“Feds plan $200M grant program aimed at curbing violent crimePosted 1/29/2007 10:43 PM ET
By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY
The Bush administration is proposing a $200 million grant program to help law enforcement agencies respond to surging violent-crime rates in cities across the nation, Justice Department officials said Monday.
The program would help local and state police agencies pay for officers’ overtime, equipment and other expenses stemming from new regional task forces aimed at curbing violent crime, Domingo Herraiz, director of the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, told USA TODAY.
The program has not been announced publicly; Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is scheduled to begin briefing law enforcement officials on it this week.
The task forces would be staffed with federal, state and local officers to deal with a range of growing crime problems, including recent increases in gang-related violence, gun-related crimes and illegal sales of methamphetamine.
The grant plan marks the administration’s broadest recognition yet of the threat posed by rising violent-crime rates.
The FBI reports that violent crimes — homicides, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults — increased 2.3% nationwide in 2005 compared with 2004, the first such rise since 1991. The trend has continued through the first half of 2006, the FBI reports.
If approved by Congress as part of President Bush’s spending plan for the budget year that begins in October, the program also would symbolize a renewed interest in federal funding for local police initiatives, which often have taken a backseat to homeland security programs since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The grant program — known as the Violent Crime Reduction Partnership Initiative — would not, however, be designed to help police agencies hire new officers.
Instead, it would allow local and state agencies to apply for grants of $30,000-$200,000 to better deploy and equip officers who make up the anti-crime task forces, said Herraiz and Assistant Attorney General Rachel Brand, the Justice Department’s director legal policy.
Herraiz said dozens of cities could be eligible for the grants. He said agencies applying for grants would have to outline specific strategies to attack violent crime, and show improvements in crime rates to be eligible for further funding.
Police chiefs’ groups such as the Police Executive Research Forum have called repeatedly for the White House to reprise the Clinton administration’s $8 billion police hiring program that added tens of thousands of officers to the nation’s streets.
Chuck Wexler, executive director of the group, said the grant program falls well short of that, but “is a step in the right direction.”
“It is encouraging that the Justice Department recognizes the significant change in violent crime across the country,” he said.”

“January 30, 2007

Dear Community Leader:

I would like to update you on the plans to acquire a site for the construction of a new federal courthouse in Harrisburg. The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has moved forward in this process and has evaluated a number of sites for the relocation of the U.S. Courthouse. GSA revised and relaxed certain site criteria including size, budget and floodplain requirements in order to broaden the search for sites within the city limits.

GSA is currently reviewing a long list of sites for the new U.S. Courthouse location. These sites include:
S. Front and Sycamore Streets
Eastern corner of 2nd and Paxton Streets
Western corner of 2nd and Paxton Streets
N. 6th and Reily Streets
Maclay and Cameron Streets
Scottish Rite Cathedral – N. 3rd and Wiconisco Streets
3rd and Pine Streets
2nd and Locust Streets
7th and Boas Streets
Dauphin County Administration Building – 2nd and Market Streets

We have set up an e-mail address and a phone line to receive your inquiries regarding the new courthouse. Please send your e-mails to HarrisburgCourthouse@gsa.gov or you may call 215.446.4933. Written comments may also be sent to my attention at:

General Services Administration, Mid-Atlantic Region
Attention: Abby Low, Project Manager
20 N. 8th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107-3191

You are also invited to attend the Public Meeting, which will be held on Wednesday, February 21 from 6:30 pm – 8:00 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel located at 23 South Second Street. The meeting will be held in Ballrooms A & B. This meeting will be an informal open house where you will learn more about the project and site selection process.

We look forward to working with you to bring a new, state of the art U.S. Courthouse to the City of Harrisburg. This facility will make a positive, long lasting impact on the region, and we are honored to be involved with this project. I will continue to share appropriate information as we proceed with this project.

Sincerely,

Abby Low
Project Manager
GSA Public Buildings Service
Mid-Atlantic Region”