IT’S BECOME A rite of spring in Boston, as certain as Lilac Sunday at the Arnold Arboretum and the return of swan boats to the Public Garden: A press briefing on city plans for promoting public safety during the hot summer months when trouble ticks up with the temperature.  

But the annual anti-crime announcement feels a bit like the mayoral warnings issued in advance of a big winter storm or blast of arctic air in January: They are both meant to show that the city is on the job and taking the issue seriously, but the details that are shared invariably have a familiar quality to them.  

After all, there are only so many ways to warn people to stay off the roads during a blizzard, or to remind them to lend a hand to any neighbor in need of help during a storm. By the same token, when it comes to efforts to keep a lid on gun violence and other urban ills, Boston’s yearly announcement inevitably follows a well-worn theme.  

In a city that has earned national reputation over decades for its low homicide rate and comprehensive approach to public safety and gun violence, there’s no sense in reinventing the wheel.  

When Mayor Michelle Wu, Police Commissioner Michael Cox, and other city leaders gathered at a Dorchester park Tuesday morning for their annual briefing, they largely stuck to the script that has driven Boston’s public safety thinking since the 1990s: The police will be vigilant in focusing on the small number of people driving violence in Boston, while various other city departments will be doing all they can to engage young people in positive pursuits, especially those at risk of getting pulled into trouble on the streets.  

It is an “all of government” effort, said Wu, highlighting everything from summer youth jobs to expanded evening programming for young people this summer that is aimed at complementing police work so that Boston is “continuing to put in place strategies, the resources, and the leadership to continue to be the safest major city in the country.”  

This year, however, “all of government” doesn’t include all levels of government.  

While the city plans to deploy more than $5 million to youth public safety efforts, and the state funds a robust set of programs aimed at at-risk youth and violence prevention, the US Department of Justice under President Trump has concluded that such programs no longer further “program goals or agency priorities.” That was the language used in a form letter emailed last month to more than 350 nonprofits across the county, informing them that DOJ was terminating grants worth a total of $500 million for violence reduction efforts, victims’ services, reentry programming, and other public safety initiatives under its Office of Justice Programming.  

Roca, a Chelsea-based nonprofit that does violence prevention outreach in five Massachusetts cities, including Boston, was notified that three of its grants, totaling $6 million, were being terminated with about $4 million still unexpended. It means 19 open positions in Massachusetts won’t be filled, and another 19 staff members in the state will be laid off.  

Those on the frontlines are having a hard time squaring the cuts – and the message in the termination notices that their work doesn’t align with administration priorities — with the relentless drumbeat of President Trump’s rhetoric about crime-ravaged US cities and the need to do something about it.  

“Despite what the letter says, we actually believe our priorities and our work is perfectly aligned with the administration’s goals and objectives in terms of wanting to prevent violent crime, protect victims of trafficking, and better coordinate efforts with law enforcement at all levels,” said Dwight Robson, executive vice president for operations at Roca.   

The DOJ has not provided any further rationale for the cuts to anti-violence programs, which come as Trump takes aim at a range of initiatives he has labeled as part of the left-wing “woke” agenda.  

Speaking after Tuesday’s public safety briefing, Isaac Yablo, the mayor’s senior advisor for community safety, said, “There’s nothing quote-unquote woke about saving lives.” Yablo said proven anti-violence strategies are “not anything that should be politicized.”  

Robson said Roca, which focuses on the highest risk young people, most of whom have been involved in gangs and violence, thinks it should demonstrate its value through rigorous data collection and analysis. Last year, Robson said, Roca worked with 312 young people in Boston, 88 percent of whom were gang involved and 82 percent of whom had a history of arrest. Among those who Roca has worked with for two years, 80 percent have had no new arrests. 

Boston officials say the combination of law enforcement strategy, city human services programs, and community-focused efforts are behind the extraordinary safety record the city has. Last year, Boston recorded just 24 homicides, the lowest number since 1957 and a fraction of the number seen in other US cities of similar size.  

The DOJ termination notices told grant recipients they could file an appeal of the decision within 30 days, something Roca did last week. Robson said there is no clear timeline or process, however, for the petition to keep the funding. Meanwhile, a national class action lawsuit was filed last week against the cuts by four organizations challenging the legality of ending the grants.  

Yablo said the city employs about 20 people doing outreach work to the most violence-prone young people, with another 30 or so employed by community organizations such as Roca. “For the community-based organizations that we work with day to day, it’s devastating,” he said of the federal cuts. “It’ll definitely make the challenge harder,” he said of the effort to keep the violence down over the summer.  

Cox, the city police commissioner, was a young officer in the 1990s when Boston developed strategies credited with driving a steep drop in gun violence. Cox has a decidedly low-key manner, and demurred when asked directly about the federal cuts.  

“I like to keep things in my lane,” he said.  

But Cox made clear his belief in the multi-pronged approach to public safety. “From our perspective, all of these things are important to reduce crime in the city,” he said of everything from the police focus on gang members to the “partnerships” he said the department has with community groups and deploying of social workers at district police stations who work to steer those not involved in serious offenses to job-training programs and other services.   

“We have a long history of it, and it’s shown success,” he said. “So, I don’t know why we would ever get away from that.”