ALEXANDRIA, Va. (WAVY) — Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger announced on Friday that numerous Eastern District of Virginia jurisdictions received over $1.8 million in grants to aid with public safety challenges resulting from the pandemic.
The City of Virginia Beach and the City of Newport News were included in the award distribution receiving $258,160 and $335,673, respectively.
The grants are available through the Department of Justice and under the Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding program. The localities awarded can use the funds for staffing, overtime, protective gear, or medical care in jails and prisons.
“Those on the front lines of the public safety response to the coronavirus have our support, gratitude, and utmost respect,” said Terwilliger. “The Department of Justice provides this funding with significant flexibility so that state and local departments can use it in the ways that best benefit their officers and their community.”
The funding comes shortly after the DOJ awarded a separate set of grants in which Hampton Roads received over $14 million towards behavioral health programs for incarcerated and those returning to the community.
“The outbreak of COVID-19 and the public health emergency it created are sobering reminders that even the most routine duties performed by our nation’s public safety officials carry potentially grave risks,” said Katharine T. Sullivan, principal deputy assistant attorney general for the Office of Justice Programs.
“These funds will provide hard-hit communities with critical resources to help mitigate the impact of this crisis and give added protection to the brave professionals charged with keeping citizens safe.”
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
