Putnam Communication Enhancement

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.

City of Putnam, Putnam Police Department (PPD) will utilize funds to support the Putnam Communication Enhancement project. The project activity will be to update and replace existing communication equipment within the Putnam Emergency Dispatch Center. The PPD will purchase two complete personal computer dispatch consoles. The new state of the art equipment and technology will allow PPD to create a regional level Emergency Communication Center that will be capable of providing services for multiple neighboring communities at substantially reduced costs. The outcome of the project will be to increase public safety in the community. In addition, the funding will benefit surrounding towns as a cost saving option. The coordination of this project will be completed internally and under the direction of the PPD Chief of Police.

NCA/NCF