DOJ cancels $500M in public safety grants, cuts officer safety and crime prevention programs

Andrew Harnik/AP

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice recently pulled the plug on 373 grants across the country, halting nearly $500 million in public safety funding, according to an analysis by the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) .

The grants — originally valued at $820 million — were part of the DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) portfolio and supported a wide range of initiatives, including law enforcement safety, community violence intervention, behavioral health response, reentry services and support for crime victims. Most were multiyear grants already in progress.

Major impact areas

Law enforcement safety and violent crime reduction

• $71.7 million cut from policing and prosecution programs, notably affecting Project Safe Neighborhoods , a longstanding DOJ initiative targeting local violent crime.
• Terminated the State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training (SLATT) program , which since 1996 trained over 427,000 law enforcement officers in responding to domestic and international terrorism, targeted violence and hate crimes.
• Eliminated the Rural Violent Crime Reduction Initiative , affecting dozens of rural law enforcement agencies that relied on federal aid to upgrade equipment, hire staff and bolster crime prevention programs.
• Defunded the Officer Robert Wilson III VALOR Initiative , a nationwide training resource dedicated to officer safety, wellness, suicide prevention and resilience.

Corrections, reentry and community supervision

• $76.7 million cut, including programs funded by the bipartisan Second Chance Act , which provided housing and healthcare assistance for individuals returning from incarceration.
• Eliminated funding for the National PREA Resource Center, which helped correctional agencies comply with the Prison Rape Elimination Act to protect incarcerated individuals from abuse.
• Cancelled grants to the Community Supervision Resource Center , ending technical support for more than 40 probation, parole, and pretrial jurisdictions.

Community violence intervention and victim services

• Rescinded approximately $150 million from the OJP’s Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative , which deploys trained outreach workers to reduce violent crime.
• Terminated critical hospital-based violence intervention programs designed to interrupt cycles of retaliatory violence.
• Ended grants supporting essential victim services programs, including specialized training for sexual assault nurse examiners and services for trafficking survivors.

Mental health and substance use responses

• Eliminated co-responder team grants pairing law enforcement with mental health providers to safely manage behavioral health crises, reducing unnecessary arrests and officer workload.

While DOJ leadership cited shifting priorities, CCJ analysis showed about 60% of terminated grants had no reference to diversity, equity, race, gender or related terms.

Read more: Council on Criminal Justice full analysis


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