State of Arizona Project Safe Neighborhood Program

FFY2022 Arizona Project Safe Neighborhood's Project Abstract   

    The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona (USAO-DAZ) continues focusing on violent firearm and gang prosection prosecutions and proactive investigations targeting transnational narcotics trafficking organizations smuggling firearms and ammunition. The Arizona Department of Publish Safety (AZDPS) 2020 Crime in Arizona Report shows violentcrime offenses accounted for 16.10% of the Crime Index. Of the 28,777 violent crimes reported in 2020, aggravated assault accounted for the largest incidence of violent crimes at approximately 69%. Arizona’s PSN task force is committed to utilizing a data-driven,evidence-based approach to addressing violent crime across the state by increasing the usage of the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) reporting and leveraging the City of Phoenix’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center Initiative and continue to expand the Southern Arizona NIBIN initiative through Tucson Police Department.
    Arizona’s PSN Task Force, led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona, continues to strengthen collaboration efforts with criminal justice representatives from law enforcement, prosecution, and probation from Federal, State, and tribal agencies. An academic research partner and a certified fiscal agent will complete the task force. The certified fiscal agent, Arizona Criminal Justice Commission, will provide fiscal management oversight of grant funds. The research partner, Arizona State University, will provide the Arizona PSN Task Force with data analysis to help identify problem areas across the state and gaps in data and NIBIN usage. The PSN Task Force will use this data analysis and leverage the partnerships the USAO has created and initiatives such as Project Guardian, to implement the PSN projects throughout the state.
    The projects will include evidence-based programs based on the four PSN design features of community engagement, prevention, and intervention, focused and strategic enforcement, and accountability to reduce violent crime and recidivism and ultimately create safer neighborhoods. The task force will utilize prior project findings from the Tucson Police Department and Phoenix Police Department Crime Gun Intelligence Center (CGIC) to build upon successful regional initiatives in the Northern part of Arizona and the Reservations.
    This program encourages other law enforcement agencies to enter their ballistic evidence into the NIBIN database utilizing IBIS equipment and has been instrumental in improving intelligence. The PSN Task Force will implement performance outcome measures to track and report on the progress toward the goal of violent crime reduction among the identified crime hot spots in Arizona.