SCNTR receives $992,237 from Justice Department to fight crime

On Monday, Nov. 3 the office of U.S. Attorney Richard Moore announced that the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth and Reconciliation (SCNTR) received $992,237 from the Department of Justice to combat crime. 

The grant was part of a larger program to confront crime throughout the nation, according to a press release from Moore's site. The Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs has granted more than $458 million. 

"While we have made great strides in reducing violent crime in Selma, much of that progress has been on the ‘weeding’ side and not the ‘seeding’ side," Moore stated in the press release. We cannot arrest or prosecute our way out of Selma’s violent crime problem."

"Law enforcement continues to make Selma safer by removing the most violent trigger-pullers from the community, but we must have community-based programs that target the root of criminal behavior which is poverty, unemployment and the lure of local criminal gangs."

Moore said that SCNTR will use the funds for educational programs with the hope of preventing people from resorting to crime. 

"[SCNTR], under the direction of Ainka Jackson, will be implementing intervention strategies that are modeled after the Nonviolence Institute in Providence, R.I." Moore said. "The model includes education and employment assistance, as well as victim services."

"The Weed and Seed Board in Selma will be working closely with this program as we continue to coordinate the work of our law enforcement partners to make a better Selma.”