Millions of dollars for curtailing gun violence is coming to Arizona due to a new federal law signed last year.
The director of the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission says the money will be used to set up a crisis-intervention program and redistributed as grants.
The U.S. Justice Department is sending more than $6.1 million to the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission.
Executive Director Andrew LeFevre wants to specialize court programs for firearms offenders, bolster behavioral health deflection programs, and make sure police can securely store weapons they confiscate.
“This right now is the first two installments of a four or five-year program that hopefully they’ll continue to fund,” he said.
This means Arizona could eventually get another $10.5 million to battle gun violence, if the new Congress approves.
LeFevre predicts local grants will be awarded by the end of September.
