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The Department of Justice announced today more than $370 million in grant awards to fund state, local and Tribal crime and violence reduction efforts and evidence-based strategies that support law enforcement operations, improve officer safety and build trust with communities. The department also announced the selection of six new sites to be part of its National Public Safety Partnership, a nationwide collaborative designed to address pressing local crime challenges.
The funding, from the department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP), will support a wide range of criminal justice and public safety activities and will enable officials in jurisdictions across the country to adapt technology and data-driven measures to their public safety challenges. Grant awards will also support training to improve resilience and wellness, fund body-worn camera programs, improve public safety while expanding community engagement and underwrite research and evaluation projects that examine promising police practices.
“Our neighborhoods are safer and healthier when our law enforcement professionals have the tools and technology they need to do their jobs and when the bonds of trust with the community are strong,” said OJP Deputy Assistant Attorney General Maureen Henneberg. “The funding announced today will help provide comprehensive public safety solutions that are tailored to the needs of, and implemented in collaboration with, individual communities.”
The grants, made by OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and National Institute of Justice (NIJ), will support a range of activities designed to tackle serious violence and solve crimes, from gun offenses to sexual assault. Almost $280 million is being distributed through the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, the leading source of federal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions. Other awards will help state, local and Tribal criminal justice agencies improve information sharing, solve sexual assault cases, aid law enforcement officials in tracing and intercepting illegal guns and combating terrorism, and support research on promising policing practices.
The Justice Department’s Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Violent Crime articulates a commitment to an approach that is grounded in research and consistent with our values as a nation, and that depends on the effectiveness and wellness of America’s law enforcement community. The awards announced today will support the department’s work to build officer resilience and improve recruitment and diversity in the law enforcement profession. Grants will also help develop body-worn camera programs designed to improve efficiency and maximize transparency. Research grants will support randomized controlled trials and other analyses that examine issues such as field training, co-response models and officer retention.
In addition to these new awards, six cities will join the National Public Safety Partnership (PSP). PSP supports law enforcement and community partners in deploying data-driven, evidence-based strategies tailored to local needs. PSP has served more than 50 sites across the nation. The cities of Albuquerque, New Mexico; Greensboro, North Carolina; Rochester, New York; Sacramento, California; Tucson, Arizona; and Washington, D.C. joined the PSP network today.
“The National Public Safety Partnership’s federal engagement with its selected sites is one of the key pillars of the Justice Department’s work to reduce violence and help strengthen communities,” said BJA Director Karhlton F. Moore. “The collaboration among local entities while utilizing the support from the FBI, ATF, DEA and the U.S. Marshals is long-lasting and assists agencies in building best practices to sustain crime reduction for years to come.”
