Project Safe Neighborhoods
Gun Violence Remains a Major Problem in the United States
More than 10,000 people are murdered with guns every year.
Gun violence takes a serious toll on America's youth. The impact of gun violence is particularly severe on our children and young adults.
Of the approximately 1,400 juveniles murdered in 2001, 44% were killed with a firearm. Over 2,800 students were expelled in 1999-2000 for bringing guns to school. Of these, 43% were in elementary or junior high school.
Project Safe Neighborhoods
Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in America by networking existing local programs that target gun crime and providing those programs with additional tools to fit the specific gun crime problems in each area. The goal is to create safer neighborhoods by reducing gun violence and sustaining that reduction.
In the Western District of Washington Project Safe Neighborhood provides federal funds for the hiring of additional federal and state prosecutors to handle gun related prosecutions; the hiring of additional ATF agents to investigate gun offenses; and numerous grants to local communities to enhance their ability to respond to gun crimes.
To further the mission of Project Safe Neighborhoods, President Bush asked each U.S. Attorney to create a PSN Task Force. The goal of each Task Force is to design a gun crime reduction strategy that best fits the unique gun crime problem in that District.
The Western District of Washington Task Force membership reflects the I-5 corridor of the District, which research shows has the greatest population and crime rate. Members of the Task Force hold regular meetings to discuss the needs in the District and to evaluate and vote on proposals for the PSN funds.
Early in the process, the PSN Task Force requested that Northwest Crime and Social Research (research partners) provide an analysis of the rate of gun crime throughout the District and the resources available to law enforcement to address that crime. The research indicated that four key areas should be targeted: Seattle/King County, Tacoma/ Pierce County, Bremerton/Kitsap County and Clark and Cowlitz Counties. The PSN Task Force agreed that the bulk of money should go to assisting law enforcement in addressing the violent and gun crime in those areas. The Tacoma Violent Crime Task Force, a partnership of federal, state and local law enforcement has successfully used PSN funding to take some of the most violent offenders off the streets in Tacoma/Pierce County.
Additionally the Task Force identified a growing problem of fugitives from justice who continue to commit gun crimes because there are not adequate resources for law enforcement to apprehend them. The Fugitive Apprehension Task Force of the U.S. Marshal Service will be expanded by using PSN funds to pay local officers' overtime and travel costs, thus insuring a dynamic, mobile enforcement effort throughout the District.
Publicity is also essential to the effectiveness of any campaign, so PSN provided funds for outreach and media campaigns in each District. In the Western District of Washington PSN partnered with Crimestoppers for a "Zero Tolerance for Gun Crime" media campaign.
The FireArm Crime Enforcement (FACE) Coalition of King County was designated as one of the model programs during the development of the national Project Safe Neighborhood Program. It is a coalition of county-wide law enforcement; federal law enforcement; prosecutors - both federal and state; Washington State Department of Corrections and the U.S. Probation Department; and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. FACE meets monthly to address problems and concerns on gun crime enforcement and prosecution and to develop on-going district wide training on gun crime enforcement. It has been very effective in keeping the focus on gun crimes and in developing innovative procedures to insure that gun crimes have a high visibility for prosecution.
For further information on this District's PSN effort please contact:
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman
PSN Coordinator
206-553-7970
OR
Kate Greenquist
LECC Manager
206-553-5103