WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice announced Monday it has awarded more than $85.3 million to bolster school security, including funding to educate and train students and faculty, and support first responders who arrive on the scene of a school shooting or other violent incident.
North Carolina agences received more than $4 million in grants from the Student, Teachers and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Act of 2018.
“These federal resources will help to prevent school violence and give our students the support they need to learn, grow, and thrive,’ said Attorney General William P. Barr. “By training faculty, students and first responders, and by improving school security measures, we can make schools and their communities safer.”
This year, Office of Justice Program’s Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded nearly $53 million via three separate funding opportunities required through the Act, while Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) awarded nearly $32.5 million through its School Violence Prevention Program.
“Preventing violence in our schools is critical to the safety and security of all of our communities,” said Robert J. Higdon, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina. “These funds authorized by the Department of Justice will be used to better prepare school faculty, students and law enforcement to prevent, detect, and respond to security threats.”
North Carolina awarded grants and the programs were:
STOP School Violence Technology and Threat Assessment Solutions for Safer Schools Program
• State Bureau of Investigation awarded $956,880
State School Safety Centers
• N.C. Department of Public Instruction awarded $955,532
STOP School Violence Prevention and Mental Health Training Program
• N.C. Department of Public Instruction awarded $1 million
• Craven County Sheriff’s Department awarded $499,357
COPS’ School Violence Prevention Program
• Rockingham County Schools awarded $500,097
• Guilford County Schools awarded $500,000
• Moore County Schools awarded $472,283
• Department of Public Instruction awarded $344,394
• City of Newton awarded $47,101
President Donald Trump signed the STOP School Violence Act into law in March 2018, authorizing grants that are designed to improve threat assessments, train students and faculty to provide tips and leads, and prepare law enforcement officers and emergency professionals to respond to school shootings and other violent incidents. The grant programs are managed by OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Justice Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.
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