Maryland Project Safe Neighborhoods

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a nationwide commitment to reducing gun crime, links existing local programs together and provides them with necessary tools. PSN 1) takes a hard line against gun criminals, using every available means to create safer neighborhoods; 2) seeks to achieve heightened coordination among federal, state, and local law enforcement; and 3) 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 Maryland Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention, serving as the fiscal agent for the District of Maryland, will use the grant to provide funding, through a competitive grant process, to law enforcement agencies, government entities, and/or private, non-profit organizations that service a municipality or town with a current population of 60,000 or less. These initiatives will expand, enhance, or further the District's curent PSN and Anti-Gang strategy called Maryland EXILE. This strategy is a unified and comprehensive strategy to combat gun crime that combines law enforcement efforts, community action and revitalization, and public awareness. The primary components of the strategy are coordinating state and federal prosecutions of firearms cases, pursuing gang and the most violent repeat offenders, stopping the illegal trafficking of firearms, providing training and support for law enforcement, protecting citizens who assist in law enforcement investigations, conducting community outreach and public awareness, and ensuring accountability among all Maryland EXILE partners. While efforts have been more concentrated in the densely populated, high crime communities, efforts have expanded to smaller and more rural communities in the state. This grant will be used to further expand efforts to smaller and more rural communities because many have the same crime problems as larger jurisdictions, but on a smaller scale, and a small amount of funding can have a significant impact in these communities.

NCA/NCF