James Clark of Better Family Life of the Eastern District of Missouri

St. Louis — Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker announced today that 16 awards will be given during the 2018 Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) National Conference, including one recipient in the Eastern District of Missouri, will receive a Project Safe Neighborhoods Award. These awards recognize individuals and groups for their dedication and contribution to the success of PSN.   

In the Eastern District of Missouri, James Clark of Better Family Life will be honored with an award.

"Project Safe Neighborhoods is making our prosecutions more targeted and more effective—and that makes the American people safer," said Acting Attorney General Whitaker. "Today the Department recognizes 16 examples of those who go above and beyond the call of duty in using PSN to reduce violent crime. We had a lot of impressive nominees, but even with tough competition, these 16 stood out. I want to thank each one of them for their service and congratulate them on a job well done."

In the Eastern District of Missouri, the following individual was recognized for the following award:

The Project Safe Neighborhoods Award for Outstanding Community Involvement to the PSN Program has been awarded to James Clark, Vice President of Community Outreach, for Better Family Life, Inc. (BFL), a community development organization whose mission is to promote positive and innovative changes within the St. Louis Metropolitan area through cultural, economic, and educational programs.  With the help of staff at BFL, Clark has developed and implemented a Gun Violence De-escalation Program that has successfully thwarted numerous interpersonal feuds between individuals in and around the St. Louis area that, but for Clark’s intervention, would have devolved into violent encounters.  Clark’s and BFL’s efforts have helped to save multiple lives.  Through collaboration with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, Clark has and will continue to meet with and train other U.S. Attorneys’ Offices around the country that seek to establish de-escalation programs in their districts.