The 875 thousand dollar grant comes from the federal government’s Weed and Seed program.  The idea is to use the money over the next five years to increase police presence to weed out criminals and then seed new programs to help residents in the neighborhood.
18 year Oak Park resident Tom Sumpter says he’s looking forward to some of the weeding out:
 
Diversion of prostitutes, get ‘em into programs, get ‘em off the streets.  For the drug dealers, it’s find some ways to change their attitudes or incarcerate them.
 
Sumpter says the money is also needed for after school programs to keep kids off the streets and away from gangs.Other uses will include substance abuse programs, neighborhood clean-up, and social service referrals within the community.