Flint is getting some help from the federal government to combat its violent crime problem.
The $1 million grant from the U.S. Justice Department will help fund community programs on Flint’s north side for the next three years. Flint is one of nine communities nationwide to receive the grant from the U.S. Justice Department.
Hamilton Community Health Network, Flint city officials and local neighborhood groups will work together to develop community-based crime reduction plans and programs.
“I want to cry because this is going to help us,” Jeanette Edwards, the president of the Brownell Holmes Block Club, told reporters at a midday news conference. “We’re going to bring Flint back.”
Flint Police Chief Tim Johnson says crime is no worse on the city’s north side compared to other parts of the city. But he says he welcomes any help fighting crime Flint can get.
“As you know, we’ve got crime going on around the whole city,” says Johnson, “and a lot of it coming from outside the city.”
The FBI ranks Flint among the ten most violent cities in America.
