Weed and Seed Program
In 1991, the Department of Justice established Operation Weed and Seed as a community-based, multi-agency approach to law enforcement, crime prevention and neighborhood restoration. Weed and Seed is managed and administered at the national level by the Executive Office for Weed and Seed within the Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs. The Weed and Seed initiative encourages local communities to identify specific areas experiencing high crime, as well as social and economic decay, and to concentrate resources to prevent and control crime which hopefully will improve the overall quality of life in the designated area. The Weed and Seed strategy involves a two-pronged approach:
- Law enforcement agencies and criminal justice officials cooperate to "weed out" criminals who are violent or abuse drugs to prevent them from victimizing residents in the designated area.
- Social services and economic revitalization are brought in to "seed" the area to ensure long-term change and a higher quality of life for residents.
Following the announcement of the creation of Operation Weed and Seed, the United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee met with and encouraged local law enforcement and community leaders throughout the District to designate proposed target areas and to develop a proposals for having the area designated by the Justice Department as a Weed and Seed site. The first Weed and Seed site to receive Justice Department designation was in Dyersburg, Tennessee. Additional sites in Memphis, Humboldt, and Jackson, Tennessee, have also been recognized by the Department of Justice.
Law enforcement, government and community leaders, and representatives associated with each Weed and Seed site have engaged in a strategic planning process ultimately resulting in a detailed, multi-year plan for community action and change. Though each plan is unique, core components include:
- Focusing federal, state, and local law enforcement efforts in
the designated area in an effort to reduce crime and create a
safer environment for residents;
- Fostering
community policing concepts whereby officers work closely with
residents to develop trust and mutual respect designed to facilitate
solving crime problems through a systemic process addressing the
underlying causes of crime;
- Developing prevention, intervention, and treatment strategies
to create an environment in which crime and violence cannot thrive.
Common to all Weed and Seed sites is the Safe Haven program whereby
an array of youth- and adult-oriented services are delivered in
a multi-service setting such as a school or community center,
and
- Restoration of the neighborhood by coordinating Federal, state, local, and private sector resources to promote economic development, employment opportunities, and improvements in housing stock and physical environment of the community.
Following certification as a Weed and Seed site and the development of a long term strategy, site organizers may apply to the Executive Office for Weed and Seed for federal funding to assist in implementing its strategic plan. To date the Weed and Seed sites in Dyersburg, Memphis, and Humboldt have received grants from the Department of Justice.
The United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee continues to work with each Weed and Seed site in the District by providing general support for the efforts of each site and by committing the prosecution and other resources of the U.S. Attorney's Office necessary to implement the law enforcement strategies developed by each Weed and Seed program.
More information on Weed and Seed