Justice Department Awards More Than $17.5 Million to Support Project Safe Neighborhoods

The Department of Justice announced today that it has awarded more than $17.5 million in grants – including more than $378,000 in the Northern District of Texas – to support the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program. Funding will support efforts across the country to address violent crime, including the gun violence that is often at its core.

Fort Worth’s Safe City Commission, also known as One Safe Place, will handle the Northern District of Texas PSN funds, which will be distributed to police departments and nonprofits that support the PSN mission through enforcement and crime prevention programs.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), part of the department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP), will administer the 88 grant awards, which are being made to designated fiscal agents to support local PSN projects that work in partnership with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices. With approval from BJA, the Safe City Commission, the Northern District of Texas’s fiscal agent, will begin the process of making subawards for PSN grant projects.

“I am immensely proud of the Northern District of Texas’ award-winning PSN program, which relies on collaboration between federal, state, and local law enforcement and area nonprofits to reduce violent crime,” said U.S. Attorney Chad E. Meacham. “Our data-driven, compassionate approach ensures that our residents feel safe in their communities. We’re focused not just on locking up criminals, but at getting to the root cause of violence and stopping it. We’re determined to make Dallas, Fort Worth, Lubbock and Amarillo better places to live and work, and we’re hopeful this grant money will help us achieve that goal.”

“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.”

In May 2021, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced a new effort to reduce violent crime, including the gun violence that is often at its core. Integral to that effort was the reinvigoration of PSN, a two-decade old evidence-based and community-oriented program focused on reducing violent crime. The updated PSN approach, outlined in the department’s Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Violent Crime issued by Deputy Attorney General Monaco, is guided by four key principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities and measuring the results of our efforts. The fundamental goal is to reduce violent crime, not simply to increase the number of arrests or prosecutions.

This fall, U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country have enhanced their violent crime reduction efforts to ensure alignment with the department’s comprehensive violent crime reduction strategy. U.S. Attorneys’ Offices have engaged in outreach to law enforcement and other agencies and organizations serving communities to identify the most significant drivers of violence in their districts. Working together with a broad coalition of stakeholders, the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices are addressing the most pressing violent crime issues in their district to make our neighborhoods safer for all.

PSN programs are led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in collaboration with local public safety agencies, community stakeholders and other agencies and organizations that work to reduce violent crime. You can read more about the Northern District of Texas’ PSN program here. For a list of all PSN grantees nationwide, click here.