FY26 COPS Anti-Heroin Task Force Program

The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) is the component of the U.S. Department of Justice responsible for advancing the practice of community policing and the Administration’s priority of Making America Safe Again by supporting the nation’s state, local, territorial and Tribal law enforcement agencies through information and grant resources. This is a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the FY26 COPS Anti-Heroin Task Force (AHTF) Program. This funding opportunity seeks to advance public safety by making competitive grants to state law enforcement agencies in states with high per capita rates of primary treatment admissions, for the purpose of locating or investigating illicit activities, through statewide collaboration, relating to the distribution of heroin, fentanyl, or carfentanil or relating to the unlawful distribution of prescription opioids. FY26 AHTF seeks to increase the number of hours devoted to statewide task forces, increase the number and variety of agencies participating in task forces, and enhance the analytical capability of task forces. As community policing is common sense policing, throughout the FY26 AHTF NOFO materials, the terms ‘community policing’ and ‘common sense policing’ are used interchangeably, unless otherwise specified. Allowable costs under FY26 AHTF include the following: • Salaries and fringe benefits for new, full-time sworn career law enforcement officer positions, including eligible rehired officers not supported in the local budget. Exception: in FY26, funding may be used for existing positions supported by prior AHTF awards. • Salaries and fringe benefits for civilian/non-sworn personnel not already in supported in the local budget. Examples include: • AHTF project coordinators • Anti-heroin/opioid/drug analysts • Travel/training costs to attend AHTF related training and technical assistance conferences, seminar, or classes, or to visit a site specified in the application. • Equipment, technology, and supplies directly linked to the enhancement or implementation of the AHTF project. • Procurement contracts and consultants to support the AHTF project. Other direct project costs such as: • Software and prepaid warranties or maintenance agreements (not to exceed 36 months) • Overtime costs for sworn officers and civilians engaging in AHTF-related investigative activities Note: AHTF funding is...

General criteria for selecting proposals are set forth in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Public Law 103-322. Additional Criteria may be developed by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and will be published in the Notice of Funding Opportunity application materials.

Fiscal year 2024: In FY 2024, the COPS Office awarded more than $30.9 million in AHTF award funds to 12 state law enforcement agencies. Provisions include the following: - AHTF competitively provides funds directly to state law enforcement agencies with high rates of primary treatment admissions for heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil, or other opioids. - AHTF funding must be used for investigative purposes to locate or investigate illicit activities, including activities related to the distribution of heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil, or other opioids; the unlawful distribution of prescription opioids; or unlawful diversion and distribution of prescription opioids. - AHTF provides funds to state law enforcement agencies with multijurisdictional reach and an interdisciplinary team (e.g., task force) structures. These state law enforcement agencies must have primary law enforcement authority over heroin and other opioids seizures and investigations. - AHTF funding is not intended for treatment programs or prosecution of heroin and other opioid related activities.