Tampa PD, non-profit team up to use FDLE grant toward youth gun violence prevention

Youth gun violence reduction grant

Briona Arradondo reports.

TAMPA, Fla. - Hundreds of kids could see a positive impact just through the one grant. Tampa police and local nonprofit Safe and Sound Hillsborough are focused on connecting with kids before they pick up a gun.

"Fighting crime is not just a police thing, it’s a community thing," said Chief Lee Bercaw of the Tampa Police Department.

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What we know:

A new grant from FDLE for community violence intervention is another tool in that fight.

Tampa police and Safe and Sound Hillsborough are working together to use the grant to focus on kids, especially while they’re out of school.

"If we don’t give them something constructive to do, unfortunately, we’ll see that they get in trouble. We’ll see juvenile arrests increase," said Freddy Barton, the executive director of Safe and Sound Hillsborough.

What they're saying:

Barton said their goal is to reach 500 children, and the grant helps with that by expanding gun prevention programs they already have.

"This is giving at least another $200,000 to $250,000 directly into programs and services. So, we’ve been able to bring on a program manager as well as a case manager to work with some of our deeper end youth," said Barton.

It expands mental wellness services and out-of-school opportunities for kids and more.

"We’ve built an officer and youth component where every week we have officers engaging with some of the youth in our program," said Barton.

By the numbers:

Tampa police say building those relationships matters and prevents youth from adding to the city’s crime numbers.

"As far as the crime goes itself, gun violence is down, and we’re seeing more people securing their cars, locking them up, taking their guns out. They’re heeding our warnings because our auto burglaries involving firearms are down this year," said Bercaw.

TPD also said homicides are down 40% in the first quarter this year, so community leaders support any positive impact.

"To know that we’ve got 10 organizations for an initial pot of at least $50,000 to start to do programs all throughout next week for our first annual Tampa Youth Violence Prevention Week, it’s huge," said Barton.

What's next:

Safe and Sound said they will keep in touch with families that connect with them during Tampa Youth Violence Prevention Week, which will launch Sunday through the next week. To find out more information, visit the programs tab at safeandsoundhillsborough.org.

The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Briona Arradondo, and contains details from the Tampa Police Department and Safe and Sound Hillsborough.

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