Overview
Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a Department of Justice nationwide violent-crime reduction initiative coordinated by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices (USAOs). PSN brings federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement officials, prosecutors and community leaders together in order to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in a community and develop comprehensive solutions to address those issues.
Find information on the state-funded Commonwealth's Project Safe Neighborhood Grant Program.
PSN Goals and Objectives for Massachusetts
The USAO for the District of Massachusetts coordinates PSN through an Interagency Leadership Team, which includes local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. The Office of Grants and Research (OGR) serves as the PSN grant fiscal agent in Massachusetts and has administered funding, when available, since the initiative’s inception. In Massachusetts, PSN focuses on enhancing interagency communication and coordination to reduce gang and gun crime.
The PSN Interagency Leadership Team focuses on systematic statewide violent crime challenges. PSN includes focused efforts in these eight geographical enforcement areas where violent crime reduction partners are laser focused on local issues and violent crime drivers:
- Boston,
- Brockton,
- Holyoke,
- Lawrence,
- Lowell,
- New Bedford,
- Springfield, and
- Worcester.
PSN Grant Funding
Each year, PSN funds are used to fund a number of public safety initiatives in Massachusetts, including the Law Enforcement Equipment and Technology Grant Opportunity and Post-Incarceration Reentry Services to Reduce Recidivism in the Cities of Springfield and Holyoke.
Working in close partnership with the PSN Interagency Leadership Team, OGR distributes PSN funds to achieve the following goals.
- Use promising or evidence-based prevention and intervention programming and activities to strengthen youth and family protective factors in specific locations where violent groups are recruiting;
- Promote an anti-violent lifestyle through the use of a multi-media public service announcement campaign designed by youth;
- Improve violent crime investigations, officer safety and/or community perceptions of safety in PSN cities through resources to law enforcement for equipment, software, technology and/or services; and
- Provide trainings to law enforcement officers to help them enhance knowledge and skills.
To learn about current grant funding opportunities, view our Current Funding Opportunities page or sign up to receive email notifications as grants become available.