Governor Terry McAuliffe today announced that he is making $1.5 million in grant funding available through the Department of Criminal Justice Services to law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders to fund programs combating domestic terrorism and violent extremism.
The grants will also support the development of regional plans and cooperative agreements to help localities coordinate resources to deal with incidents related to civil unrest, violent extremism or domestic terrorism.
“The Trump Administration has proposed significant cuts to counterterrorism programs that respond to the threat of violent extremism and domestic terrorism in our communities,” said Governor McAuliffe. “That is why, in addition to urging Attorney General Sessions and the Department of Homeland Security to protect these federal funds, I have directed my public safety team to identify and make funds available to ensure that this need continues to be addressed in Virginia. These grants will help make Virginia an even safer place to live by working from the community-level up to combat extremism before it turns violent.”
The funds will be administered by the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) through the federal Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program. Grant funds are being offered in the following areas:
- law enforcement training and development of cooperative planning and response;
- law enforcement/community training in awareness of indicators of potential violence to include domestic terrorism, domestic extremism, hate groups, and community threat assessments;
- development and updating of online training to be offered by regional law enforcement academies on countering violent extremism and domestic terrorism; and
- violence-focused crime and information analysis
- projects to increase cultural exposure and promote community resilience in youth;
- community engagement programs to reduce radicalization, domestic extremism, and youth and young adult violence;
“Violent extremism and domestic terrorism pose significant public safety threats to our communities,” said Brian Moran, Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security. “These funds will provide our law enforcement agencies, emergency response partners and stakeholders with the necessary training to identify, prevent and respond to any potential violent acts, and will support programs to prevent our youth from becoming involved with extremist groups.”
Applications for the grants announced today will be due to DCJS no later than November 6, 2017. Details and grant application instructions are available on the DCJS website, at www.dcjs.virginia.gov.
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