Reconsider public safety grants cuts to fight crime

The Justice Department's cuts to hundreds of public safety grants, totaling around $500 million, will negatively impact efforts to address crime and violence in communities across the country. This decision undermines proven strategies like supporting overburdened law enforcement agencies with additional resources for investigations, analysis and patrols. It also abruptly terminates funding for community violence intervention programs that have been effective in reducing gun violence through evidenced-based methods like engaging credible messengers and violence interrupters. These grants allowed police departments, prosecutors' offices and non-profit groups to implement initiatives they otherwise could not afford, many aligned with the administration's stated priorities of fighting violent crime and illegal drugs. Pulling funding without proper evaluation or consultation with experts is counterproductive and will force some programs to shrink or shut down completely, eroding public safety. This rash action should be reconsidered in favor of an approach that carefully assesses which grants merit continued funding based on data and results. Cutting blindly puts communities at greater risk and handicaps efforts to address root causes of crime through intervention and prevention.