One year ago, the Department of Justice announced the revitalization and enhancement of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department’s violent crime reduction strategy. Today, $28 million in grant funding was awarded nationally to combat violent crime through PSN programs, as well as an additional $3 million for training and technical assistance to develop and implement violent crime reduction strategies and enhance services and resources for victims of violent crime. Locally, the District of Minnesota has received a funding allocation of $441,632.
“Collaboration with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and community stakeholders to develop tailored solutions to address violent crime issues throughout the state is key," said U.S. Attorney MacDonald. “I am surging federal resources to our violence reduction efforts, which includes hiring additional prosecutors and the provision of nearly $500,000 in funding. These resources will support an aggressive, three-pronged approach to our PSN strategy-including enforcement, prevention, and treatment-because ensuring safe neighborhoods and communities for all Minnesotans is my top priority."
The District of Minnesota is collaborating with the Minnesota Department of Public Safety to administer the funding. A portion of the funding will be dedicated to the City of Minneapolis to continue efforts to reduce gang and gun violence through its Group Violence Intervention (GVI) strategy. Funding will also be set aside for other jurisdictions that are seeing an uptick in violence and are interested in developing locally-based solutions, in partnership with the federal government. Additional information for jurisdictions interested in applying will be available in the coming months, through the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Office of Justice Programs.
FY 2018 PSN Funding Allocation amounts can be found.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
