Attorney General Kamala D. Harris Announces Over $2 Million in Grants to Fight Methamphetamine and Gang Activity in California

LOS ANGELES - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced that the California Department of Justice has been awarded over two million dollars in federal grants to fight gang activity and the manufacturing and distribution of methamphetamine throughout the state. The grants were awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office.

California DOJ received $1,499,814 from the COPS Anti-Methamphetamine Program and $747,629 from the COPS Anti-Gang Initiative. 

“Methamphetamine is a dangerous drug that threatens the health and safety of our communities,” said Attorney General Harris. “These federal dollars will support our statewide work to aid in the dismantling of criminal organizations and combat the deadly and violent impacts of this drug on our streets.”

The Attorney General’s 2014 report, Gangs Beyond Borders: California and the Fight Against Transnational Organized Crime, found that California is the primary entry point for methamphetamine smuggled into the United States, with as much of 70 percent of it entering through San Diego alone. From 2012 – 2013, California DOJ-led task forces confiscated 3,146 pounds of the drug.    

The COPS Office is awarding more than $6.1 million under the COPS Anti-Methamphetamine Program to seven state-level law enforcement agencies dealing with high seizures of precursor chemicals, finished methamphetamine, and laboratories. The award will fund DOJ efforts to investigate illicit activities related to the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine in California.

Under the COPS Anti-Gang Initiative, the COPS Office is awarding close to $5.8 million to nine multijurisdictional task forces to address gang activity. The initiative focuses on combating gang activity through enforcement, prevention, education, and intervention. This award aims to support multijurisdictional partnerships between federal, state, and local law enforcement to address all forms of gang activity.

The COPS Office is a federal agency within the United States Department of Justice responsible for advancing community policing nationwide.