Opportunity Information: Apply for O NIJ 2025 172603
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is offering a discretionary grant opportunity titled "NIJ FY25 Research and Evaluation of Policing Practices" (Funding Opportunity Number: O-NIJ-2025-172603; CFDA: 16.560). The focus is on producing rigorous, applied evaluation research that can directly inform real-world policing policy and practice. NIJ is looking for studies that go beyond describing programs and instead test how well specific approaches work, for whom they work, under what conditions, and what outcomes they produce. The overall aim is to strengthen the evidence base around policing by supporting methodologically strong evaluations that yield actionable findings for agencies, communities, and decision-makers.
The solicitation highlights four priority areas for research and evaluation. First, NIJ is seeking evaluations of existing police training, meaning training that is already being implemented rather than training concepts still on the drawing board. Projects in this area would typically examine whether training produces measurable changes in officer behavior, decision-making, or outcomes in the field, and whether the training is delivered as intended. Second, NIJ is interested in officer safety and health, a broad category that can include physical safety, injury prevention, stress and fatigue, wellness, mental health, burnout, substance use, suicide prevention, and organizational factors that shape risk. Third, the opportunity calls for research on criminal investigations, which can include investigative processes, case screening and solvability, witness interviewing, evidence handling, digital evidence workflows, clearance rates, investigative decision-making, and the effectiveness of specialized units or investigative tools. Fourth, NIJ is seeking evaluations of policing strategies and tactics, which can include operational approaches to crime reduction, violence prevention, proactive and reactive deployments, problem-oriented policing, hotspot tactics, community engagement strategies, procedural justice approaches, and other field tactics that agencies use to achieve public safety goals.
The funding instrument is a grant, and the activity category is science and technology and other research and development, reflecting NIJ's role as the U.S. Department of Justice's research, development, and evaluation agency. Awards can be as large as $5,000,000 (the listed award ceiling), and NIJ expects to make about six awards under this notice, suggesting the program is designed to support a small number of relatively substantial, high-quality projects rather than many small pilots. The original application closing date is June 9, 2026, and the opportunity was created on May 7, 2026.
Eligibility is broad and is designed to allow both research organizations and practitioner partners to apply. Eligible applicants include state, county, city, township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with and without 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education institutions); for-profit organizations (including small businesses and for-profits other than small businesses); and an "others" category. The listing also mentions other units of local government, reinforcing that local agencies and their partners are within the intended applicant pool. In practice, projects of this type often involve partnerships between law enforcement agencies that can provide access, implementation context, and operational data, and research entities that can provide evaluation design, analysis, and publication-quality reporting.
In short, this NIJ opportunity is centered on evidence-building through applied evaluation of policing training, officer safety and wellness initiatives, investigative practices, and operational strategies and tactics. Competitive proposals will generally be expected to use strong evaluation methods, rely on credible outcome measures, and produce findings that are useful to the field, including practical lessons on implementation and scalability.Apply for O NIJ 2025 172603
- The National Institute of Justice in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIJ FY25 Research and Evaluation of Policing Practices" 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 2026-05-07.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-06-09. (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 $5,000,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 6 candidate(s).
- 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.
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FAQs: NIJ FY25 Research and Evaluation of Policing Practices (O-NIJ-2025-172603)
What is the name of this funding opportunity?
The opportunity is titled "NIJ FY25 Research and Evaluation of Policing Practices."
Who is offering this grant?
The grant is offered by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the U.S. Department of Justice's research, development, and evaluation agency.
What is the Funding Opportunity Number (FON)?
The Funding Opportunity Number is O-NIJ-2025-172603.
What is the CFDA number listed for this opportunity?
The CFDA number listed is 16.560.
What type of funding instrument is being used?
The funding instrument is a grant (discretionary grant opportunity).
What is the main purpose of this solicitation?
The main purpose is to produce rigorous, applied evaluation research that can directly inform real-world policing policy and practice. NIJ is looking for studies that test how well specific approaches work, for whom they work, under what conditions, and what outcomes they produce.
What kinds of projects is NIJ looking for?
NIJ is looking for methodologically strong evaluations that yield actionable findings for agencies, communities, and decision-makers. The emphasis is on evaluating approaches and producing evidence that strengthens the policing evidence base.
Is NIJ looking for descriptive studies of programs?
The solicitation emphasizes going beyond describing programs. NIJ is seeking evaluation research that tests effectiveness and examines outcomes, conditions, and impacts.
What are the research and evaluation priority areas?
The solicitation identifies four priority areas: (1) evaluation of existing police training, (2) officer safety and health, (3) criminal investigations, and (4) policing strategies and tactics.
What does NIJ mean by "evaluation of existing police training"?
This refers to training that is already being implemented (not training concepts that are still being designed). Projects typically examine whether the training produces measurable changes in officer behavior, decision-making, or field outcomes, and whether the training is delivered as intended.
What topics can fall under the officer safety and health priority?
This priority can include physical safety, injury prevention, stress and fatigue, wellness, mental health, burnout, substance use, suicide prevention, and organizational factors that shape risk.
What topics can fall under the criminal investigations priority?
This priority can include investigative processes, case screening and solvability, witness interviewing, evidence handling, digital evidence workflows, clearance rates, investigative decision-making, and the effectiveness of specialized units or investigative tools.
What topics can fall under policing strategies and tactics?
This priority can include operational approaches to crime reduction and violence prevention, proactive and reactive deployments, problem-oriented policing, hotspot tactics, community engagement strategies, procedural justice approaches, and other field tactics used to achieve public safety goals.
What activity category is associated with this opportunity?
The activity category is science and technology and other research and development.
What is the maximum award amount?
The listed award ceiling is $5,000,000.
How many awards does NIJ expect to make?
NIJ expects to make about six awards under this notice.
What does the expected number of awards suggest about the program?
With about six expected awards and a high award ceiling, the program appears designed to fund a small number of relatively substantial, high-quality evaluation projects rather than many small pilot efforts.
When is the application closing date?
The original application closing date is June 9, 2026.
When was the opportunity created?
The opportunity was created on May 7, 2026.
Who is eligible to apply?
Eligibility is broad. Eligible applicants include state, county, city, township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with and without 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education institutions); for-profit organizations (including small businesses and for-profits other than small businesses); and other eligible entities (including other units of local government).
Are local governments and law enforcement-related entities included in eligibility?
Yes. The eligibility list includes multiple forms of local government (for example, county, city, township, special district, and other units of local government), indicating local agencies and their partners are within the intended applicant pool.
Are universities and colleges eligible?
Yes. Both public and state-controlled institutions of higher education and private institutions of higher education are listed as eligible applicants.
Are tribal governments and tribal organizations eligible?
Yes. Federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations are listed as eligible applicants.
Are nonprofits eligible even if they do not have 501(c)(3) status?
Yes. The eligibility list includes nonprofit organizations with and without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education).
Are for-profit organizations eligible to apply?
Yes. For-profit organizations are listed as eligible, including small businesses and for-profits other than small businesses.
What type of research approach is NIJ signaling as competitive?
Competitive proposals will generally be expected to use strong evaluation methods, rely on credible outcome measures, and produce findings that are useful to the field, including practical lessons on implementation and scalability.
What kinds of outcomes might an evaluation measure under this solicitation?
Based on the solicitation description, evaluations may measure changes in officer behavior and decision-making, field outcomes tied to training, safety and wellness outcomes, investigative outcomes (such as workflow effectiveness or clearance-related outcomes), and outcomes associated with strategies and tactics used to achieve public safety goals.
Does NIJ encourage applied, real-world studies?
Yes. The focus is on applied evaluation research that can directly inform real-world policing policy and practice.
Do projects need to address "for whom" and "under what conditions" approaches work?
Yes. NIJ is explicitly interested in studies that test effectiveness and clarify for whom approaches work, under what conditions, and what outcomes they produce.
Does the solicitation suggest that partnerships may be useful?
Yes. While eligibility is broad, the description notes that projects of this type often involve partnerships between law enforcement agencies (for access, implementation context, and operational data) and research entities (for evaluation design, analysis, and reporting).
Is this opportunity aimed at building the evidence base in policing?
Yes. The stated overall aim is to strengthen the evidence base around policing by supporting rigorous evaluations that produce actionable findings.
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