Justice Assistance Grant Program

The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (JAG) allows states and units of local governments, including tribes, to support a broad range of activities to prevent and control crime based on their own state and 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, including 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 and enforcement programs; 6) planning, evaluation, and technology improvement programs; and 7) crime victim and witness programs (other than compensation).

Kitsap County will use their 2009 local JAG award to purchase a traffic investigation response vehicle. The traffic investigators in the field need to have proper equipment in order to perform their jobs safely and efficiently. The traffic investigators respond to many serious injury and fatality collisions each year. These investigations are time and labor intensive and require the use of sophisticated and specialized equipment to allow them to map and reconstruct the scene. The traffic investigators assist the crime scene investigators with major crime scenes using this same equipment. Funding from the JAG grant will allow the sheriff's office to purchase a response vehicle that will carry all of the equipment needed to process these scenes. Currently a surplus ambulance is utilized to accomplish this, but it has served its life expectancy and is no longer reliable. The new response vehicle will allow the sheriff's office to respond in all types of weather conditions.

NCA/NCF