Attorney General Merrick B. Garland provided welcoming remarks during the Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative Grantee Convening in St. Louis, Missouri.

The conference marks the inaugural convening of communities funded under the department’s Community Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative, a firstofitskind federal grant program tailored to support communitydriven safety solutions and reduce gun violence.

The Justice Department invested $100 million to support community violence interventions that are working to expand the role of community partners as a complement to law enforcement. The grants, funded in part by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, include support for 47 sites nationwide to implement communitydriven efforts that rely on crosssector partnerships and trusted messengers to interrupt violence, expand opportunity, and save lives. The conference will host approximately 400 invited attendees, including representatives from grantee sites and training and technical assistance provider organizations.

Related: https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/at...