rates were more likely to apply for COPS grants; (2) nearly 92 percent of the jurisdictions applying for grants received initial approval; (3) some jurisdictions were uncertain about being able to continue officer funding after their grant expired and about their ability to provide the required 25 percent match; (4) the jurisdictions that did not apply for COPS grants cited cost-related factors as their major concern; and (5) the most frequent crimes reported by COPS Funding Accelerated for Smaller Towns (FAST) applicants were property crime and domestic violence.