Milton Police Department's Equipment Purchases

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 Town of Milton Police Department (MPD) will use their funds to purchase new equipment to enable the department to enhance its ability to provide public safety services to the community. The MPD intends to purchase an additional marked police vehicle to allow for more dependable protection and enhance public safety for the citizens of Milton. The vehicle would be available for regular patrol use and would supplement their fleet. The MPD will also purchase five digital cruiser cameras for their marked police vehicles. Currently, the MPD uses VHS format cruiser cameras in five of their marked vehicles. The system is old and constantly breaking down. The VHS cameras are at the end of their useful life and need to be replaced. The digital cruiser cameras will also be used to document their cases and assist them in their court testimony. This project will help address crime through the upgrading of equipment which will directly impact their services to the community. The project will also improve the effectiveness and efficiency of criminal justice system processes and procedures. Moreover, this project will help avoid a reduction in essential police services.

NCA/NCF