The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has awarded $166,027 to support the Project Safe Neighborhoods Program in the Eastern District of Tennessee.
On Friday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee announced in a press release that the funds will go to support “community efforts to address the epidemic of gun crime and serious violence in the district.” The funds are administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, part of the DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is pleased to be able to make this announcement today,” U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III said in a statement. “The PSN program and continued collaboration with all of our law enforcement partners is key to the ongoing efforts to address the violent crime issues in our communities.”
Project Safe Neighborhoods was launched in 2001 as an “evidence-based and community-oriented response to serious gun crime.” According to the DOJ, the project is a “nationwide initiative that brings together federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement officials, prosecutors, community leaders, and other stakeholders to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in a community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.”
According to the DOJ, the goal of the program is to “reduce violent crime, not simply to increase the number of arrests or prosecutions” by following four design elements of violent crime reduction initiatives: community engagement, prevention and intervention, focused and strategic enforcement, and accountability.
The program is coordinated by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in the 94 federal judicial districts throughout the 50 states and U.S. territories.
“Reducing violence and sustaining those reductions will require strong partnerships between criminal justice agencies and community stakeholders and a shared commitment to the safety and well-being of every community member,” OJP Deputy Assistant Attorney General Maureen Henneberg said in a statement. “The investments we are making through Project Safe Neighborhoods will enable every stakeholder to play a part in building safer and healthier communities.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Quiet neighborhood” by Don Hamerly CC2.0.
