Sevierville Safety and Service 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.

The city of Sevierville will use the Recovery Act JAG funds to purchase 28 air purifying respiration kits, a computer-based crash investigation system, and undercover surveillance equipment for the city police department. The respiration kits will reduce or prevent officer injury during response to hazardous material situations, such as vehicle crashes, acts of terrorism, and natural disasters. The crash investigation system will improve the documentation and reporting of fatal crashes and collect and disseminate information that could possibly prevent fatal crashes. Undercover surveillance equipment will assist in combating drug activity within the city and allow the department to obtain recorded evidence to be provided in the prosecution of criminals and to ensure the safety of the undercover officers involved in the case.

NCA/NCF