Justice Department Announces More Than $376 Million In Awards To Promote Public Safety

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Department of Justice today announced that it has awarded more than $376 million in grant funding to enhance state, local and tribal law enforcement operations and reinforce public safety efforts in jurisdictions across the United States. Nearly $6.5 million will support public safety activities in Nevada. The awards were made by the Department’s Office of Justice Programs.

“Crime and violence hold families, friends and neighborhoods hostage, and they rip communities apart,” said OJP Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan. “These programs help restore the health and safety of crime-ravaged communities by supporting prevention activities, aiding in the apprehension and prosecution of perpetrators, facilitating appropriate sentencing and adjudication, and providing communities and their residents the means for recovery and healing.”

The awards announced today support an array of crime-fighting initiatives, including the quarter-billion dollar Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grants Program, which funds public safety efforts in 929 state, local and tribal jurisdictions. Funding also supports sex offender registration and notification, law enforcement-based victim services, the testing of sexual assault kits, and programs designed to address youth with sexual behavioral problems. Other awards will focus on wrongful convictions, intellectual property enforcement, innovative prosecution strategies and the safety and effectiveness of corrections systems.

“Today’s grant awards exemplify the Department of Justice’s commitment to resourcing crime-fighting and victim services assistance in Nevada,” said U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich for the District of Nevada. “These grants will fund a broad range of programs. One award in particular will provide additional resources to further Nevada’s incredible accomplishments on its sexual assault kit initiative.”

The following awards were made to organizations in the District of Nevada:

BJA Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program

The program supports a broad range of state and local criminal justice initiatives and reduces existing gaps in service that impact violent crime, crime victims, enforcement, prosecution, adjudication, detention, and rehabilitation. District of Nevada recipients included:

BJA National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative

The initiative supports the Department’s criminal justice priorities of reducing violent crime and supporting law enforcement officers and prosecutors by: providing jurisdictions with resources to address sexual assault kits not submitted to a forensic laboratory for testing; improving investigation and prosecution in connection with evidence and cases; and providing sites with resources to collect DNA samples. The Nevada Office of the Attorney General received a grant under this initiative in the amount of $2 million.

BJA Implementing the Prison Rape Elimination Act Standards, Protecting Inmates, and Safeguarding Communities Program

This program supports projects designed to prevent, detect, and respond to sexual abuse and sexual harassment in confinement facilities, and to achieve and maintain compliance with the Prison Rape Elimination Act standards. The Nevada Division of Child and Family Services received a grant under this program in the amount of $154,125.

OVC Law Enforcement-Based Victim Specialist Program

The program provides funding to develop and enhance crime victim specialist programs within law enforcement agencies to better support victims through the criminal justice process. The grants support connecting victims with community-based direct victim services programs. The Reno Police Department received a grant under this program in the amount of $280,777.

SMART Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant Program:

The program provides funding to states, jurisdictions, U.S. territories and tribal communities to be used to help meet the requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, Title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. The Nevada Department of Public Safety and Board of Regents of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, received grants of approximately $500,000 under this program.

For more information about OJP awards, visit the OJP Awards Data webpage.

The Office of Justice Programs, directed by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan, provides federal leadership, grants, training and technical assistance, and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, assist victims and enhance the rule of law by strengthening the criminal and juvenile justice systems. More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.

###