Knoxville Schools Receive $1.39 Million in Federal Funding for School Safety

Strategic Insights -

The City of Knoxville, Bradley County School District, and Monroe County Schools have been awarded $1,391,296 in funding from the Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP). This funding will provide essential resources to enhance school safety measures in and around primary and secondary schools and school grounds. The COPS Office has announced a total of nearly $50 million in school safety funding nationally as part of the SVPP.

Key Takeaways:

  • The City of Knoxville, Bradley County School District, and Monroe County Schools received $1,391,296 in funding from the COPS Office SVPP for school safety measures.
  • The funding provides up to 75% of the costs for school safety measures, such as metal detectors, locks, lighting, and other deterrent measures.
  • The COPS Office SVPP awards can be used for coordination with law enforcement, training for local law enforcement officers to prevent student violence, and technology for expedited notification of local law enforcement during an emergency.
  • The COPS Office has identified 10 essential actions to improve school safety, which include adopting policies and practices based on the recommendations in the SVPP awards.
  • The COPS Office has invested more than $14 billion since 1994 to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies.

Statistics:

  • The COPS Office SVPP awarded nearly $50 million in school safety funding nationally.
  • The City of Knoxville, Bradley County School District, and Monroe County Schools received $1,391,296 in funding from the COPS Office SVPP.
  • The COPS Office has invested more than $14 billion since 1994 to advance community policing.
  • The COPS Office has awarded grants to more than 13,000 state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies.
  • Over 134,000 officers have been hired or redeployed as a result of COPS Office grants.

Sources:

  • United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee
  • United States Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office)
  • The Students, Teachers, and Officers Preventing School Violence Act of 2018 (STOP School Violence Act of 2018)
  • The COPS Office School Safety Working Group