NIJ is committed to building a knowledge base focused on the safety, health, and wellness of individuals employed within criminal justice occupations, individuals under the supervision of the criminal justice system, and members of the public as they interact with the system.
With this solicitation, NIJ seeks applications for funding of multidisciplinary research projects addressing any of these five topics:
- Resiliency and Recovery of Law Enforcement agencies from Singular, Extreme Traumatic Events.
- Impact of Organizational Stressors on Officer Health and Wellness.
- Effects of Pre-Career Interventions and Subsequent Reminders in Modulating Mental, Physical, and Social Responses to Stressors in Law Enforcement Officers.
- Community Hostility, Officer Health, and Effects on Policing.
- Understanding the Increased Rate of Assaults on Law Enforcement Officers
In addition to required data sets, interim and final progress and financial reports, NIJ expects scholarly products to result from each award under this solicitation, taking the form of one or more published, peer-reviewed, scientific journal articles, and/or (if appropriate) law review journal articles, book chapter(s) or book(s) in the academic press, technological prototypes, patented inventions, or similar scientific products.
All five topics, in varying degrees, lend themselves to a mixed-method approach involving a combination of the measurement of behavioral, psychological, biological, and physiological responses. Additionally, all five topics lend themselves to multidisciplinary research from behavioral science, neuroscience, operations research, and the social science communities
This solicitation supports the U.S. Department of Justice's priority of protecting officers and other public safety personnel. This solicitation also supports the following five objectives of the NIJ Safety, Health, and Wellness Strategic Research Plan:
- Support development, and promote strategies, policies, practices, and technologies that enhance the safety of criminal justice personnel.
- Develop policies, strategies, and technologies to promote safety in criminal justice interactions with the public.
- Promote research to improve the physical and mental health of individuals working in the criminal justice system.
- Study both trauma and suicide among criminal justice employees.
- Promote science-based tools and strategies to monitor physical and mental health.
Applications primarily to purchase equipment, materials, or supplies will not be considered. A budget may only include these items if they are necessary to conduct research, development, demonstration, evaluation, or analysis.