Program Eligibility and Distribution of Funds

To be considered eligible for the LLEBG Program, a jurisdiction must be a general purpose unit of local government.¹ The unit of local government must report, via its law enforcement agencies, to the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) Program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The LLEBG Program is a formula program based on a jurisdiction’s number of UCR Part I violent crimes reported to the FBI. The formula is computed in two stages. In the first stage, state allocations are proportionate to each state’s average annual amount of UCR Part I violent crimes compared with that for all other states for the 3 most recent calendar years of data from the FBI. Each state, however, must receive a minimum award of 0.25 percent of the total amount available for formula distribution under the LLEBG Program. In the second stage, local awards are proportionate to each local jurisdiction’s average annual amount of UCR Part I violent crimes compared with that for all other local jurisdictions in the state for the 3 most recent calendar years. Jurisdictions reporting crime rates above the formula-based threshold of $10,000 are eligible for direct awards.

The difference remaining between the state allocation and the local allocation total is awarded to a state administrative agency (SAA) designated by the Governor. The SAA has the option of distributing award funds to state police departments or units of local government not meeting the formula-based threshold of $10,000. Additional information about this portion of the funds is available from each state’s respective SAA.

Program Purpose Areas

LLEBG Program funds must be spent in accordance with one or more of the following seven purpose areas:

• Supporting law enforcement:
  
  
  • Hiring, training, and employing on a continuing basis new, additional law enforcement officers and necessary support personnel.
    
    
  • Paying overtime to currently employed law enforcement officers and necessary support personnel to increase the number of hours worked by such personnel.
    
    
  • Procuring equipment, technology, and other material directly related to basic law enforcement functions.
    
    
• Enhancing security measures in and around schools and in and around other facilities or locations that the unit of local government considers special risks for incidents of crime.
  
  
• Establishing or supporting drug courts.
  
  
• Enhancing the adjudication of cases involving violent offenders, including cases involving violent juvenile offenders.
  
  
• Establishing a multijurisdictional task force, particularly in rural areas, composed of law enforcement officials representing units of local government. This task force must work with federal law enforcement officials to prevent and control crime.
  
  
• Establishing crime prevention programs involving cooperation between community residents and law enforcement personnel to control, detect, or investigate crime or to prosecute criminals.
  
  
• Defraying the cost of indemnification insurance for law enforcement officers.

Note

1. Units of local government are counties, towns and townships, villages, cities, parishes, Indian tribes, Alaska Native villages, and parish sheriffs (in the state of Louisiana) that carry out substantial governmental duties.