Most of what we sell costs less than sending one officer to one conference. Even so, small purchases don't have to come out of your operating budget. Police agencies routinely pay for training materials, reference resources, and professional services through grant programs and risk-management funds that already exist for that purpose.
One thing before the list: we don't decide what qualifies, and we won't pretend to. Whether a specific purchase is allowable under a specific program is decided by the people who administer that program — your state administering agency, your POST, your insurance pool. What we can do is tell you where agencies like yours usually look, give you the exact question to ask, and hand you the paperwork that makes the ask easy. Most of these conversations take one phone call.
1. Federal Justice Assistance Grants (Byrne JAG)
The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant is the leading federal source of criminal-justice funding to states and local governments. Its statutory purpose areas include law enforcement programs, and its allowable uses include training, equipment, and supplies within those areas. Many states run dedicated solicitations for law-enforcement training and equipment funded through JAG — for example, Virginia's Department of Criminal Justice Services operates a Byrne JAG solicitation specifically for law-enforcement training and equipment.
Who decides: your State Administering Agency (SAA) — the state office that distributes JAG funds. Every state has one, and most run annual solicitation windows, so it's worth asking when the current one opens.
The question to ask: "Under our JAG award, are printed training and reference materials, subscription-based reference software, and contracted professional services allowable as training materials, supplies, or contractual support for a law-enforcement program?"
2. State POST and training funds
Most states operate a Peace Officer Standards and Training commission (names vary), and many maintain training funds or reimbursement programs. What they cover differs significantly by state — some reimburse course tuition only, others cover training materials and resources. There is no national rule, so we won't claim one.
Who decides: your state POST or your regional academy's training coordinator.
The question to ask: "Does our training fund reimburse reference and training materials purchased for department-wide use, or only course tuition?"
3. Municipal insurance risk pools
If your municipality belongs to an intergovernmental risk pool (most small ones do), that pool has a direct financial interest in reducing your liability exposure. Many pools operate loss-control or risk-management programs; some offer grants or premium credits tied to training and policy improvements. Documentation standards, defensible report language, and court-ready procedure — the exact subject matter of our materials — are the kinds of liability-reduction work pools exist to encourage. Whether your pool funds materials like ours is a question only your pool can answer.
Who decides: your pool's loss-control or risk-management representative. Your town administrator knows who this is.
The question to ask: "Does our pool offer risk-management grants or premium credits for training and policy resources aimed at reducing liability exposure?"
4. Small purchases may not need bids at all
Also not a funding program — just a procurement fact worth knowing. Under the federal Uniform Guidance, purchases below the micro-purchase threshold can generally be made without competitive quotes, and grant-funded purchases follow the stricter of the federal threshold or your own purchasing policy. Most items in our catalog — the book, individual posters, poster packs, and app subscriptions — cost a small fraction of that threshold. Whether your policy allows a simple purchase-card transaction at these amounts is a question for your purchasing office, and thresholds in state and local policies are often lower than the federal one, so ask before assuming.
Who decides: your procurement officer or town administrator, under your local purchasing policy.
The question to ask: "What is our small-purchase threshold, and can training reference materials under that amount go on a purchase card?"
5. Sole-source procurement (not funding — paperwork)
Separate from where the money comes from: many purchasing policies require competitive quotes above a threshold, with an exception for products available from only one source. Applied Police Resources is the sole author, publisher, and licensor of The Investigator's Field Reference, the Field Reference Series figures, and OnScene. Agency licenses, poster packs, digital editions, and consulting services are available only direct from us; the hardcover book is additionally available at retail through Amazon, without any organizational license. If your purchase requires a sole-source justification, we'll provide a written justification letter describing the products' single-source nature for your procurement office to review.
Who decides: your procurement officer or town administrator, under your local purchasing policy.
To request the letter: email support@appliedpoliceresources.com with your agency name and the products you're considering.
A note for your procurement office: when an agency buys goods or services from us with grant funds, we act as a vendor, not a subrecipient of the grant. Applied Police Resources is not suspended or debarred, and your office can verify that against the SAM.gov exclusions list at any time. If your policy asks for additional vendor documentation — W-9, quotes, product descriptions — email us and we'll turn it around quickly.
The ten-minute version
- Forward this page to your grant administrator or town office with one line: "Do we have JAG, POST, or risk-pool funds that could cover training reference materials like these?"
- Ask your purchasing office one more: "Is a purchase this size under our small-purchase threshold?" If it is, the paperwork may be as simple as a purchase card.
- If the answer is yes or maybe, ask what documentation they need. Quotes, product descriptions, and a sole-source letter are available from us on request.
- If the answer is no, our individual-license pricing was built for exactly that situation.
The fine print
Applied Police Resources is not a grant writer, grant consultant, or procurement advisor, and nothing on this page is legal or financial advice. We make no representation that any Applied Police Resources product or service is eligible under any specific funding program. Funding and procurement decisions rest entirely with the administering agencies and your local purchasing authority. Program rules change; verify current requirements with the administering agency before relying on them.