LAUREL — Laurel Police Department Deputy Chief Tyrone Stewart has been selected to join the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) National Board.

Resident Agent in Charge Joel L. Lee with the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives made the announcement of Stewart’s selection this week.

Lee said Stewart is significant to the local area and to the state of Mississippi.

“We have selected Deputy Chief Stewart to head the Project Safe Neighborhood Board,” Lee said. “It’s a monumental task.”

Stewart said he is looking forward to serving on the board.

“It’s a great opportunity,” said the deputy chief with 18 years of law enforcement experience. “I will have a chance to come up with strategies and policies to help communities all over the United States.”

Lee said this is the first time the board has been chaired by someone outside of Jackson.

“Historically, Project Safe Neighborhood has been earmarked for more urban areas,” the ATF agent said. “It seeks to form partnerships with local and federal law enforcement.”

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun and gang crime in America by networking existing local programs that target gun and gun crime and providing these programs with additional tools necessary to be successful.

“This program is nothing new,” Lee said. “It’s something that we have used. Now, we will be able to use it more efficiently.”

Since its inception in 2001, approximately $2 billion has been committed to this initiative. This funding is being used to hire new federal and state prosecutors, support investigators, provide training, distribute gun lock safety kits, deter juvenile gun crime, and develop and promote community outreach efforts as well as to support other gun and gang violence reduction strategies.

Stewart, who has worked with the Laurel Police Department for 17 years, said he is pro Second Amendment. However, Stewart said, he is looking forward to his work of “keeping guns out of the wrong people’s hands.”

The Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative was built upon the foundations of previously-existing gun crime reduction efforts. By studying these efforts, the Department of Justice determined that successful gun crime reduction initiatives had three common elements: they were comprehensive, coordinated and community-based. It is on these three fundamental principles that PSN is based.

Using those principles as a guide, the DOJ required that each United States Attorney implement a local gun crime reduction effort that contained each of the following five elements: partnerships, strategic planning, training, outreach, and accountability.

The partnership element requires that the local U.S. Attorney create workable and sustainable partnerships with other federal, state, and local law enforcement; prosecutors; and the community. Strategic problem-solving involves the use of data and research to isolate the key factors driving gun crime at the local level, suggest intervention strategies, and provide feedback and evaluation to the task force.

The training element underscores the importance of ensuring that each person involved in the gun crime reduction effort – from the line police officer to the prosecutor to the community outreach worker – has the skills necessary to be most effective.

Stewart said his selection to this national board is significant.

“I’ve worked with a variety of agencies – ranging from the FBI, ATF, US Marshals Office and the US Attorney’s Office,” said Stewart, who has worked with the Laurel Police Department for 17 years. “My work speaks for itself.”

The Laurel City Council on Tuesday approved a request to allow Stewart to attend the 2010 Project Safe Neighborhoods Conference in New Orleans, La., on July 13-15 at an estimated cost of $627.56. Funds for the trip will be taken from the Police Department Travel Account. However, the department will be reimbursed by the PSN Program and the it will be of no cost to the city.