Crime Trends Frame Four US Cities' Share of Nearly $300 Million in Federal Crime-Fighting Funds
The Justice Department has selected Jacksonville, Baton Rouge, Jackson and St. Louis for nearly $300 million under its new Model Cities Initiative. Individual award amounts have not yet been disclosed.
Four U.S. cities, Jacksonville, Florida; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; and St. Louis, Missouri, have been selected to share almost $300 million in federal funding to reduce violent crime, according to Fox News Digital. The awards come from the Justice Department's new Model Cities Initiative, which the department launched in June as part of President Donald Trump's focus on reducing crime in American cities.
The Justice Department has not yet said how the money will be divided. Attorney General Todd Blanche and other department leaders plan to visit each city over the next 10 days to present the awards and reveal individual amounts.
Different problems, one competition
The four winners face markedly different policing conditions. In Jacksonville, murders have fallen sharply in recent years. Baton Rouge has struggled with a significant officer shortage, while Jackson's Justice Department-described challenge is persistent violent crime that it hopes to address with a technology-driven strategy.
The city recorded 59 murders in 2024, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, its lowest total since at least 1995 and less than half the number recorded a year earlier. The Justice Department said murders fell 38% between 2023 and 2025, robberies declined 25% and aggravated assaults fell 21%. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has an annual budget of roughly $674 million.
St. Louis recorded 263 homicides in 2020 and 150 in 2024, its lowest total since 2013, as overall crime declined 15% year over year. Homicides in the first three months of 2025 fell another 45% compared with the same period a year earlier. The Justice Department said the city's proposal calls for adding more than 300 law enforcement personnel and modernizing policing technology.
Baton Rouge's police department was roughly 150 officers short earlier this year, according to the report. Officials approved what they described as the largest police pay raise in the department's history, with starting salaries rising from $40,000 to $58,000. The department also runs a Real Time Crime Center that uses data analytics to support officers and investigators.
What the money can be used for
Rather than funding a single program, the initiative takes what the department calls a "whole-of-city" approach. It brings together police, local government and community partners to build strategies suited to each city's challenges.
Funds can be used to hire sworn and non-sworn public safety staff, buy technology and equipment, expand forensic capabilities, and support programs addressing mental health, substance abuse and repeat offending. For St. Louis, where the police department budgeted about $147 million for fiscal 2026, the awards could be a significant addition, though the actual amount each city receives remains undisclosed.
What we know so far
The selections are based on each city's proposal to reduce violent crime. Jackson, which Mississippi Today reported is seeking $125 million under the grant, has not had its award confirmed. Once the Justice Department announces individual amounts during the planned visits, the size of each share will become clear.
Reporting from Fox News Digital and Mississippi Today is the basis for this story, and the individual awards have not yet been officially announced.
