BJA FY24 Project Safe Neighborhoods Formula Grant Program

The City of St. Louis located in the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) Eastern District of Missouri, confronts a chronically high level of violence, specifically firearm violence. According to the FBI's uniform crime report, St. Louis has consistently been ranked as one of the most violent cities in the United States since 2015, while its population continues to decrease. St. Louis' population was estimated to be 308,875 in 2019. The population dropped to 293,000 in 2022. 
 
Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) funding will be used will to positively impact violent crime in St. Louis. Since 2015, St. Louis has had one of the highest murder rates per 100,000 residents in the United States. In 2022 it was bumped out of the top spot by New Orleans. The murder rate in St. Louis per 100,000 residents was 64.54 in 2019, 87.2 in 2020, 67.8 in 2021, and 68.8 in 2022. In 2023, St. Louis experienced a 21% decline in violent crime, exceeding the national average and giving hope that violent crime strategies are beginning to take effect. But additional and substantial reductions in violent crime are still necessary to have thriving and safe neighborhoods for everyone in St. Louis. 
 
The PSN Violent Crime Working Group (the Working Group) assembled by the USAO for the Eastern District of Missouri has used detailed crime data analysis, including data from the Gun Crime Intelligence Center, to identify smaller geographic areas within the City of St. Louis that are experiencing a large percentage of the violent crime throughout the city. The Working Group includes over 20 local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies and community organizations (e.g., Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation,  Department of Public Safety, Metropolitan St. Louis Police Department, Urban League, Life Outside of Violence, and multiple community organizations listed in the program narrative) that are actively working within the distressed St. Louis metropolitan areas to provide resources and assistance to citizens who are experiencing this disproportionate level of violence in their neighborhoods. The goal is to reduce the homicide rate.