New London Receives $42,000 For Anti-Violence Efforts

New London will receive $42,000 in federal funds to go toward the development of an anti-violence collaborative, Gov. Dannel Malloy announced today.

New London is one of 22 cities in Connecticut receiving part of a $915,000 grant from the Department of Justice's Local Pass Through Justice Assistance Formula Grants. Malloy said these communities will also receive direct grants ranging from $10,000 to $271,000 from the Justice Department later this year.

“While crime is at record lows in our state, these grants will help us bolster local police department efforts to engage in a coordinated and collaborative response to criminal activity that frequently crosses city and town borders,” Malloy said.  “Funding will be used to help sustain law enforcement and public safety services, particularly during the summer months when these critical public safety initiatives are needed most.”

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Malloy said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reports show that the state's violence crime rate is at its lowest point since 1968. However, he said the 22 cities receiving the funds acount for 82 percent of violent crime in the state and 75 percent of the state's prisoner population.

The Office of Policy and Management is asking the cities to use the funds to develop an anti-violence collaborative of federal, state, and local officials as well as residents such as community leaders, clergy, corrections and probation officers, and mental health and substance abuse professionals.

According to the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division, the 2010 violent crime rate for New London and Norwich was 394.6 per 100,000 residents. New London's statistics showed 286 incidents of violent crime, including two murders or manslaughters, 14 robberies, 50 forcible rapes, and 220 aggravated assaults. Norwich, which is also receiving $42,000 through the grant, had 144 incidents including two murders or manslaughters, 21 robberies, 46 forcible rapes, and 75 aggravated assaults.

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