Project Safe Neighborhoods

U.S. Department of Justice, office of justice programs, through the Bureau of Justice Assistance awards $1.14 million in grant funds to Project Safe Neighborhoods in Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore. --- U.S. Attorney Michael W. Mosman announced today that the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, through the Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded grant funds totaling $1.14 million to support the reduction of gun violence in the Portland Metropolitan Area.

The funds were awarded as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a national gun violence reduction initiative that encourages federal, state and local law enforcement and community leaders to work together to reduce gun violence. Locally, the program specifically targets gang-related gun violence, crimes of domestic violence in which a firearm is involved, and armed career criminals. Armed Career Criminals are individuals who have three prior felony convictions for crimes of violence or various drug-related offenses. In 2002, approximately 6,800 Oregon residents were identified as Armed Career Criminals. If caught with a firearm, those individuals would serve at least 15 years in federal prison.

“President Bush and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft have made reducing gun violence a top national public safety priority, second only to fighting terrorism,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Mosman. “Here in Oregon, these grants will aid law enforcement, prosecutors, victims’ advocates and social service providers to enhance existing gun violence reduction programs and to implement innovative new strategies.”

Two of the grants, totaling $500,000, were among only 41 competitive grants awarded nationwide. Approximately 500 grant applications were submitted from across the country to compete for these funds.

One grant of $250,000, awarded to the City of Portland and the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods, will be used to establish a community-wide prevention, education and outreach action plan for gun violence. The grant will also fund two community action teams and a Youth Gang Task Force to work with residents and victims impacted by gun crimes.
The other $250,000 grant was awarded to the Portland Police Bureau for a project that will focus on the use, or threatened use, of guns in domestic violence cases in Multnomah County. Grant funds will be used to hire three victim advocates to work with the Portland Police Bureau Domestic Violence Reduction unit.

The Office of Justice Programs also awarded three grants totaling $646,987 to Project Safe Neighborhoods efforts in the Portland Metropolitan Area:

The Multnomah County District Attorney was awarded $191,096 to assign a prosecutor to provide consistent sanctions in juvenile misdemeanor gun crimes and conduct community outreach;
The Multnomah County Department of Community Justice was awarded $191,096 to add two full-time positions in its domestic violence unit and a part-time position to its gang unit;
The Portland Police Bureau was awarded $191,096 for a two-year initiative that supports the assignment of an additional Portland Police Bureau detective to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) Armed Career Criminal Task Force in Portland to work on domestic violence cases involving firearms and weapons cases involving armed career criminals.

For additional information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, visit www.projectsafeneighborhoods.com.

All media inquiries about Project Safe Neighborhoods in Oregon should be directed to:

Fred Weinhouse
Assistant U.S. Attorney
U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Oregon
503-727-1000
E-mail: Fred Weinhouse