More than $3.3 million awarded to Indiana law enforcement agencies to prevent crime

The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute awarded more than $3.3 million in grants to fund crime prevention efforts.

The grants were distributed to 50 law enforcement and government agencies across Indiana. The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program through the Department of Justice provided the funds.

The grants are especially important now given rising homicide rates in cities like Indianapolis, said Devon McDonald, ICJI’s executive director.

“Unfortunately, Indiana, like other states, is seeing an increase in violent crime, especially in metropolitan areas. Anytime we can direct funding to help address those issues, we're happy to do that,” he said.

The grants will support work including local crime prevention initiatives, equipment purchases and the training and hiring of more staff.

“Public safety challenges evolve over time, as do their impacts on society, which is why flexibility is an important part of this program,” said Andrew Rodeghero, ICJI Drug and Crime Control Division director in a news release. “With this funding, we're able to support an array of violence prevention and intervention strategies based on state and local needs.”

The Indiana State Excise Police received the most grant funding, with nearly $375,000 awarded for technology improvements. In Marion County, grants were given to the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office and the Indianapolis-Marion County Forensic Services Agency.

“A lot of these jurisdictions, especially the small ones, if it weren't for grant programs like this wouldn't be able to have the programs that we're funding,” McDonald said.

Agencies have until the end of the year to spend the funds.

Contact WFYI criminal justice reporter Katrina Pross at kpross@wfyi.org. Follow on Twitter: @katrina_pross.

Pross is a Corps Member of Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project.