Dive Brief:
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The Department of Justice canceled hundreds of public safety grants to local governments and community organizations Tuesday, according to reporting by Reuters and the Washington Post. The grants provided funding for mental healthcare for police officers, crime-victim advocacy and gun-violence prevention, among other efforts.
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Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed the cuts on the social media site X Wednesday, promising “more to come.”
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The U.S. Conference of Mayors released a statement urging the DOJ to “reconsider these termination decisions and reinstate the grants,” saying it “comes at a time when cities nationwide are making great progress in reducing crime.”
Dive Insight:
Reuters reported at least 365 grants totaling tens of millions of dollars were abruptly terminated. The canceled grants included support for initiatives to prevent opioid-related deaths, hate crimes and human trafficking; interventions for nonviolent youth offenders; and a hotline for crime victims, according to an email the acting head of the Office of Justice Programs sent to the office’s staff, obtained by the Washington Post.
The Office of Justice Programs has been the DOJ’s largest grantmaking arm, responsible for disbursing $4.4 billion in the 2023 fiscal year, but it has provided funding for programs that do not align with Trump administration policies, according to the email. Bondi told Reuters the department “will continue to ensure that services for victims are not impacted and any recipient will have the ability to appeal and restore any grant if direct impact on victims can be thoroughly established.”
Many of the grants that were terminated support crime-prevention efforts that have made cities and residents safer, according to the statement from U.S. Conference of Mayors President Andrew Ginther, who is mayor of Columbus, Ohio, and the co-chairs of the group’s Police Chiefs Task Force, Fresno, California, Mayor Jerry Dyer and Providence, Rhode Island, Mayor Brett Smiley.
Pointing to the FBI’s most recent report, which states violent crime decreased by 10.3% and murder decreased by 22.7% from January through June 2024 compared with the same period in 2023, the mayors stated that “canceling these initiatives threatens the great progress mayors and police chiefs — working together with their communities — have made in addressing the root causes of violence. And it jeopardizes our continuing efforts to reduce violent crime in our cities.”
