Fed DOJ Urged to Return $150K in Grant Money

NEWBURGH – U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Representative Sean Patrick Maloney today announced that, following their push, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has approved the City of Newburgh’s request to repurpose $152,031– from a previously approved Project Safe Neighborhood grant – to launch and expand the City of Newburgh’s new security camera network. The camera project has broad and deep support throughout the community and with law enforcement. In October of 2015, the City of Newburgh applied for and received the Project Safe Neighborhoods grant worth nearly $460,000 dollars to create safer neighborhoods and reduce gang and gun violence. However, the lawmakers said $152,031of this funding was almost immediately repossessed by the DOJ due to a bureaucratic mistake. Schumer and Maloney went to bat for Newburgh and urged the DOJ to repurpose this funding for the new security camera network, which will help the city deter and more easily solve crimes.

“This federal investment is great news for the City of Newburgh, which will finally be able to launch and expand a security camera network to prevent and solve crime. I was proud to go to bat for Newburgh and urge the Department of Justice to swiftly approve their request to repurpose this critical funding. Every dollar makes a difference, and with these additional tools, Newburgh will really be able to take a bite out of violent crime and build a healthier community,” said U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer.

“After working hand-in-glove with Newburgh Police Department to ensure we have more cops on the beat and the resources they need to keep our city safe, we have now secured federal funding for security cameras in the city. These cameras are a necessary tool to help our police respond to violent crimes more quickly, make it easier to prosecute those who would do harm to our families, and will also function as a deterrent that will make criminals think twice before pulling a trigger that would end a life. I will continue working with the Department of Justice and Senator Schumer to get critical funding for more crime-fighting technology throughout the city to keep our streets safe,” said Representative Sean Patrick Maloney.

Schumer and Maloney said that the people of Newburgh have struggled to fight the too-high levels of violent crime in their community and need all the tools and financial support they can get from the federal government to assist these efforts. This federal investment is the essential first step needed to help the city repair nonworking surveillance cameras and install new digital surveillance cameras in the city’s most crime-ridden areas.