Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a national initiative by the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

with the help of the

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and preve ...

(ATF) to reduce

gun violence in the United States Gun violence in the United States results in tens of thousands of deaths and injuries annually, and was the leading cause of death for children 19 and younger in 2020. In 2018, the most recent year for which data are available as of 2021, th ...

. The project's aim is to improve neighborhood safety and decrease gun violence in American communities. Project Safe Neighborhoods was established in 2001 through support from President George W. Bush. The program expands upon strategies used in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Operation Ceasefire Operation Ceasefire (also known as the Boston Gun Project and the Boston Miracle) is a problem-oriented policing initiative implemented in 1996 in Boston, Massachusetts. The program was specifically aimed at youth gun violence as a large-scale probl ...

, and in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

Project Exile Project Exile is a federal program started in Richmond, Virginia, in 1997. Project Exile shifted the prosecution of illegal technical gun possession offenses to federal court, where they carried a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federa ...

. PSN initiatives typically involve United States Attorneys working with local law enforcement to implement programs such as Gang Crime Investigation and Suppression, Prevention and Education,

Gang Resistance Education and Training Gang Resistance Education And Training, abbreviated G.R.E.A.T., provides a school-based, police officer instructed program that includes classroom instruction and various learning activities. Their intention is to teach the students to avoid gan ...

(G.R.E.A.T.), and Data Sharing and Gathering. Each local strategy incorporates the three national priorities: * Increased prosecution of violent organizations. * Heightened enforcement of all federal laws. * Renewed aggressive enforcement of federal firearms laws. Since 2001, over $1.5 billion of federal dollars have been allocated to support Project Safe Neighborhoods. Funds have been used to hire additional

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

s and provide assistance to state and local jurisdictions in support of training and community outreach efforts. On May 26, 2021, the

launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN so that it is built on newly articulated core principles including improving the community's view of the initiative, providing support to community organizations that improve neighborhood safety, and carefully monitoring any improvement in communities where PSN initiatives have been instated.

References

External links

Project Safe Neighborhoods

Project Safe Neighborhood's Anti-Gang Training

{{crime-stub Law enforcement operations in the United States