DURHAM - Durham and Raleigh were chosen to split a $2.5 million federal anti-gang grant more than a year ago, and next week both cities will get the money.

Those funds are currently with the Governor's Crime Commission, which is acting as a middleman between both cities and the federal government, Durham City Manager Patrick Baker said at a Durham Crime Cabinet meeting Friday.

Durham officials have been preparing for the money's arrival. The city has hired an anti-gang coordinator, and selections are being made for a steering committee, which will offer advice on how Durham's half of the grant -- $1.25 million -- should be spent.

U.S. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey will make a formal grant presentation to both cities at Raleigh-Durham International Airport on Tuesday morning.

The grant's focus is split into three areas: prevention, enforcement and prisoner re-entry. In Durham, most of the money has already been allocated, according to the city's application.

Police need the money for better computer software and equipment, training, surveillance equipment and to pay for a narcotics/gang informant program, the application said. Prevention efforts would be geared toward expanding the use of the N.C. Child Response Initiative and faith-based organizations, increasing referrals for troubled youth and establishing a gang hotline. Re-entry money would be used to help pay for housing, training and other ex-offender needs.

Some of the money will be used to boost "Operation Bull's Eye," an interdepartmental program aimed at reducing crime in two-square-mile area east of downtown Durham. Between May 2006 and April 2007, the area was the source of most of the city's crime problems and where most gang members lived, police say.

Since the program started last year, there have been increased police and social services in the area, which has led to a 15 percent drop in violent gun crimes and an 18 percent decrease in overall crime in the operation's first six months, police say. Drug and prostitution activity also have declined.

The application also identified challenges in Durham's anti-crime efforts. Gang-Net, a police gang database, is limited in the information it provides. "Operation Bull's Eye" is working with limited resources. Underprivileged families are not getting the health services they need, and ex-offenders are having difficulty finding help for housing and other issues.

Community organizations focused on providing life skills, mediation, conflict resolution or mentoring can still apply for part of the grant money. For more information, contact Tim Henderson, Durham's coordinator of anti-gang programs, at (919) 560-4222.

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