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OJP Press Release letterhead

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2003
www.ojp.usdoj.gov
Contact: Joan LaRocca
202-307-0703

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AWARDS NEARLY $2 MILLION
FOR OPERATION WEED AND SEED

     WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, the Department of Justice?s Office of Justice Programs announced that Weed and Seed sites in California, Delaware, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, New Jersey, North Carolina and Utah will receive awards totaling $1,840,000 to implement their comprehensive strategies to root out crime and seed economic development and community revitalization. The awards are administered by OJP?s Executive Office for Weed and Seed (EOWS).

     "Through its Weed and Seed strategy, these communities will continue to reduce drug trafficking and drug crimes, strengthen community policing activities, and improve and augment crime prevention," said Deborah J. Daniels, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs. "This effort addresses specific neighborhood crime problems, and improves the quality of life for all residents."

     Today?s awards for $225,000 go to Compton, CA; Wilmington, DE; Louisville, KY, Thibodaux, LA; Brunswick, ME; Egg Harbor Township, NJ; High Point, NC; and Ogden, UT. An additional $40,000 went to Compton for anti-gang initiatives.

     Initiatives which will be supported with continuation of funding include the following:

  • In Compton, law enforcement efforts will focus on attacking drug abuse, supporting neighborhood restoration projects, and funding community policing.
  • In Wilmington, law enforcement will identify repeat offenders and aggressively investigate and prosecute the most chronic offenders and implement a comprehensive multi-agency response to prevent acts of violence. The community policing component will increase community participation in neighborhood block watch programs and support an active civilian police program.
  • In Louisville, the site?s community policing efforts will target places engaged in illegal alcohol sales and expand prevention, intervention and treatment efforts to area residents. Neighborhood restoration goals include improving the area?s available housing and increasing home ownership.
  • In Thibodaux, a full time narcotics officer will be funded and community policing activities will be enhanced to have additional patrols after 5:00p.m., regular monthly resident meetings, and two additional Neighborhood Watch Programs.
  • In Brunswick, law enforcement will continue its efforts to reduce drug use, juvenile crime, domestic assaults and family violence, including child and elder abuse. The prevention, intervention and treatment component will target low and mid-level juvenile offenders and provide their families with substance abuse and life skills training that incorporates adult community mentors.
  • In Egg Harbor Township, a multi-agency law enforcement task force is being used to address the drug trade problem. The prevention, intervention, and treatment component will reduce truancy by expanding and improving mentoring programs and creating opportunities for positive activities and recreation.
  • In High Point, the prevention, intervention and treatment goals include building collaboration among educational, recreational, substance abuse providers, employment agencies and other service providers. Neighborhood restoration goals include developing housing for first-time buyers, which will support long-term crime reduction efforts.
  • In Ogden, law enforcement will focus on executing a firearms initiative, increasing visibility and availability of area patrol officers, developing a pro-active prostitution suppression strategy, and implementing a re-entry strategy for ex-offenders.

     Operation Weed and Seed, administered by the Office of Justice Programs? Executive Office for Weed and Seed, is foremost a strategy-rather than a grant program-that aims to prevent, control, and reduce violent crime, drug abuse, and gang activity in targeted high-crime neighborhoods across the country. Under the leadership of U.S. Attorneys, the strategy brings together federal, state, and local crime-fighting agencies, social service providers, representatives of public and private sectors, business owners, and neighborhood residents and links them in a shared goal of weeding out violent crime and gang activity while seeding the community with social services and economic revitalization.

     The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership in developing the nation?s capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice and assist victims. OJP is headed by an Assistant Attorney General and comprises 5 component bureaus and 2 offices: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; and the Office for Victims of Crime, as well as the Executive Office for Weed and Seed, and the Office of Police Corps and Law Enforcement Education. Information about OJP programs, publications and conferences is available on the OJP Website, www.ojp.usdoj.gov.

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