FY 2009 Project Safe Neighborhoods ' Southern District of Texas

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.

Sam Houston State University, serving as the fiscal agent for the Southern District of Texas, will implement strategies to combat violent gun and gang-related crimes through suppression, social intervention, and prevention services; community education outreach; and targeted patrols of hot spot areas identified with high crime rates and drug and gang activity. Key elements of these PSN initiatives will be completed through the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department's graffiti abatement pilot program, which aims to address community safety concerns, increase law enforcement surveillance, and provide positive adult role models for gang-involved youth tasked with removing graffiti in the community; the Harris County Sheriff's Office, which will devote firearms examiners assigned to cases containing multiple fired evidence exhibits or cases consisting of fired evidence which must be compared to a recovered firearm; the Southeast Division Tactical Unit which aims to reduce violent crime by targeting adult and juvenile members of criminal street gangs, and aggressively conduct proactive and reactive investigations of cases involving firearms or gang related activity; the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders and Fugitive Task force comprised of four municipal jurisdictions, which will conduct fugitive investigations distinguished by a gang and gun violence nexus; and the Pasadena Police Department, Texas City Police Department, and Fondren District, which anticipates targeting specific gang members and violent crime issues within the community through crime analysis and additional officer overtime efforts.

NCA/NCF