Newark Street Team Gets $915K To Help Fight Violence In City

NEWARK, NJ — A “community street team” dedicated to reducing violence in Newark will get a big boost from a federal grant, officials announced Monday.

The U.S. Department of Justice will distribute more than $2.9 million to help fight and prevent violent crime in New Jersey, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. It’s part of a larger, $458 million campaign to battle crime across the nation.

The Newark Community Street Team will get $915,000 to help with the group’s “community-based crime reduction” efforts, officials said.

“Combatting violent crime has been a top priority of our office,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.

“We have worked incredibly hard to develop strategies that allow us to combine the efforts of our local, state and federal partners to keep our citizens safe,” Carpenito said. “The grants announced today will provide us with additional tools in that effort.”

According to its website, the Newark Community Street Team (NCST) was founded by Mayor Ras Baraka as the city’s community-based violence reduction strategy. The NCST draws upon an evidence-based, trauma informed approach to violence reduction. The group hires, trains and deploys outreach workers and high risk interventionists in the South Ward and West Wards of Newark to:

• Provide casework to those at greatest risk of becoming a victim or a perpetrator of violence
• Engage in high-risk intervention, both mediating on-going disputes that may result in violence and preventing retaliation.
• Offer Safe Passage at contracted schools
• Provide support to crime survivors who are overlooked by traditional victim services agencies

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