FY 2024 Project Safe Neighborhoods Formula Grant - Southern District

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) was launched in the Southern District of Mississippi (SDMS), specifically, in the City of Jackson in December of 2017. Over time, SDMS expanded PSN beyond Jackson to the cities of Hattiesburg, Meridian, Natchez, Vicksburg, and Gulfport, which are geographically dispersed throughout the District. More recently and following an assessment of needs within the district and these particular cities, SDMS reduced the number of cities in which it hosts regular PSN meetings to four: Jackson, Hattiesburg, Gulfport, and Meridian. SDMS has designated all counties in which these four cities are not located as PSN lite sites, and although regular meetings are not hosted within those counties, an AUSA is assigned to each county to serve as a point of contact for law enforcement and to assist with PSN initiatives and cases within that county.  
 
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) recently designated Jackson as one of three cities to be a recipient of its Violent Crime Initiative (VCI). Through the VCI, the DOJ is dedicating time and resources to specifically target gangs and other violent groups who commit violent crime in the city of Jackson. The VCI indicates the DOJ, like the SDMS, recognizes that violence, firearms offenses, drug trafficking, and other crimes (e.g., RICO offenses) are being driven in significant part by the activities of gangs and other criminal organizations. SDMS is committed to using 30% of the grant funds to support activities of gang task forces.