Justice Department Provides More Than $2M in Law Enforcement Grants
Rhode Island Law Enforcement Nets More Than $1.2 Million in Justice Department Grants
PROVIDENCE – United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha today announced that the City of Central Falls has been awarded nearly $1.2 in grant funding through the Justice Department’s Office of Community Policing Services (COPS Office) Cops Hiring Program (CHP), and that the Rhode Island Department of Public Safety has been awarded $84,187 in support of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program.
Central Falls is one of just 180 law enforcement agencies across the country selected to share in $139 million in direct funding from the COPS Program to hire additional law enforcement professionals. The Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance award of $84,187 in support of the PSN Program to the Rhode Island Department of Public Safety is in support of community efforts to address the epidemic of gun crime and serious violence in the district.
“As law enforcement agencies across the nation continue to experience recruitment and retention challenges, we are proud to provide these resources to help alleviate those challenges confronting the profession,” said COPS Office Acting Director Robert Chapman in announcing the CHP grants to bolster the number of officers on the street.
In announcing the PSN grants, Office of Justice Programs Deputy Assistant Attorney General Maureen Henneberg commented , “Reducing violence and sustaining those reductions will require strong partnerships between criminal justice agencies and community stakeholders and a shared commitment to the safety and well-being of every community member,” said OJP Deputy Assistant Attorney General Maureen Henneberg. “The investments we are making through Project Safe Neighborhoods will enable every stakeholder to play a part in building safer and healthier communities.”
“These grant awards support two critical aspects of the Justice Department’s efforts to ensure safety and effective law enforcement in our community, by funding targeted efforts to address gun crimes, and by promoting effective, responsive policing that responds to community needs and conditions,” said U.S. Attorney Cunha. “The Department is proud to partner with local law enforcement in these critical efforts.”
COPS Hiring Program
CHP is a competitive award program intended to reduce crime and advance public safety through community policing. CHP provides funds directly to law enforcement agencies to hire new or rehire additional career law enforcement officers and deputies to enhance their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts. Of the 180 agencies awarded grants today, nearly half will use the funding to focus on building legitimacy and trust between law enforcement and communities; 30 agencies will seek to address high rates of gun violence; 26 will focus on other areas of violence; and 28 will focus CHP resources on combating hate and domestic extremism or supporting police-based responses to persons in crisis. The complete list of awards can be found here.
To learn more about CHP, please visit https://cops.usdoj.gov/
The COPS Office is the federal component of the Department of Justice responsible for advancing community policing nationwide. The only Department of Justice agency with policing in its name, the COPS Office was established in 1994 and has been the cornerstone of the nation’s crime fighting strategy with grants, a variety of knowledge resource products, and training and technical assistance. Through the years, the COPS Office has become the go-to organization for law enforcement agencies across the country and continues to listen to the field and provide the resources that are needed to reduce crime and build trust between law enforcement and the communities served.
Project Safe Neighborhoods
Launched two decades ago as an evidence-based and community-oriented response to serious gun crime, Project Safe Neighborhoods, known as PSN, is a key component of the Department’s Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Violent Crime, outlined by Deputy Attorney General Monaco in May 2021. The PSN approach is guided by four key principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities; supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place; 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.
PSN programs are led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in collaboration with local public safety agencies and community organizations. The programs’ emphasis on community engagement, prevention and intervention measures, focused and strategic enforcement, and measurement and accountability has helped achieve overall reductions in violent crime, including gun homicides, in neighborhoods where PSN strategies have been implemented.
The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, advance racial equity in the administration of justice, assist victims and enhance the rule of law. More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.