Violent crime in Montana is up 26.9% since 2016, with over half of those reports occurring in 2020.

Attorneys are trying to curb those numbers through a special program called Project Safe Neighborhoods.

"We chose Yellowstone County and Missoula County as our two PSN sites," explained Leif Johnson, acting U.S. Attorney. "We began focusing our efforts and coordinating with the state and local officials in those counties to try and make a dent in violent crime."

According to the National Institute of Justice, violent crimes include rape, sexual assault, robbery, assault and murder.

Johnson says Missoula’s rate stabilized after the program’s introduction.

"(NPS) is a federal initiative to address or collaborate with local and state law enforcement to address violent crime in areas where violent crime is the worst," said Johnson. "So within a particular district you look across the district and try to concentrate federal resources to help make a dent in that problem where it's worst.”

After the COVID-19 pandemic, crime rates started to show an upward trend as unemployment and drug use also increased.

“After about a year and a half of the (original) effort, we were able to bring the violent crime rates down about 30%," Johnson noted, "but then once the pandemic hit, the violent crime rate just skyrocketed.”

In 2020, over 64,000 Montanans found themselves unemployed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

They also saw a higher rate of opioid prescription compared to the national average.

Johnson says both these factors add to increased crime.

“These are all problems that arise when you don't have jobs, you don't have income and you have a lot of drugs in the community," he said.

Each county can apply for grants from the Department of Justice that pay for crime analysis and even officers' salaries.

Depending on the grant, funding must go to training, technical assistance, communication and development of other resources like rehabilitation centers.

For the 2021 fiscal year, Project Safe Neighborhoods received $20 million in funding.

Johnson says the goal is to fund state and local services used by law enforcement as well as other treatment and community providers like probation or parole.

It’s unclear if crime rates will drop as COVID-19 cases continue, but for now they're relying on the hope of a return to normal.

“Our hope is we crawl out of this pandemic and we get people back to work and we get kids back to school and parents can function in our economy," said Johnson. "There will be less opportunity for as much of the violent crime -- particularly the violent crime that's related to drugs and to family violence. That alone would significantly reduce the problem here in Yellowstone County and in Missoula County as well."