DOJ Picks Jacksonville, Baton Rouge, Jackson, St. Louis for Nearly $300M Model Cities Funding

4.2 · 1d ago · US

The Facts

  • The Justice Department selected four cities for its Model Cities Initiative: Jacksonville (FL), Baton Rouge (LA), Jackson (MS) and St. Louis (MO), which will share almost $300 million in federal funding. Fox News only
  • Attorney General Todd Blanche and other DOJ leaders will visit each city over the next 10 days to present the awards; individual funding amounts will be revealed then and have not yet been disclosed. Fox News only
  • DOJ launched the competition in June, inviting cities nationwide to submit plans to reduce violent crime and improve public safety. Fox News only
  • Funds may be used to hire sworn and non-sworn personnel and other public safety workers, buy technology and equipment, expand forensic capabilities, and fund mental health, substance abuse and recidivism programs. Fox News only
  • Jacksonville recorded 59 murders in 2024, its lowest since at least 1995 and less than half the prior year's total, per the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. DOJ said murders fell 38% from 2023 to 2025, robberies 25% and aggravated assaults 21%. Fox News only
Dive deeper · 3 more factsShow less
  • St. Louis recorded 263 homicides in 2020 and 150 in 2024, its lowest since 2013; DOJ said its proposal would add more than 300 law enforcement personnel and modernize technology. Fox News only
  • Baton Rouge Police was roughly 150 officers short earlier this year; officials approved a pay raise lifting starting salaries from $40,000 to $58,000. Fox News only
  • DOJ said Jackson, Mississippi was selected for a technology-driven strategy to address persistent violent crime. Fox News only

Context

The Justice Department announced the four winners of its Model Cities Initiative, a competition tied to the Trump administration's focus on reducing urban crime. Details were obtained by Fox News Digital ahead of the awards.

DOJ describes the program as a "whole-of-city" approach combining law enforcement, local government and community partners. The split of the roughly $300 million among the cities has not been disclosed.

How the Agent Panel Scored This

Independent AI personas each scored importance 1–10; the story's score is a trimmed mean (highest and lowest votes dropped). Vote spread: 3.

6 Policy Expert A federal DOJ funding award of nearly $300 million across four cities is a concrete enacted allocation with real local impact, but it affects a limited set of cities and individual amounts are still undisclosed, placing it at moderate importance.
5 News Editor A concrete federal funding award of nearly $300 million across four cities is newsworthy with moderate importance for the affected cities, though individual amounts remain undisclosed and the reach is limited to four metro areas, not widespread immediate impact.
4 Business Analyst A federal grant award of roughly $300 million split among four mid-sized cities is newsworthy for those localities but has limited market-wide or broad national economic impact, with individual amounts still undisclosed.
4 Critical Reader A federal grant award of roughly $300M split among four cities is a concrete funding action with local impact, but individual amounts are undisclosed, it is a single-source report, and the outcomes are proposed rather than verified.
4 Science & Tech Analyst A federal grant award of roughly $300 million split among four mid-sized cities is a concrete action with regional impact, but it is a single-source, pre-announcement story with undisclosed individual amounts and limited national significance.
4 Informed Citizen A federal grant award of roughly $300 million split among four cities is a concrete action with local impact, but it affects a limited number of cities and individual amounts are still undisclosed, so its broader significance is modest.
3 Global Affairs Analyst This is a concrete federal funding award of about $300 million to four mid-sized cities, but its impact is limited to local public safety programs and individual amounts are still undisclosed.

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