DOJ Awards $85.3M in Grants to Bolster School Security Measures

The funds will be used to develop school threat assessment teams and pursue technological solutions to improve reporting of suspicious activity in and around schools, as well as implement or improve school safety measures, such as coordination with law enforcement, the use of metal detectors, locks, lighting and other deterrent measures, and more.
The funds will be used to develop school threat assessment teams and pursue technological solutions to improve reporting of suspicious activity in and around schools, as well as implement or improve school safety measures, such as coordination with law enforcement, the use of metal detectors, locks, lighting and other deterrent measures, and more.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has awarded more than $85.3 million to address school security and violence, which includes funding to educate and train students and faculty, plus support first responders who arrive on the scene of a school shooting or other violent incident.

“These federal resources will help to prevent school violence and give our students the support they need to learn, grow, and thrive,” explained Attorney General William P. Barr.

“By training faculty, students and first responders, and by improving school security measures, we can make schools and their communities safer.”

The 2018 STOP School Violence Act authorized the Department of Justice to create a series of grant award programs under a School Violence Prevention Program.

(Cape Coral Police Department receives Department of Justice school safety grant. Courtesy of NBC2 News and YOuTube. Posted on Oct 22, 2019.)

In 2019, the DOJ has made 215 awards to schools, districts and other jurisdictions throughout the United States.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance, within the Department’s Office of Justice Programs, who was honored in the 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program for the Project Safe Neighborhoods Program, and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), manage the programs and administer the grants, which include funds to:

  • Develop school threat assessment teams and pursue technological solutions to improve reporting of suspicious activity in and around schools;

  • Implement or improve school safety measures, including coordination with law enforcement, as well as the use of metal detectors, locks, lighting and other deterrent measures;

  • Train law enforcement to help deter student violence against others and themselves;

  • Improve notification to first responders through implementation of technology that expedites emergency notifications;

  • Develop and operate anonymous reporting systems to encourage safe reporting of potential school threats;

  • Train school officials to intervene when mentally ill individuals threaten school safety; and

  • Provide training and technical assistance to schools and other awardees in helping implement these programs.

More details about these individual award programs, as well as listings of individual 2019 awardees, can be found here.

(Baltimore City is getting millions of dollars to help protect schoolchildren. About $1 million a year over the next four years will come from the state and will be spent, for the most part, on building security. The money comes up almost three months after an intruder shot a staff member inside Frederick Douglass High School. The money will be used to enhance security at dozens of city schools starting as early as the fall. Courtesy of WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore and YouTube. Posted on Apr 24, 2019.)

The Office of Justice Programs, directed by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan, provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, assist victims and enhance the rule of law by strengthening the criminal justice system.

Since 1994, the COPS Office, a federal agency responsible for advancing community policing nationwide, has invested more than $14 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of approximately 130,000 officers and provide a variety of knowledge resource products including publications, training and technical assistance.

2019 Winners to be Announced at the ‘ASTORS’ Awards Luncheon at ISC East – Register Today

The Annual ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program is specifically designed to honor distinguished government and vendor solutions that deliver enhanced value, benefit and intelligence to end users in a variety of government, homeland security and public safety vertical markets.

William "Bill" Bratton, former police commissioner of the New York Police Department (NYPD), the Boston Police Department (BPD) and former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), will speak at the 2019 'ASTORS' Homeland Security Awards Luncheon at ISC East 2019, on Wednesday, November 20th, at the Jacob Javits Convention Center (Courtesy of Teneo Risk)
Bill Bratton, former police commissioner of the New York Police Department (NYPD), the Boston Police Department (BPD) and former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), will speak at the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Luncheon at ISC East 2019, on Wednesday, November 20th, at the Jacob Javits Convention Center (Courtesy of Teneo Risk)

The highlight of the 2019 AST Homeland Security Awards Program will be the ‘ASTORS’ Awards Presentation Luncheon at ISC East, November 20, 2019 in the Jacob Javits Exhibition Center, from 12:00pm – 2:30pm, featuring keynote address by Bill Bratton, former police commissioner of the NYPD, BPD, and former chief of LAPD.

The 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program drew an overwhelming response from industry leaders with a record high number of corporate and government nominations received, as well as record breaking ‘ASTORS’ Presentation Luncheon Attendees, with top firms trying to register for the exclusive high – end luncheon and networking opportunity – right up to the event kickoff on Wednesday afternoon, at the ISC East registration!

2018 'ASTORS' Homeland Security Awards Presentation Luncheon
2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Presentation Luncheon

Over 130 distinguished guests representing National, State and Local Governments, and Industry Leading Corporate Firms, gathered from across North America, Europe and the Middle East to be honored among their peers in their respective fields which included:

2018 ASTORS

  • The Department of Homeland Security
  • The Federal Protective Service (FPS)
  • Argonne National Laboratory
  • The Department of Homeland Security
  • The Department of Justice
  • The Security Exchange Commission Office of Personnel Management
  • U.S. Customs and Border Protection
  • Viasat, Hanwha Techwin, Lenel, Konica Minolta Business Solutions, Verint, Canon U.S.A., BriefCam, Pivot3, Milestone Systems, Allied Universal, Ameristar Perimeter Security and More!

ISC East is the Northeast’s largest security industry event and your ‘ASTORS’ Awards Luncheon registration includes complimentary attendee access to the show.

Exhibiting and/or Attending the 2019 ISC East Conference?

Thank take advantage of this exclusive luncheon opportunity to take a break from the show – Invite your team, guests, clients and show visitors to a lovely and affordable plated meal event in the heart of New York City, for  a fabulous networking opportunity!

Congratulations to DEA in 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program!

To register, click on the banner below, or go to https://americansecuritytoday.com/product/awards-luncheon/.

The Annual ‘ASTORS’ Awards is the preeminent U.S. Homeland Security Awards Program highlighting the most cutting-edge and forward-thinking security solutions coming onto the market today, to ensure our readers have the information they need to stay ahead of the competition, and keep our Nation safe – one facility, street, and city at a time.

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The 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program is Proudly Sponsored by ATI SystemsAttivo NetworksAutomatic SystemsDesktop Alert and SWORD Technologies.

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