DOJ Awards South Bay City Human-Trafficking Enforcement Grant

CHULA VISTA, CA — The city of Chula Vista will receive a federal grant of nearly $100,000 for enforcement of human-trafficking laws, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

The $97,500 award is part of $2.2 million in nationwide disbursements to law enforcement agencies and community improvement organizations through the DOJ Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, the federal agency reported.

Office Director Phil Keith described the set of 29 grants, which carry award amounts ranging from $15,090 to $100,000, as "a critical resource to advance innovative community policing projects across the country."

"These strategic investments from the COPS Office pay huge dividends to state and local law enforcement agencies and the communities that they serve," Keith said.

The Chula Vista grant was the sole California award.

The funds are intended to be used to develop the capacity of local, state and tribal law enforcement agencies to implement community-policing strategies, according to the DOJ.

Applicant agencies were invited to propose pilot projects that offer creative ideas to advance crime fighting, community engagement, problem solving or organizational changes to support community policing in one of the following areas:

-- Human trafficking;
-- Rural law enforcement;
-- Officer safety and wellness;
-- Recruitment, hiring and retention;
-- School safety;
-- Staffing and allocation studies;
-- Victim-centered approaches;
-- Violent crime;
-- Youth engagement.

— City News Service