FY07 Anti-Gang Initiative

The Anti-Gang Initiative provides funds to support new or expanded anti-gang enforcement and prevention efforts under the existing Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Initiative. These new funds may be used by the PSN task force to combat gangs by leveraging current strategies and partnerships developed under PSN initiatives or may be used to develop new anti-gang initiatives. The Anti-Gang initiative will be led by the United States Attorney in each of the 94 federal judicial districts across America. Grant funds will be awarded to a single fiscal agent in each of the 94 districts. The fiscal agent, in coordination with the PSN task force, will allocate the funds throughout the community to support the anti-gang initiative in that community.

The Washington State Department of Community Trade and Economic Development will serve as the fiscal agent for the Eastern District of Washington's Fiscal Year 2007 Anti-Gang Initiative. This region currently has 98 active resident gangs with a confirmed membership of 1,757. At least three major motorcycle gangs are continuously transiting even the most remote communities of the district, and associate gang members are estimated in excess of 5,500. To combat this situation, the District will direct funds to support the suppression, intervention, and prevention of gang activity in the following four Weed and Seed sites located in the Eastern District: Spokane, Toppenish, Yakima, and the Tri-Cities (Pasco, Richland, and Kennewick), and the Washington State Department of Corrections. The Spokane County Sheriffs Office will use funds to make enhancements to their on-going gang enforcement team by assigning a dedicated prosecutor. The Toppenish Police Department will implement street patrols that target gang activities. The Yakima County Sheriff's Office will educate all patrol officers on gang activity and membership recognition and target at-risk youth. The Tri-Cities gang enforcement team will provide overtime and training with the intent of eventually integrating their operations into a joint task force. Additional will be used by the Washington Department of Corrections to provide overtime, training, and equipment. The District will fund projects that have the greatest impact on the targeted problems in enforcement, prevention, and intervention. Each project will also be supported by performance measures and then be compared with prior periods, area norms, or other criteria to develop outcomes for each of the projects selected.

NCA/NCF