DOJ Awards $75,000 for Gun Violence Prevention in Kansas City, MO

Two community groups will use the funding to implement a door-to-door outreach initiative in some of the city’s deadliest neighborhoods.

As part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative, the U.S. Department of Justice has awarded a $75,000 grant to fund a neighborhood outreach project in Kansas City, Missouri, coordinated between the Metropolitan Crime Commission (MCC) and Kansas City Mothers In Charge (KC MIC).

PSN was created in 2001, and relaunched in 2017 under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, to combat rising gun violence in the nation. The initiative involves federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement officials, prosecutors and community leaders coming together to “identify the most pressing violent crime problems in a community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.”

In 2019, Kansas City experienced one of its deadliest years on record with nearly 150 homicides .

And according to former police Major Barry Mayer , 60% of Kansas City’s homicides occur in neighborhoods accounting for less than 10% of the city’s area, which will now be the focus of this new outreach endeavor.

KC MIC is a branch of the national women-led activist group Mothers In Charge , which is largely made up of members who have been affected by gun violence, and the MCC is a nonprofit that works to strengthen relationships between communities and public safety agencies.

In a grassroots violence prevention effort, volunteers from both organizations will be going door-to-door, speaking with members of the community in the hopes of building relationships, assisting with and encouraging peaceful conflict resolution, discouraging gang involvement, teaching people how the police and the Crime Stoppers tip hotline can be a resource, and encouraging suggestions on how best to fight the violence afflicting their neighborhoods.

Learn more about funding through the Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative.

About the author

Kenny Sokan is a freelance writer at Gov1. She is a strong believer in the power of information and creative expression, which guides her in all of the work that she does. Kenny is a graduate of Northeastern University with a BA in journalism.