Justice Department grants $480,000 toward crime-fighting on LI
The Suffolk County Police Department, which has been receiving the funding from the federal Project Safe Neighborhoods Program since 2017, will share the grant money with the Nassau County Police Department and district attorney's office, officials said. Credit: J. Conrad Williams, Jr.
The U.S. Department of Justice has granted $481,285 toward crime-fighting efforts on Long Island, officials announced Friday.
The Suffolk County Police Department, which has been receiving the funding from the federal Project Safe Neighborhoods Program since 2017, will share the grant money with the Nassau County Police Department and district attorney’s office, officials said.
The Department of Justice provided 88 grants of more than $17 million nationwide to the partnerships between local law enforcement and U.S. attorneys’ offices.
"The Project Safe Neighborhoods grant will support our efforts to collaborate with the Suffolk and Nassau County Police Departments in developing strategies to reduce gang and gun violence on Long Island," said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace, of the Eastern District of New York, which covers Long Island. "The grant will also help to strengthen our partnerships with community organizations and expand our community outreach programs. Together, we will work hard to make our communities safer."
A Suffolk police spokeswoman said in an email Friday that both police departments "will use statistical analysis, intelligence derived from precinct debriefings, field interviews, and post-arraignment debriefings to determine the primary sources and locations of the gun and gang violence on Long Island. Proactive investigation oriented cases will be used to identify those involved in gun violence, build a case against them, arrest them, and refer them for prosecution in the appropriate venue."
The Nassau district attorney’s office funding will be used for community outreach, such as deterring young people from joining gangs and assisting those re-entering society after being incarcerated, the spokeswoman said.
The funding comes as Suffolk County experienced a rise in gun violence, as well as gang activity, earlier this year as communities across the country have seen surges in crime. Nassau police have not released their crime statistics but claim Nassau to be the safest county in America.
Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.
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