Recovery Act JAG Program

This grant program is authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5) (the 'Recovery Act') and by 42 U.S.C. 3751(a). The stated purposes of the Recovery Act are: to preserve and create jobs and promote economic recovery; to assist those most impacted by the recession; to provide investments needed to increase economic efficiency by spurring technological advances in science and health; to invest in transportation, environmental protection, and other infrastructure that will provide long-term economic benefits; and to stabilize state and local government budgets, in order to minimize and avoid reductions in essential services and counterproductive state and local tax increases. The Recovery Act places great emphasis on accountability and transparency in the use of taxpayer dollars.

Among other things, it creates a new Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board and a new website ' Recovery.gov ' to provide information to the public, including access to detailed information on grants and contracts made with Recovery Act funds.

The Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program funded under the Recovery Act is the primary provider of federal criminal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions. Recovery JAG funds support all components of the criminal justice system, from multi-jurisdictional drug and gang task forces to crime prevention and domestic violence programs, courts, corrections, treatment, and justice information sharing initiatives. Recovery JAG funded projects may address crime through the provision of services directly to individuals and/or communities and by improving the effectiveness and efficiency of criminal justice systems, processes, and procedures.

The city of Akron, serving as the fiscal agent for this award, will share the Recovery Act JAG funds with Summit County, Springfield Township, and the cities of Barberton, Stow, Tallmadge, and Cuyahoga Falls. In a disparate situation, the units of local government must apply for an award with a single, joint application. Each jurisdiction's allocation will be used for activities and projects that will provide meaningful and measurable outcomes consistent with the goals of the Recovery Act. The city of Akron will retain one contract crime analyst and hire one new computer programmer to support the police department's intelligence-led policing objectives, provide overtime to support uniform police crime prevention and directed patrol operations in areas identified as 'hot spots', offer training opportunities to staff, and purchase digital voice recorders and mobile date computers for police cruisers. Summit County will use the grant funds to provide training opportunities to sheriff's department staff and purchase a wireless video surveillance system and equipment for its computer forensics unit, cell extraction response team, and jail. The city of Barberton will replace a police cruiser with 100,000 miles, purchase mobile data computers for its cruiser fleet, and upgrade its two-way radio system. The city of Tallmadge will purchase ballistic panels for police cruisers, a ballistic shield, and tasers for officer and public safety. The city of Stow will purchase protective equipment for police officers to use in crowd control and equipment for its jail. Springfield Township will use funds to purchase a digital fingerprinting system and a digital in-car video system for one patrol car. The city of Cuyahoga Falls will purchase three police vehicles for its narcotics investigation unit and firearms and training equipment for city police officers.

NCA/NCF