Lt. Gov. Austin Davis joined federal, state and local partners to highlight a $4 million federal grant to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) at a news conference in Philadelphia on Friday, Dec. 13.
COMMONWEALTH MEDIA SERVICES
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Lt. Gov. Austin Davis announced a $4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday, which will be used to fund hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIP) across the state. Austin announced the Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative (CVIPI) grant at Temple University Hospital, which runs a successful HVIP, a model that officials will work to expand across Pennsylvania.
“Gun violence isn’t just a Philadelphia problem — it’s a Pennsylvania problem and, uniquely, an American problem,” said Davis. “However, it’s a problem we can and must do something about, and the city of Philadelphia has been making great strides to combat the epidemic of gun violence by treating it like a public health crisis and working with local hospitals and health care providers to support victims and make our communities safer.”
In Philadelphia, there have been more than 800 nonfatal shootings and 193 homicides thus far this year, according to a City Controller database. Homicides are down 40-percent compared to this time last year.
