Huntington Receives $100K to Study Crime

The Huntington Police Department was awarded a $100,000 grant Monday from the U.S. Department of Justice to study a crime ridden area of the city.

The grant is part of the Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program.

Huntington Police Department’s Grant Administrative Officer Rod Pell said the award allows the office to begin the planning phase of ridding downtown Huntington, or city council district three, of crime.

“Roughly, over a three year period, that district three reflected almost 28 percent of all part one violent offenses for the city and over 20 percent of all part one property offenses city wide also,” Pell said.

“It’s concerning because district three is geographically the second smallest city council district.”

The department has identified questions, like what drives crime in the area and where can the city collaborate to decrease it.

The grant also allows Huntington PD to team with the Center for Business and Economic Research at Marshall University and a private business called Collective Impact to find the answers to those questions.

Next year, Huntington will apply for a second grant to implement the solutions they identify.