“We need to put all available resources into fighting crime on Philadelphia’s streets. It is simply outrageous that criminals feel as that they have a free pass to use illegal guns. This grant sends a clear message to criminals that we will absolutely not tolerate crime and violence in our city,” said Representative Schwartz.

“Today we received notification that $222,388 has been awarded to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to continue efforts to fight firearms violence as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. This funding is critical to enable us to work closely with local district attorneys and law enforcement to leverage resources to successfully prosecute violent criminals in federal court,” said Robert Reed, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of PA.

The grant funds will be used to hire two Assistant District Attorneys who will be detailed full-time to the U.S. Attorney’s office for a two year period; pay the salary of a private contractor who will be hired to work as a firearms examiner in the Philadelphia Police Department for a two year period; and pay for outreach efforts on illegal firearms trafficking.

The grant was awarded as part of the Project Safe Neighborhood program. The goal of this initiative is to take a hard line against gun criminals through every available means to create safer neighborhoods. Project Safe Neighborhoods seeks to achieve heightened coordination among federal, state, and local law enforcement, with an emphasis on tactical intelligence gathering, more aggressive prosecutions, and enhanced accountability through performance measures. The offensive will be led by the U.S. Attorney in each federal judicial district.

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