On Oct. 18, U.S. Attorney Nick Brown (he/him) announced that 19 U.S. Department of Justice grants will be awarded to Washington. These grants are aimed at public safety and law enforcement.
The state government will be granted $3.7 million to support local government programs ranging from law enforcement to correction. In addition to the $3.7 million, Brown said that several specific programs will receive additional funding. The Children and Youth Justice center in Seattle will receive $2 million to support its Leadership, Intervention, and Change program, which works with 200 youth in King County involved in or at risk of experiencing gang violence.
The city of Seattle was also awarded nearly $1 million for its body-worn camera program, which will help migrate and integrate digital files from the Seattle Police Department’s body-worn cameras into cloud storage, making these files readily available for investigators, the Seattle City Attorney’s Office and King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Burien’s Enhanced Youth Services will get $300,000, and the Washington Partnership on Juvenile Justice will receive $1 million. Both focus on preventing youth violence through intervention.
Prior to this announcement, Brown announced on Oct. 13 that $268,000 would be spent to expand the Project Safe Neighborhood Program to Pierce, Snohomish and Clark Counties, as these counties near record numbers of homicides. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office provided data that showed that between April and June 2022, there were 20 homicide victims, 79 victims from non-fatal shootings and 424 incidents where shots were fired.
In total, Washington will receive more than $10 million in grants from the DOJ. These funds are currently being administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
