HARRISBURG – Recently members of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) took action to approve $80 million in a variety of grants.
Grants will improve crime reporting, help law enforcement upgrade equipment, support victims of crime and victim service providers and support county jail-based medication-assisted treatment for individuals with substance use disorder.
“The commission took a significant step in advancing public safety by approving $80 million in funding to enhance our law enforcement capabilities and provide critical support to victims of crime,” said Mike Pennington, PCCD executive director.
“The funding approved will modernize our crime reporting systems to meet national standards, bolster law enforcement equipment and technology and fund vital services for crime victims across Pennsylvania.”
The approved grant funding includes $5.8 million in grant funding to support law enforcement system upgrades, which will enable the reporting of crime statistics to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) NIBRS.
As of Jan. 1, 2021, NIBRS became the national standard for law enforcement crime data reporting in the United States.
The data collected through NIBRS provides the ability to capture details on criminal incidents, including information on victims, known offenders, relationships between victims and offenders, arrestees and property involved in crimes.
Pennsylvania is well behind other states in the nation in fully utilizing NIBRS, making it challenging to accurately capture state-wide and jurisdiction-specific crime trends.
While Pennsylvania has made progress increasing NIBRS compliance state-wide thanks to recent investments, currently, only 42 percent of Pennsylvania’s population is covered by a police department that is utilizing NIBRS and only 10 percent of local law enforcement agencies are reporting criminal statistics to the FBI through NIBRS.
This funding will allow the 68 approved law enforcement entities to use funding for software, hardware and labor needed to install NIBRS-compliant record management systems; training on how to collect and submit NIBRS data; and/or technical assistance for personnel responsible for data collection and submission.
Locally Curwensville Borough received $76,734 in funding while Lawrence Township’s allocation totaled $131,442.
The commission also approved $60 million in federal grant funding for victim service providers for the provision of services to Pennsylvanians who are victims of crime.
Federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding serves as the backbone of financial support for nearly all of the victim service provider organizations in the Commonwealth and throughout the nation.
Approved funding will advance new research focused on counties’ implementation of Act 79 of 2018 (which established protections for domestic violence survivors related to weapons relinquishment), continue supporting a state-wide program that provides support for local communities and victims impacted by traumatic events and enhance a multidisciplinary approach by the justice systems in its response to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and dating violence.
Other approved funding from commission meeting includes:
- $3 million for law enforcement agencies to support their equipment and technology needs to assist them in reducing crime and improving clearance rates;
- Nearly $7 million in Federal Justice Assistance Grants (JAG) funding to support a wide variety of projects throughout the state, including public defense, offender reentry, prevention programming and treatment courts; and
- $3.7 million to support county jail-based medication-assisted treatment for individuals with substance use disorder.
More information about the actions approved at the commission meeting are available on PCCD’s website.