The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday announced more than $70 million in grant funding to “bolster school security, educate and train students and faculty, and support law enforcement officers and first responders who arrive on the scene of a school violence incident,” according to a press release.

This funding included significant money for Alabama, which Congressman Bradley Byrne (AL-1), who is a member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, applauded in a separate press release.

“I was proud to support increased funding for school safety grants earlier this year, and I am thrilled to see that Alabama will benefit from the funds,” Byrne said. “With these funds, state and local officials will have more resources for school safety training, mental health training programs, and school violence prevention. I appreciate the Trump Administration and Attorney General Jeff Sessions for their help in securing this critical funding.”

The specific grants for Alabama are as follows:

• $393,935 for the City of Mobile through the 2018 Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) School Violence Prevention Program;
• $468,750 for the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency through the COPS School Violence Prevention Program;
• $369,633 for the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency through the STOP School Violence Threat Assessment and Technology Reporting Program; and
• $353,608 for the Alabama State Department of Education through the STOP School Violence Prevention and Mental Health Training Program.

These grants are in addition to the funding to the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO), announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions last week, to expand and update their curriculum to better support training programs. The grants combined will better protect students, teachers, faculty and first responders across the country.

Additionally, the DOJ is awarding more than $64 million to state agencies to improve the completeness, quality and accessibility of the nation’s criminal record systems, which will help law enforcement and increase the effectiveness of background checks.

“President Trump and his administration will ensure the safety of every American school,” said Sessions.

He continued, “Earlier this year he signed into law the STOP School Violence Act, which provides grant funding to develop anonymous school threat reporting systems, to implement school building security measures, and to train students, school personnel, and law enforcement on how to prevent school violence. Today I am announcing $70 million in these grants to hundreds of cities and states across America. These grants will go a long way toward giving young people and their families both safety and peace of mind.”

Today, my Administration provided HISTORIC levels of funding to improve school safety through STOP School Violence grants – a top priority for @sandyhook. I am committed to keeping our children SAFE in their schools!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 3, 2018