A grant from the U.S. Department of Justice is going to the city of Benton Harbor to help improve neighborhood safety. U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge has announced $252,000 in Project Safe Neighborhoods grants for four cities in Michigan. They are Benton Harbor, Battle Creek, Grand Rapids, and Kalamazoo. Project Safe Neighborhoods aims to reduce violent crime with community initiatives and police action. In Benton Harbor, the money will be used for a neighborhood arts program to work with local social media influencers on creating positive messages about crime reduction and to teach young people skills for music and video production. In Kalamazoo, the money will be used to continue the long-running Group Violence Intervention program.
