FY 2008 Byrne JAG Grant Program

The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (JAG) allows states, tribes, and local governments to support a broad range of activities to prevent and control crime based on their own local needs and conditions. Grant funds can be used for state and local initiatives, technical assistance, training, personnel, equipment, supplies, contractual support, and information systems for criminal justice for any one or more of the following purpose areas: 1) law enforcement programs; 2) prosecution and court programs; 3) prevention and education programs; 4) corrections and community corrections programs; 5) drug treatment programs; 6) planning, evaluation, and technology improvement programs; and 7) crime victim and witness programs (other than compensation).

The State of New Jersey, Department of Law and Public Safety will use their Fiscal Year 2008 Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) award to assist with the implementation of the Governor's Strategy for Safe Streets and Neighborhoods. The Governor's crime plan focuses on three critical areas that address violent crime: enforcement, prevention, and reentry. The enforcement component encourages and assists law enforcement agencies towards utilizing intelligence-led, data-driven policing strategies. The plan requires municipal law enforcement agencies to collect and provide crime data on a monthly basis to a centralized repository (the State Police Regional Operations Intelligence Center, ROIC). As part of a comprehensive approach to violence and gang membership, the crime plan includes a prevention strategy designed to stem the tide of youth involvement with guns, gangs, and delinquency. The primary goal of the prevention plan is to reduce youth involvement in the criminal justice system by partnering with local government and communities to reduce the impact of risk factors while increasing the protective factors for young people. Foremost among the prevention initiatives is the state-level coordination among agencies that has been put in place to ensure the most efficient and effective use of prevention resources. Finally, the reentry component is aimed at reducing recidivism rates to improve public safety and efficiently manage resources. Initiatives under the reentry component include the creation of a Reentry Oversight Committee; launching a reentry Demonstration Project; increasing support and opportunities for youth returning from juvenile justice institutions; addressing the needs of reentering ex-offenders through system wide changes; and modifying certain barriers to reintegration. Ten percent of the JAG award will be used for administrative funds to manage the JAG programs. The funds will be applied to salaries of personnel to provide programmatic oversight, technical assistance, ongoing review, monitoring, assessment, and reporting.

NCA/NCF