More than half of Alexi Giannoulias' total funding is earmarked for the Illinois State Police and the Chicago Police Department.
"It's destroying communities," Giannoulias told the Sun-Times ahead of the grant announcement. "It's causing people to leave the state, making people second-guess putting their kids in the backseat. It can happen at 10 in the morning or 2 in the afternoon.
The money is slated to supplement police budgets for license plate readers, helicopters, tracking devices, GPS software and other technology to track down carjackers, as well as to help cover salaries for additional investigators. Giannoulias said it's a personal issue for him as well, after being carjacked with a group of basketball teammates on the city's West Side in 1998.
"It was a brutal experience. It leaves a scar you never forget," he said. "I hate the thought of anyone else going through that."
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