"Investments made in public safety are already paying significant dividends for the city," said Mayor Dixon. "These new awards will allow us to build upon successes as we work towards making Baltimore safer every day."
The first grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance is for $1,018,626. Nearly $700,000 will be dedicated to funding police officer overtime earned working with project EXILE, the Gun Apprehension Task Force, and Gang suppression units. $130,000 will be used by the Baltimore City Police Department to hire Gang Data Analysts who will provide analysis and reporting necessary to ensure statistical accuracy and awareness of current gang trends. The analysis will provide police with the necessary information to focus enforcement activities where they are most effective and efficient. A Training Officer will collect the crime trend and safety information from the Data Analysts, and funnel it to the rank and file through roll-calls and in-service training.
The second award is a Federal Justice Assistance Grant, which will provide an additional $1,194,834. Funding from this grant will be used to support criminal justice partners including the Baltimore City Circuit Court's community service program, the Baltimore Department of Housing and Community Development's nuisance abatement program, and University of Maryland Shock Trauma Victim Intervention Program (VIP).
About $400,000 will be allocated to the Housing Authority for nuisance abatement, and $100,000 for the VIP program. The Circuit Court Community Services Program will receive (unknown amount). The remaining funds will support technological improvements for the Baltimore City Police Department.
