NIJ FY 2026 Research and Evaluation on Drones as First Responders

In plain English

National Institute of Justice (Department of Justice) is accepting applications for this grant until Nov 30, 2026 (19 days left).

Awards are up to $3,500,000 each, the agency expects to make 6 awards and estimated total program funding is $3,500,000.

Eligible applicant types include nonprofits, small businesses, for-profit companies, state governments, local governments, tribal governments & organizations, colleges & universities, school districts and public housing authorities, plus others described in the listing.

The listing says cost sharing or matching is not required.

Built only from the fields in the Grants.gov listing. Always confirm on the official listing.

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• 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 with 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education)
• Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education)
• Private institutions of higher education
• For-profit organizations other than small businesses
• Small businesses
• Others (see the eligibility details in the listing)

Additional eligibility information (excerpt from the listing):

Other Units of Local Government

Excerpt from the official synopsis on Grants.gov (shortened; read the full text on the official listing):

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the NIJ FY 2026 Research and Evaluation on Drones as First Responders. This opportunity seeks proposals for rigorous evaluations of implementations of drone technology to combat violent crime, immigration enforcement, and other law enforcement activities. The goal of this NOFO is to provide actionable information about police implementation of small drones through a collaboration between law enforcement agencies and researchers. NIJ welcomes research and evaluation of drones as first responders (DFR) capabilities, including evaluation of existing capabilities or pilot programs at police departments already using DFR, as well as implementation of new pilot programs or demonstrations. NIJ expects research entities and law enforcement agencies to collaborate on implementing DFR and evaluating operational performance. …

Read the full listing on Grants.gov → · Agency's announcement page