The Justice Department announced Wednesday that it is awarding $4 billion to support public safety and community justice activities in the states and territories and local and Tribal communities.
The grants from the Department’s Office of Justice Programs will fund efforts across the country to reduce violence, expand services for crime victims and survivors, and improve outcomes for youth and adults involved in the criminal and juvenile justice systems.
“The Justice Department is working together with our law enforcement and community partners across the country to turn the tide in the fight against violent crime,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “This $4 billion investment across more than 3,800 different programs will advance our efforts to drive down violent crime, support victims, build trust between law enforcement and the communities we serve, and ensure that all Americans feel safe and are safe in their communities.”
The more than 3,800 fiscal year 2024 grants that OJP is awarding will support community-driven public safety efforts and evidence-informed interventions designed to curb violent crime, address victimization, reduce recidivism, and strengthen bonds of trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.
This funding continues the investments in community safety made by the Justice Department since the release of its Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Violent Crime in 2021.
Last week, the White House and the Justice Department announced targeted investments to aid communities in reducing gun violence, a centrepiece of which is OJP’s Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative.
This initiative has now awarded more than $270 million to support community-led violence intervention programs and related training and technical assistance and research, funded in part through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
“The Department of Justice is committed to supporting violence prevention efforts, increasing safety and wellness for law enforcement and the communities they serve, expanding services for victims, and enhancing our research and data collection capacity to advance effective community safety strategies,” said Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer. “The grants announced today further our longstanding efforts to work with our state, local, and Tribal partners to advance community-based approaches to promoting safety and justice for all communities.”
The funding announced today will expand partnerships between the justice system and community-based organizations, support collaboration between law enforcement officials and behavioural health professionals when responding to crises, help people involved in the criminal and juvenile justice systems successfully return to their communities, provide trauma-informed services to victims and survivors of crime, including those in underserved areas, make available a full range of support for children and youth, improve registration and management practices for people convicted of sex offences, and support research and statistical activities to expand the base of knowledge and available data about the nation’s community safety challenges for years to come.
“Over the last three-and-a-half years, we have been working closely with our justice system and community partners, as co-producers of safety and justice, to advance comprehensive solutions to the most pressing public safety challenges facing America’s communities,” said OJP Acting Assistant Attorney General Brent J. Cohen. “Today, we are proud to deliver billions of dollars in additional resources to promote community safety and create a more equitable justice system for all. I look forward to the progress we will continue to make, together, to achieve safer and more just communities.”
