Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced the Bullet-Resistant Shield Grant Program to solicit applications from law enforcement agencies to equip peace officers with bullet-resistant shields. 

Available Funding 

State funds for these projects are authorized by a Budget Execution Order proposed by the Legislative Budget Board and ratified by Governor Abbott on June 28, 2022, pursuant to Texas Government Code, Section 317.002 and Section 317.005(b). All awards are subject to the availability of appropriated funds and any modifications or additional requirements that may be imposed by law. The Public Safety Office (PSO) expects to make available $50M for FY2023. 

Key Funding Application Dates

For more information, contact the eGrants help desk at [email protected] or (512) 463-1919. 

HighCom Armor Grant Approved Rifle Shields

HighCom Armor’s Level III Tactical and Entry Shields provide police and military personnel with advanced multi-hit protection from rifle threats. Our ballistic-resistant shields are independently tested through an NVLAP-accredited NIJ-approved laboratory to meet or exceed ballistic resistance as specified under NIJ Standard 0108.01, which is a requirement of the Texas Shield Grant Program. As one of the only USA Shield Manufacturers, we handcraft every aspect in-house for maximum quality assurance and partner with suppliers such as DuPont, DSM, Teijin, Barrday, Honeywell to ensure the highest quality materials are used in the construction of our shields. Currently deployed with law enforcement and military agencies worldwide, our shields have been battle-tested in the harshest of conditions.

The TITAN III shines on multiple mission scenarios. In large homes, holding a doorway and hallway and even in mobile homes and trailers the TITAN performs! Weapon presentation is smooth with the TITAN’s size and not being top heavy like other shields is a major benefit. Operationally, the TITAN has the ability to  stack operators with ample coverage and shines in CQB.  

Investigator Sgt. Brad Ortiz, Texas Attorney General, Fugitive Apprehension Team​

Eligible Organizations 

Applications may be submitted by independent school districts, institutions of higher education, units of local government, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and other educational institutions that operate law enforcement agencies employing peace officers under Article 2.12, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. 

All applications submitted by local law enforcement agencies/offices must be submitted by a unit of government affiliated with the agency, including an authorizing resolution from that unit of government. For example, police departments must apply under their municipal government, and community supervision and corrections departments, district attorneys, and judicial districts must apply through their affiliated county government (or one of the counties, in the case of agencies that serve more than one county). 

Application Process

Applicants must access the PSO’s eGrants grant management website to register and apply for funding. For more instructions and information, see eGrants User Guide to Creating an Application, available here. 

Project Period 

Projects must begin on or after 09/01/2022 and may not exceed a 12-month project period. 

Funding Levels 

• Minimum: None 
• Maximum: None 
• Match Requirement: None 

Standards 

Grantees must comply with standards applicable to this fund source cited in the Texas Grant Management Standards (TxGMS), Federal Uniform Grant Guidance, and all statutes, requirements, and guidelines applicable to this funding. 

Eligible Activities and Costs 

Funds may only be used for obtaining bullet-resistant shields compliant with the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Level III, III+, or IV.  Applicants are encouraged to consider the reasonable cost of their request. PSO will evaluate applications based on the number of frontline peace officers and the average cost per shield. 

Program-Specific Requirements 

Eligible officers. Grant funds may only be used to equip peace officers (as defined by Article 2.12, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure) directly employed by a law enforcement agency operated by the applicant. 

PSO will prioritize the equipping of certain types of officers in the following order: 

1) Peace officers directly employed by school districts; 

2) Peace officers contracted by school districts; and 

3) Other peace officers that may respond to school safety emergencies. 

Active Shooter Policy. All eligible organizations that apply for grant funds will ensure its law enforcement agency adopts a Critical Incidents In-Progress (Active Shooter) policy implementing, at a minimum, protocols for assessing an active threat or violent encounter and immediately responding in order to stop the killing, stop the dying, and provide rapid casualty evacuation. The policy should include procedures that address: 

Funding Announcement: Bullet-Resistant Shield Grant Program, FY2023 

• Community/First Responder Agency Notifications 
• Mutual Aid Implementation 
• Solo Officer Deployment 
• Officer Team Deployment 
• Follow-On Responders (Rescue Task Force) 
• Incident Command – Unified Command Considerations 
• Incident Debriefing 
• Training 

ALERRT Training. All officers provided with a grant-funded ballistic shield must have either attended 16 hours of ALERRT (Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training) training within the last 24 months or commit to attend within the next 24 months. ALERRT’s upcoming course schedule can be found here.

Note: Funding is available through the Public Safety Office to offset travel expenditures associated with attending ALERRT Training. Please refer to the ALERRT Travel Assistance Funding Announcement for more information on how to apply for these funds. 

Eligibility Requirements 

1. Local units of government must comply with the Cybersecurity Training requirements described in Section 772.012 and Section 2054.5191 of the Texas Government Code. Local governments determined to not be in compliance with the cybersecurity requirements required by Section 2054.5191 of the Texas Government Code are ineligible for OOG grant funds until the second anniversary of the date the local government is determined ineligible. Government entities must annually certify their compliance with the training requirements using the Cybersecurity Training Certification for State and Local Governments. A copy of the Training Certification must be uploaded to your eGrants application. For more information or to access available training programs, visit the Texas Department of Information Resources Statewide Cybersecurity Awareness Training page. 

2. Entities receiving funds from PSO must be located in a county that has an average of 90% or above on both adult and juvenile dispositions entered into the computerized criminal history database maintained by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) as directed in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 66. The disposition completeness percentage is defined as the percentage of arrest charges a county reports to DPS for which a disposition has been subsequently reported and entered into the computerized criminal history system. 

Counties applying for grant awards from the Office of the Governor must commit that the county will report at least 90% of convictions within five business days to the Criminal Justice Information System at the Department of Public Safety. 

3. Eligible applicants operating a law enforcement agency must be current on reporting complete UCR data and the Texas-specific reporting mandated by 411.042 TGC, to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) for inclusion in the annual Crime in Texas (CIT) publication. To be considered eligible for funding, applicants must have submitted a full twelve months of accurate data to DPS for the most recent calendar year by the deadline(s) established by DPS. Due to the importance of timely reporting, applicants are required to submit complete and accurate UCR data, as well as the Texas Funding Announcement: Bullet-Resistant Shield Grant Program, FY2023 mandated reporting, on a no less than monthly basis and respond promptly to requests from DPS related to the data submitted. 

Prohibitions 

4. Local units of government, including cities, counties and other general purpose political subdivisions, as appropriate, and institutions of higher education that operate a law enforcement agency, must comply with all aspects of the programs and procedures utilized by the U.S. Department of 

Homeland Security (“DHS”) to: (1) notify DHS of all information requested by DHS related to illegal aliens in the Agency’s custody; and (2) detain such illegal aliens in accordance with requests by DHS. Additionally, counties and municipalities may NOT have in effect, purport to have in effect, or make themselves subject to or bound by, any law, rule, policy, or practice (written or unwritten) that would: (1) require or authorize the public disclosure of federal law enforcement information in order to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection fugitives from justice or aliens illegally in the United States; or (2) impede federal officers from exercising authority under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), § 1226(c), § 1231(a), § 1357(a), § 1366(1), or § 1366(3). Lastly, eligible applicants must comply with all provisions, policies, and penalties found in Chapter 752, Subchapter C of the Texas Government Code. 

Each local unit of government, and institution of higher education that operates a law enforcement agency, must download, complete, and then upload into eGrants the CEO/Law Enforcement Certifications and Assurances Form certifying compliance with federal and state immigration enforcement requirements. This Form is required for each application submitted to OOG and is active until August 31, 2023, or the end of the grant period, whichever is later. 

5. In accordance with Texas Government Code, Section 420.034, any facility or entity that collects evidence for sexual assault or other sex offenses or investigates or prosecutes a sexual assault or other sex offense for which evidence has been collected must participate in the statewide electronic tracking system developed and implemented by the Texas Department of Public Safety. Visit DPS’s Sexual Assault Evidence Tracking Program website for more information or to set up an account to begin participating. 

6. Eligible applicants must be registered in the federal System for Award Management (SAM) database and have a UEI (Unique Entity ID) number assigned to its agency (to get registered in the SAM database and request a UEI number, go to https://sam.gov/

Failure to comply with program eligibility requirements may cause funds to be withheld and/or suspension or termination of grant funds. 

Grant funds may not be used to support the unallowable costs listed in the Guide to Grants or any of the following unallowable costs: 

1. Any costs ancillary to the purchase of eligible ballistic shields, such as policy development, training costs, and staff; and 

2. Any other prohibition imposed by federal, state or local law or regulation. 

Funding Announcement: Bullet-Resistant Shield Grant Program, FY2023 

Selection Process 

Application Screening: The Office of the Governor will screen all applications to ensure that they meet the requirements included in the funding announcement. 

Peer/Merit Review: The Office of the Governor will review applications to understand the overall demand for the program and for significant variations in costs per item. After this review, the Office of the Governor will determine if all eligible applications can be funded based on funds available, if there are cost-effectiveness benefits to normalizing or setting limits on the range of costs, and if other fair-share cuts may allow for broader distribution and a higher number of projects while still remaining effective. 

Final Decisions: The Office of the Governor will consider these factors and make all final funding decisions. Other factors may include cost effectiveness, overall funds availability, or state government priorities and strategies, legislative directives, need, geographic distribution, or other relevant factors. 

The Office of the Governor may not fund all applications or may only award part of the amount requested. In the event that funding requests exceed available funds, the Office of the Governor may revise projects to address a more limited focus. 

Contact

Texas Grant: For more information on Bullet-Resistant Shield Grant Program, contact the eGrants help desk at [email protected] or call (512) 463-1919. 

HighCom Armor: For more information on HighCom Armor’s Bellfire Shields, please fill out our online contact form here or call (614) 500-3065 to speak to our team directly.