Deadline: 7 July 2020
The United States Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs INL is seeking applications from qualified U.S. and non-U.S. based non-governmental (NGOs)/non-profit organizations or Educational Institutions for a Grant/Cooperative Agreement to implement a program entitled “Colombian National Police Human Resources Assessment.”
This project should support the overarching goal of INL Bogota’s Law Enforcement Professionalization Section (LEPS): to disrupt and dismantle narcotrafficking and other transnational crime by enhancing CNP capabilities, processes, and internal structures. To contribute to that goal, this project will assess the effectiveness of Colombian National Police (CNP) recruitment and retention processes and policies and provide recommendations, if warranted, that help the CNP (1) incorporate and keep the most qualified workforce possible and (2) increase staffing levels within CNP Directorates that most directly counter narcotics and crime.
Project Purpose: This project should support the overarching goal of INL Bogota’s Law Enforcement Professionalization Section (LEPS): to disrupt and dismantle narcotrafficking and other transnational crime by enhancing CNP capabilities, processes, and internal structures. To contribute to that goal, this project will assess the effectiveness of Colombian National Police (CNP) recruitment and retention processes and policies and provide recommendations, if warranted, that help the CNP (1) incorporate and keep the most qualified workforce possible and (2) increase staffing levels within CNP Directorates that most directly counter narcotics and crime.
Project Goals
- Evaluate existing CNP recruitment and retention policies and provide recommendations that result in the speedy incorporation and long-term retention of highly-qualified uniformed police working to combat narcotrafficking and organized crime.
- Identify efficiencies that could result in the quick deployment of existing police personnel into high need areas.
Project Objectives and Activities
- Objective 1: Increase CNP recruitment and retention.
- Recruitment: The CNP is regularly missing its recruitment targets. Recruitment occurs at its strongest in only five of the country’s 32 departments. The remainder of the country’s recruitment efforts are not producing the numbers that the CNP needs to provide police coverage nationwide especially in the rural areas. The high cost of paying for the basic academy and generational trends that allegedly make police work less attractive reduce the effectiveness of CNP recruitment efforts. This study should clearly identify factors affecting recruitment and provide recommendations to mitigate these.
- Retention: CNP officers are retiring almost immediately after they reach 20 years of service. The early exit of experienced police officers erodes institutional memory, deprives younger officers from mentors, and generates serious attrition problems. This assessment should identify factors influencing early retirement and provide recommendations that reverse this trend. Part of this human resources assessment should include a comparison of regional law enforcement retirement systems.
- Activity 1: Recruitment and hiring process study- Highlight factors that lead to diminished applicant interest in law enforcement. Review the incorporation process to include data analysis. Examine CNP candidate assessment tools to determine if they are too stringent in disqualifying candidates. Investigate incorporation offices throughout the country to determine why some are successful at recruiting and others are not.
- Activity 2: Recruitment training- Provide a train the trainer course on effective recruitment tactics, including holding recruitment fairs and employing effective mass communication and marketing techniques.
- Activity 3: Salary study- Perform a comparative regional analysis of law enforcement remuneration and benefit schemes. Evaluate how current CNP compensation regimes affect recruitment and retention.
- Activity 4: Basic academy funding study- Study funding alternatives to fund the basic academy at no cost for the cadets.
- Activity 5: Analysis of CNP retirement trends- Identify variables that lead to early retirement and provide recommendations on how to mitigate these. Complete a comparative analysis of regional law enforcement retirement systems.
- Objective 2: Assess whether clerical and administrative positions currently occupied by CNP personnel can be staffed by civilians and/or wounded police officers who can no longer serve in the field.
- The CNP currently has over thousands of uniformed police officers assigned to clerical positions. Examining whether the CNP could replace these trained police officers with civilian personnel and/or wounded police officers who can no longer serve in the field, could potentially result in the identification on thousands of personnel readily available to deploy to high need areas.
- Activity 1: Explore budgetary and logistical paths to return as many police assigned to clerical duties as possible to security related duties and replace them with civilian employees and/or wounded police officers who can no longer serve in the field.
- Activity 2: Produce a systematic plan that INL can initiate to assist the CNP to convert police-encumbered positions to civilian positions¸ and/or tailored to wounded police officers who can no longer serve in the field and redeploy the able bodied police to security duties.
- Activity 3: Provide recommendations on how best to incorporate wounded police officers into the CNP workforce.
Grant Information
- The anticipated total federal funding amount is not to exceed $500,000.
- The period of performance is 2 year(s) with an anticipated start date of March 2, 2020.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants that qualify to receive U.S. grants (such as U.S. not-for-profit/nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) or U.S.-based educational institutions subject to section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code; foreign not-for-profits/non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or foreign based educational institutions, or Public International Organizations (PIOs) with the ability to develop and successfully implement a project in Colombia and meet INL’s reporting requirements. Organizations must also be able to demonstrate current (or pending) country registration in Colombia, if required by the country of project implementation.
- Applicants must have demonstrated experience implementing similar education or capacity building programs, preferably in Colombia or Latin America. INL reserves the right to request additional background information on organizations that do not have previous experience administering similar programs and/or federal grant awards.
- Applicants must have the ability to produce course materials, deliver training, and conduct evaluations in Spanish and English. The applicant’s staff should be proficient in English in order to fulfill reporting requirements.
- Applicants must have existing, or the capacity to develop, active partnerships with stakeholders in order to successfully carry out the proposed program.
- Organizations may form a consortium and submit a combined proposal. However, one organization should be designated as the lead applicant and other members as sub-award partners.
Please Note: For-Profit Organizations are excluded from applying to this grant announcement.
For all application documents, please ensure:
- All pages are numbered, including budgets and attachments,
- All documents are formatted to 8 ½ x 11 paper, and
- All Microsoft Word documents are single-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font, with a minimum of 1-inch margins.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=326940