Pennsylvania OKs $80M for crime data reporting, victim services

(The Center Square) — Police departments across Pennsylvania will get an $80 million boost for crime reporting and victim support services, along with other efforts, with a recent approval from the Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

The Shapiro administration announced the grants will include equipment upgrades and county jail-based medication-assisted treatment for drug addiction as well.

"The Commission took a significant step in advancing public safety by approving $80 million in funding to enhance our law enforcement capabilities and provide critical support to victims of crime,” PCCD Executive Director Mike Pennington said in a press release. “The funding approved today will modernize our crime reporting systems to meet national standards, bolster law enforcement equipment and technology, and fund vital services for crime victims across Pennsylvania.”

Almost $6 million will go to system upgrades for law enforcement to repeat crime statistics to the FBI’s database, NIBRS, which tracks details on crime including “victims, known offenders, relationships between victims and offenders, arrestees, and property involved in crimes.”

That upgrade could significantly improve tracking crime, as Pennsylvania struggles to “accurately capture statewide and jurisdiction-specific crime trends” because it is “well behind other states in the nation in fully utilizing NIBRS,” the press release noted.

Only 42% of the commonwealth’s population is covered by a police department that uses NIBRS. Worse, only 10% of local law enforcement agencies report crime stats to the FBI with NIBRS in Pennsylvania.

The $6 million will go to 68 policing entities, with many grants ranging from $30,000 up to $200,000.

“This funding will allow Central Bucks Regional Police Department to upgrade our technology infrastructure to provide greater specificity in reporting statistics through NIBRS compliance,” Central Bucks Regional Police Chief Karl Knott said in a press release, which received $162,000. “We look forward to the benefit of maximizing our resources through actionable intelligence, more accurate analysis of crime, and data sharing across agencies to increase clearance rates.”

The biggest payout went to Bensalem Township, which will receive. $332,000 Franklin City in Adams County; the Allegheny County Chief Executive Officer; Pittsburgh City; Wilkins Township; Lancaster City; and Oil City in Venango County all received $200,000.

The bulk of the money approved by the PCCD, though, will go for victim services. The $60 million will go toward research on how effective counties have implemented Act 79 of 2018 to protect survivors of domestic violence, support for local communities affected by traumatic events, and “a multidisciplinary approach by the justice systems in its response to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and dating violence.”