Criminal Justice System Improvement Equipment Project

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 city of Lynchburg will use its Fiscal Year 2008 Justice Assistance Grant award in the amount of $15,919 to purchase law enforcement equipment. As a result of a use of force study, the City of Lynchburg Police Department (LPD) determined that its police officers and citizens had a higher propensity to sustain injuries when non-lethal physical force was necessary in the apprehension of persons resisting detention and arrest. After the study, the police department purchased and issued forty Tasers to 24 percent of their sworn staff. They were unable to equip all of the sworn personnel with the X26 Tasers due to inadequate funding. The LPD reported the number of physical force incidents was reduced by 46 percent from 2006 to 2007 after wider availability of Tasers were used by officers arrest suspects. Additionally, the LPD examined the number of excessive or unnecessary use of force complaints filed by citizens for a period of time before they implemented the use of Tasers and for the same time period after the implementation, the number of citizen complaints of excessive force was reduced by 70 percent. The 2008 JAG funds will be used to purchase 19 X26 Tasers and 24 Taser cartridges.

NCA/NCF