Alongside Governor Rick Snyder and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, members of Wayne State University's AmeriCorps Urban Safety (AMUS) Project recently accepted $1.6 million in federal grants to expand their mission of making Detroit a safer place.  

AMUS has operated out of Wayne State's Center for Urban Studies since 2010 and has successfully implemented crime prevention and urban safety initiatives throughout Midtown and the East Jefferson neighborhood. Along with WSU’s COMPSTAT crime-mapping program, AMUS has been praised for helping to reduce crime in Midtown by 44 percent.

This substantial grant will allow AMUS to double their force of volunteers and expand the program to areas near East English Village, Clark Elementary, Bates, Bagley, Bethune, Gompers Elementary, Cody Elementary, Harms Elementary, Neinas Elementary and Osborn High School.

“This is only the beginning,” says Ramona Washington, director of AMUS. “We have so much more important work to do in the city of Detroit and it’s a huge boost of confidence to know that the governor and federal government acknowledge and support us.”

For more information on AMUS visit www.cus.wayne.edu/research_initiatives/AMUS.html.