FY 2008 Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a nationwide commitment to reducing gun crime, links existing local programs together and provides them with necessary tools. PSN takes a hard line against gun criminals, using every available means to create safer neighborhoods; seeks to achieve heightened coordination among federal, state, and local law enforcement; and emphasizes tactical intelligence gathering, more aggressive prosecutions, and enhanced accountability through performance measures. The United States Attorney in each federal judicial district will lead the offensive. The fiscal agent, in coordination with the PSN task force, will allocate funds throughout the community.

The Nevada Department of Public Safety (NDPS), serving as the fiscal agent for the District of Nevada, will use the grant to support two projects in southern Nevada where gun crimes constitute a serious threat to citizens and tourists on a daily basis. The district seeks to combine new prosecution efforts with media campaigns and community outreach. The NDPS will provide funding to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) Gang Mapping Project and the Nevada Youth Alliance (NYA) Neighbor to Neighbor Coalition.

The LVMPD Gang Mapping Project will develop and implement real time maps of gang-related activity, residences, and field interview locations. This increased functionality will allow LVMPD and its partner agencies the ability to request maps of specific gangs, locations or times, and receive the final product within a time frame that is better suited to intelligence-lead gang mitigation tactics.

The NYA Neighbor to Neighbor Coalition will establish a minimum of four neighborhood coalitions, linked with community agencies and resources necessary to provide support, intervention, and prevention for at-risk youth involved with gangs and their families. The program will encourage 1,000 households within the most violent areas of southern Nevada to participate in the Neighbor to Neighbor Coalition project, provide access to resources necessary to prevent delinquency and at-risk behaviors, and improve family functions and connection to the community.

NCA/NCF