U.S. Attorney Birge Announces Project Safe Neighborhoods Funding To Promote Violence Prevention And Community Policing In West Michigan

Local Law Enforcement and Communities Work Together to Reduce Violent Crime and Make Neighborhoods Safer

          GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – United States Attorney Andrew Birge announced today that the Department of Justice has allocated $190,995 to the Western District of Michigan Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) grant for the fiscal year 2021.  This award is one of 88 issued around the country.

          “This latest Project Safe Neighborhoods grant is critical to addressing the violent crime threatening cities and towns all across our country,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “Ensuring the safety of all Americans is the highest priority for the Department of Justice, but when it comes to violent crime, there is not a one-size-fits-all solution. We have to work closely with local public safety agencies as well as community organizations to craft individual strategies unique to each community’s needs. Programs like Project Safe Neighborhoods and the funding it provides allow us to do just that.”

          U.S. Attorney Birge explained, the “purpose of this grant funding is to reduce and prevent gun crime by supporting community-based prevention programs and focused, evidence-based law enforcement efforts in areas identified as the most at-risk.”  

          A committee of local prosecutors and law enforcement chiefs from Battle Creek, Benton Harbor, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Muskegon, and Muskegon Heights chooses how to allocate the funds.  The committee has previously focused on funding programs that foster cooperation between law enforcement officials, community members, and non-governmental organizations to prevent violence, strengthen relationships between law enforcement officials and the communities they serve, and provide alternative opportunities and activities for those most at risk of becoming involved in violent crime.  Last year the PSN grant funded a mentoring and after-school tutoring program with the Boys & Girls Club in Benton Harbor; a faith-based mobile outreach organization operating in areas that suffer from the highest rates of violence and poverty in Lansing; and a series of basketball games in which Muskegon Police Department members played alongside community members.

          The United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan is committed to supporting local law enforcement, community organizations, and residents to reduce violent crime.  Senior Vice President Annette Chapman, of the Battle Creek Community Foundation, is the fiscal agent for the Western District of Michigan’s Project Safe Neighborhoods grant.  Her dedication to the grant’s strategy, management, and community stakeholders is essential to the program’s success. 

###

          For more information about the PSN grant request for proposals or an application, please contact Annette Chapman, PSN Fiscal Agent and Senior Vice President at the Battle Creek Community Foundation, at (269) 962-2181 or bccf@bccfoundation.org.  For other federal grant opportunities, please see www.grants.gov.