Justice Dept., in Brownsville, announces public safety grants

September 25, 2012 Brooklyn Eagle Staff
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Holder targets neighborhood crime

Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Director Denise E. O’Donnell, speaking in Brooklyn on Tuesday, announced more than $11 million in awards to address neighborhood-level crime in 15 locations nationwide.

The awards, administered through the department’s new Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation (BCJI) program, will target locations or neighborhoods with significant levels of crime.

The announcement includes a $600,000 award to the Center for Court Innovation (CCI) for the Brownsville Anti-Violence Project. In addition to the Center for Court Innovation, this partnership organization is supported by the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, the New York City Police Department, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of New York, the New York State Department of Corrections, the Pitkin Avenue Business Improvement District and the Brownsville Partnership.

O’Donnell was joined by U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Loretta E. Lynch, New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, and Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes.

BCJI is a part of the Obama Administration’s larger Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (NRI), which helps local and tribal communities develop community-oriented strategies to change neighborhoods of distress into neighborhoods of opportunity.

“While overall crime rates have continued to decline nationwide, some neighborhoods have experienced troubling increases in specific types of criminal activity, which is why the department and our partners are providing additional resources to communities that need them the most,” said Attorney General Holder.

Earlier this year, BJA awarded, through an agreement with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), $2 million in Public Safety Enhancement grants to HUD’s Choice Neighborhood grantees in Boston, Chicago, New Orleans and San Francisco.

“In times of limited resources, community leaders need tools and information about crime trends in their jurisdiction and support to assess, plan and implement the most effective use of criminal justice resources to address priority crime issues,” said O’Donnell.

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