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Thursday, September 14, 2017
YNDC and its partners, the City of Youngstown, Youngstown Police Department, and Youngstown State University, were awarded an $850,000 grant from the US Department of Justice to implement a crime reduction plan in a target area on the south side of Youngstown, focused on Market Street, South Avenue, and the Taft and Cottage Grove Neighborhoods.
The Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation grant will fund crime-reduction activities in four key areas: small business safety; residential property safety, community empowerment, and neighborhood revitalization. The small business safety initiative seeks to address these crime issues through employee and manager training, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) assessments and grants to property owners, focused deterrence, increased surveillance, increased communication between property owners and the Youngstown Police Department, increased police presence, and proactive police patrols. The residential property safety initiative seeks to address crime issues through targeted community education, grants to homeowners for safety upgrades, focused deterrence targeting repeat offenders, increased lighting and surveillance, increased police patrols, increased enforcement of the city’s rental property registration program, landlord engagement, incentives for landlords to practice sound management practices, and targeted code enforcement of nuisance properties. The community empowerment initiative seeks to address crime issues and improve neighborhood quality of life through community organizing, creating new neighborhood groups, engaging residents through block parties, volunteer events, and improvement projects, distributing resource guides, providing services for individuals returning from incarceration, and increased opportunities for youth and young adults through activities, sports leagues, job training, and job opportunities. The neighborhood revitalization initiative seeks to address crime issues and improve neighborhood quality of life through establishing a Clean and Green Team that cleans up and secures vacant properties, demolition of blighted properties, boarding up and securing vacant properties, vacant lot maintenance, neighborhood improvement, installation of additional lighting, repairing infrastructure, and addressing gaps in retail, particularly related to providing healthy food options. This project was supported by Award No. 2017-AJ-BX-0009 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, United States Department of Justice. A map of the target areas can be downloaded below.