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AMARILLO, TX - Today, officials from the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance, the United States Attorney's Office's Northern District of Texas, the Amarillo Police Department and other law enforcement agencies convened in Amarillo, TX to kick off Amarillo’s National Public Safety Partnership (PSP) with a listening session. 

Last month, Attorney General William Barr announced the selection of the Amarillo Police Department as one of ten FY 2019 PSP sites where the Justice Department will work collaboratively to provide training and technical assistance in areas such as crime analytics, emerging technology and community engagement.   This Justice Department program is a three-year engagement that seeks to leverage department assets in support of a local jurisdictions' commitment to drive down violent crime. 

Since 2017, the Justice Department has directed nearly $14.9 million in customized training and technical assistance to help build crime fighting capacity in PSP sites, including $6.6 million to support the FY 2019 sites through FY 2022. PSP seeks to bring law enforcement stakeholders together to work collaboratively in reducing violent crime attributed to felonious firearm use, drug trafficking and human trafficking. 

“Today our team is on-site in Amarillo to collaborate with local law enforcement officials in their mission to improve public safety and drive down violent crime,” said Jon Adler, Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance.  "Through the Public Safety Partnership, we are committed to fulfilling the Attorney General's priority of supporting local law enforcement combat violent gangs, felonious firearms use and drug trafficking," added Adler.

“Our Project Safe Neighborhoods partnership with state and local law enforcement in Amarillo has already proven enormously successful,” said U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox. “I’m confident that by bringing even more federal resources to bear here, we can make a significant dent in the crime occurring in the Panhandle.”

Since 2017, the Justice Department has worked with more than 30 local jurisdictions under the nationwide PSP program. Many participating cities have already seen dramatic reductions in violent crime. New Orleans ended 2018 with 146 murders, the lowest number of murders since the early 1970s. In Milwaukee, homicides declined in 2018 for a third straight year after hitting a deadly peak in 2015.  

Agencies in attendance at this meeting will include the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Texas; the Office of Justice Programs; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives; the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; the U.S. Marshals Service;  Amarillo Police Department; the Texas Department of Public Safety; the Potter County Sheriff’s Office; the Potter County District Attorney’s Office; the Potter County Attorney’s Office; the Randall County Sheriff’s Office; the Randal County District Attorney’s Office; and Mayor Ginger Nelson’s Office.