Turner Announces $1.3 Million Grant

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Jim Turner (D-Crockett) has announced that Sam Houston State University and the U. S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas have been awarded a $1,276,625 Project Safe Neighborhoods Grant.

Seven projects in Houston and Harris County, Laredo, and the Houston area will be funded. In addition, previous grant funding will provide for a media/outreach campaign, training for officers, strategic planning, and evaluation.

Susan Bradley has been appointed the Project Safe Neighborhoods coordinator for the U. S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas by U. S. Attorney Michael Shelby. The Southern District reaches from Houston southwest to Corpus Christi and the Valley.

The College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University will administer the funding and Carrie Harter, assistant professor of criminal justice will evaluate the program. SHSU will receive $127,662 for those services.

Statistics show that despite an overall decline in the number of gun homicides during the last 15 years, gun violence in America remains high. Of the 15,000 people murdered each year, two-thirds of the victims die at the hands of armed criminals. For every fatal shooting there are roughly three non-fatal shootings.

The Safe Neighborhoods Grant project is managed by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, under the U.S. Department of Justice. More than $900 million has been committed to this effort for the next three years.

Congress approved the Safe Neighborhoods Grant project last year, after it was proposed by President George Bush.

"Violence in our schools and neighborhoods is directly related to community awareness and involvement, and its reduction can only be accomplished through education, training, research and outreach," said Dean Richard Ward of the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University. "This program aims to carry the campaign against violence to the streets."

Project Safe Neighborhoods seeks to achieve heightened coordination among federal, state, and local law enforcement, with an emphasis on tactical intelligence gathering, more aggressive prosecutions, and enhanced accountability through performance measures.

The goal of the program is to take a hard line against gun criminals through every available means to create safer neighborhoods and communities.

"Our local police and law enforcement officials are dedicated to protecting the lives of their fellow citizens, but they often do not have sufficient resources," said Turner. "We must do all we can to ensure that they have the training and coordination necessary to protect our communities."

The programs that will receive funds include four in the Houston area:

• The Houston Police Department will input images of fired cartridge casings into a digital database to help track and link gun-related incidents. The Department of Public Safety will get funds for a similar project at their McAllen crime laboratory.
  
• The Harris County Juvenile Probation Department will receive support for Operation Spotlight, which provides intensive supervision and social services for juvenile probationers and their families.
  
• The Houston Police Department will have funds for a team that will respond to and investigate all gun-related offenses in an area of southwest Houston. Now, because of staffing shortages, less intensive investigations have been possible.
  
• The Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force will concentrate on violent offenders wanted for firearm-related offenses, some of which may involve family violence, sexual assault, and other crimes.

- END -

Carrie Harter
936.294.1663

SHSU Media Contact: Frank Krystyniak
Sept. 5, 2003
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu