Project Safe Neighborhoods
Project Safe Neighborhoods ("PSN") is a Department of Justice initiative to reduce gun crimes. It networks existing local law enforcement programs that target gun crimes and provides a focal point for community activists in their anti-violence and anti-crime initiatives.
There are five elements to PSN: partnerships, strategic planning, training, community outreach and accountability.
Partnerships and Strategic Planning. Our partners include the R.I. Attorney General's office, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, the Providence Police Department and The Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence. To date, federal PSN funds have paid for additional federal and state prosecutors and ATF investigators, provided training, and helped the City of Providence and The Institute launch Streetworkers, a network of violence intervention workers who work within neighborhoods to counsel the City's youth. We meet regularly with our law enforcement partners to jointly review gun cases for prosecution and to discuss and implement future strategies. Since 2001 when President Bush announced PSN, our federal gun prosecutions have more than doubled, and gun offenders prosecuted federally have been sentenced to more than 600 years in prison.
Training. On a regular basis, our prosecutors provide PSN training to the law enforcement community. We offer training in weapons violations, preparing search warrants for federal prosecutors, processing evidence, and officer safety and survival techniques. To schedule your PSN training session, please call Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha.
Community Outreach. Our United States Attorney, Robert Corrente, and our PSN Coordinator, Peter Neronha, routinely visit middle and high schools and various other community centers engaging students and citizens in discussions about PSN.
Among recent public outreach efforts:
- Our AUSAs schedule monthly visits to the state prison to discuss PSN and to give cautionary advice on federal laws to inmates who are soon-to-be paroled.
- Our office issues a seasonal newsletter called Rhode Island Fed, which includes highlights of our PSN initiatives, prosecutions and sentences.
- Our office organizes bi-annual Toy Gun Bashes.
- Our office has embarked on a PSN poster and letter-writing campaign.
- In conjunction with our PSN partners, we coordinated the creation of an interactive newspaper insert entitled "All About Gun Safety".
Accountability. Consistent and vigilant review of gun violence reduction efforts is necessary for a successful and proactive gun violence reduction strategy. Our PSN message "No Friends. No Family. No Freedom. Gun Crime Means Hard Time" is reaching the streets. Recently, Providence Police officers stopped a criminal who immediately asked, "Am I going federal?"
To hear PSN's national radio spot, click PSN Radio Spots.
To view PSN's national television spot, click PSN TV Spots.
Project Safe Neighborhoods: http://www.psn.gov/