Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2022, $152,565)
Shreveport Police Department, the dual-role fiscal agent, on behalf of the U.S. Attorney=s Office for the Western District of Louisiana (WDLA), requests approximately $152,565.00 in FY2022 PSN grant funds for the period October 1, 2022 – September 30, 2025.
Since 2002, the U. S. Attorney=s Office for the WDLA has developed the PSN Initiative in five regional task forces located in the major cities of the judicial divisions of the District B Shreveport, Monroe, Alexandria, Lafayette and Lake Charles. The WDLA covers more than 2.1 million citizens, 42 of Louisiana=s 64 parishes, and over 200 law enforcement agencies. Due to the success of the WDLA PSN Initiative and PSN Task Forces, reinforced throughout the District since October 2017, violent crime prosecutions involving firearms with charges under 18 U.S.C. §§ 922 and 924 have increased significantly, reaching a high point in FY2019. Out of these, an average of 98.8% were sentenced to prison in FY2019, 95.2% in 2020, and 97.7% in 2021. Statistics from the first quarter of FY2022 are already at an all-time high.
Category
FY 2017
FY 2018
FY 2019
FY 2020
FY 2021
FY 2022
(Jan–Mar)
Matters Received
81
174
194
127
145
118
Defendants Filed
63
93
129
113
126
128
Cases Filed
50
88
121
101
111
112
Defendants Guilty
37
63
84
84
88
84
The specific goals and objectives of the PSN Task Forces in the WDLA are:
(1) To reduce gun and gang crime and violence, thereby creating safer neighborhoods, and sustaining that reduction through prevention, enforcement, and intervention;
(2) To support increased law enforcement programs to identify, target, and arrest violent armed offenders and armed criminal organizations;
(3) To aggressively prosecute violent crimes including, but not limited to, felonious firearm crimes and criminal gang violence; and,
(4) To educate juveniles on gun and gang-related issues and the consequences of violent crime in order to reduce the occurrence of youth-related incidents and increase positive outcomes for at-risk youths, as well as, to provide mentoring strategies for at-risk youth.
Enforcement/deterrence-focused strategies include the following:
(1) To identify the most prolific and violent offenders and to concentrate joint efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement to target and arrest violent offenders;
(2) To increase intensive law enforcement presence in areas of high gun and gang activity; and,
(3) To continue joint federal, state and local screening of gun and gang-related cases.