Nearly one in four women and one in seven men in the United States have suffered severe physical violence by an intimate partner. In a September 2015 proclamation, President Barack Obama called on Americans to support local efforts to assist victims of these crimes.
On Monday, September 28, Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates announced that the Department of Justice awarded more than $2 million in funding for the Smart Policing Initiative (SPI). SPI is a collaborative consortium composed of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), CNA, and over thirty local law enforcement agencies that are testing solutions to serious crime problems in their jurisdictions.
On Thursday, September 24, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced that the Department of Justice (DOJ) awarded $44 million in funding to help communities fight human trafficking.
On Monday, September 21, Vice President Biden and Attorney General Lynch announced in a live broadcast that the Office of Justice Programs’Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has awarded over $23 million in funding for the Body-Worn Camera (BWC) Pilot Implementation Program (PIP). The BWC PIP, announced in May 2015, includes $19.3 million to purchase BWCs, $2 million for training and technical assistance (TTA), and $1.9 million to examine the impact of their use.