AROUND THE PARISH

$1-million federal grant to build on BRAVE

Grant to develop comprehensive, place-based strategies to address community crime


Mayor-President Melvin "Kip" Holden announced at a press conference today that the City-Parish has been awarded an approximately $1-million federal grant to build upon the BRAVE effort by creating and implementing a comprehensive, place-based plan to address community crime issues in the four interconnected neighborhoods bordering 70805 and 70802.

The grant will enhance the efforts of the BRAVE program into the targeted neighborhoods of Istrouma, Greenville Extension, Eden Park and Midtown.

These four neighborhoods comprise the “hot spot” areas of the two zip codes that account for close to 50 percent of the city’s crime rate.

- Project Goals for the program include:
o Improving public health and safety through the reduction and prevention of chronic crime
o Deterring future crime by addressing the social impacts most likely to impact crime,
o Building and enhancing the capacity of the cross-sector partnership and community residents to effectively target crime issues and to ensure long-term planning and implementation of neighborhood revitalization strategies.


The grant application was submitted by the BRAVE partners including Mayor-President Melvin “Kip” Holden’s Office, former U.S. Attorney Don Cazayoux, District Attorney Hillar Moore, East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux, Police Chief Carl Dabadie, Capital Area Human Service District Executive Director Jan Kasofsky, and Living Faith Christian Center’s Bishop Raymond W. Johnson. The application was written by the BRAVE research team headed by Drs. Matt Lee, Cecile Guin, and Edward Shihadeh.

This competitive grant was awarded to cities that could demonstrate an effective consortium of partners, including participation by the U.S. Attorney, committed law enforcement agencies, community leaders, and research partners.


The Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation (BCJI) Grant Program is a part of the larger federal Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative that helps local communities develop place-based, community-oriented strategies to change neighborhoods of distress into neighborhoods of opportunity.


Other cities awarded this grant on a competitive basis include:

City of Corning, CA
San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, CA
Youth Policy Institute (Los Angeles), CA
Georgia Department of Public Health (Atlanta), GA
City of Springfield, MA
Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission, MO
Fund for the City of New York (Syracuse), NY
City of Cleveland, OH
Martha O’Bryan Center, Inc. (Nashville), TN
ECHO Housing Corporation (Evansville), IN
City of Erie, PA
Housing Authority of the City of Tampa, FL
Olneyville Housing Corporation (Providence), RI




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