Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowLaw enforcement agencies in the Southern District of Indiana have been granted nearly $3 million to be dedicated to stemming gun violence through the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative, Southern District U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler announced this week.
The grant funding was announced as part of the launch of Project Safe Neighborhoods 2.0, a DOJ program begun in October 2017 designed to enable local law enforcement to combat violent crime.
“Project Safe Neighborhoods is a proven program with demonstrated results,” U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in statement. “…Each United States Attorney has prioritized the PSN program, and I am confident that it will continue to reduce crime, save lives, and restore safety to our communities.”
The DOJ announced last week that the Southern District will receive almost $422,000 in fiscal year 2018 grants via Project Safe Neighborhoods. Four agencies and organizations within the district will also receive funds from the department, including:
- Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, $798,000 for Crime Gun Intelligence Center
- City of Indianapolis, $456,891 for Project Safe Neighborhoods
- John H. Boner Community Center, $999,913 for Community-Based Crime Reduction Program
- Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, $277,968 for National Integrated Ballistics Information Network Focus
In announcing his office’s receipt of the federal funds last week, Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said the grant will be leveraged to prioritize prosecution of cases tied to guns identified in the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN). To accomplish this, the funds will support a deputy prosecutor position assigned to receive and analyze links generated by the Indianapolis Crime Lab and alert a deputy prosecutor when an investigation or pending prosecution involves a gun linked to criminal activity through NIBIN.
“The addition of a dedicated deputy prosecutor for review and use of this data will undoubtedly improve our ability to investigate and prosecute gun-related crimes,” Curry said in a statement. “Our ability to track gun-related crimes and identify connections through a national database is another effort to push forward a coordinated, smart approach to addressing violent crime.”
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.