The office of criminal justice assistance (OCJA) as the fiscal agent for the united statesattorney's office for the district of NEVADA's (USAO-NEVADA) project safe neighborhoods (PSN) project

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) awarded a $182,015 Project Safe Neighborhoods (CFDA 16.609) Formula Grant to the Nevada Department of Public Safety, Office of Criminal Justice Assistance. This 3-year grant, effective October 1, 2024, will support the Las Vegas metropolitan area's efforts to reduce violent crime, particularly gang and gun-related violence. Key activities include enhanced community-oriented policing, focused deterrence strategies, and hot spots policing initiatives by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. The grant will also fund community engagement, intervention, and prevention programs targeting at-risk youth and their families to discourage gang involvement. This collaborative approach involving law enforcement, prosecutors, and community partners aims to make Las Vegas communities safer by addressing the root causes of violent crime.

LAS vegas, NEVADA has one of the highest homicide rates in the country, according to a new crimedata report from the FBI. LAS vegas ranked among the largest cities in america with 152HOMICIDES in 2021. NEVADA ranks 13TH in states in the nation for the number of violent crimes witha rate of 3,443 incidents per I 00,000 state residents. That's 39% higher than the national rateof 2,477 per 100,000 people and 22% higher than that of NEVADA total crime rate of 2,815.9 per 100,000 people. LAS vegas is currently experiencing a large increase in criminal gang violenceinvolving a firearms or other deadly weapon in the valley. Due to the increase in gang violence, especially violence associated with firearms, the PSN grantwill focus on the neighborhoods reflecting the highest volume of gang and gun crimes for the FY24PSN grant based on available data.LAS vegas metropolitan police department (LVMPD) will utilize evidence-based strategies such ascommunity oriented policing, focused deterrence, and hot spots policing to combat the growingproblem of gang and gun related violence. To compliment and expand on the law enforcement componentof the grant, the PSN team will determine the use of grant funds to supplement local law enforcement to engage and collaborate with the to-be selected community partners to create a program aimed atintervention/prevention, and outreach to at-risk youth offenders and their family members that willdiscourage youth from entering gangs. Additional officers and patrols for enforcement will be scheduled directed at the areas with thehighest amount of gang and gun violence. The FY24 PSN program intends to continue its focus on fostering meaningful partnerships with locallaw enforcement in LAS vegas, school engagement, prosecution, and involvement with communityorganizations to reduce gang-related violence and make the communities safer. The FY24 PSN grantfunding will be used to build rapport with community leaders, enhance lines of communication, andenhance mechanisms for seeking community support to identify gang activities througha community outreach component.