The fiscal year 2024 (FY24) project safe neighborhoods (PSN) initiative for the eastern district of washington will continue in kennewick, washington with the kennewick police department (KPD)

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) awarded a $105,650 Project Safe Neighborhoods (CFDA 16.609) Formula Grant to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) to support the Kennewick Police Department's (KPD) violence reduction efforts in the Eastern District of Washington. This 3-year grant, effective October 1, 2024, will enable KPD to further develop data-informed strategies, enhance gun violence intelligence procedures, and expand regional collaboration with multi-jurisdictional task forces to address gun and gang-related violent crime in the community. The grant funding will assist KPD in building analytical capacity, deploying targeted enforcement, and implementing prevention and intervention programs to reduce repeat domestic violence, gun violence, and other priority violent crime issues.

KPD launched their PSN project in october 2023 to focus on improving data informed procedures for deploying police resources, using data to reduce violent crime (e.g., repeat domestic violence, gun violence) within the city, and enhance regional prevention and intervention responses to violent crime. PSN year 1 activities for the KPD included establishing a PSN strategic plan that leveraged the existing KPD three-year plan. Items specific to the PSN strategic plan include focusing on strategies to enhance data analysis and analytical training to further support the city's crime reduction efforts. The foundational steps completed in year 1, has positioned KPD to further data-informed efforts specific to gun violence. PSN FY24 will assist KPD in furthering their efforts for crime gun intelligence procedures. Across the PSN focus region, local and federal law enforcement agencies have addressed gun and gang-related violent crime deploying multi-jurisdictional task forces (TF) including the US marshals service-led pacific northwest violent offenders TF (pnvoft). Collaboration with this multi-jurisdictional approach will continue with the FY24 PSN funding