FY 2009 Recovery Act Justice Assistance Grant 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.

Albany County and the cities of Albany, Cohoes, Watervliet, Bethlehem, Coeymans, Colonie, and Guilderland will use their Fiscal Year 2009 Recovery Act JAG award in the amount of $824,370 to support separate law enforcement initiatives. Through the grant, the county will use its share to purchase a live-scan system for the electronic capture and transmission of arrest data. Funds will also be sub-awarded to the cities of Altamont, Green Island, and Menands for the support of digital video systems for police department vehicles, a digital imaging device for fingerprints, and upgraded law enforcement database equipment, respectively. The city of Albany will use its share to support the salaries of staff assigned to a truancy abatement program along with necessary program supplies, youth development programs which aim to reduce juvenile violence and engage local youth in positive extra-curricular activities, and officer overtime for a violent crime suppression initiative. The town of Bethlehem Police Department will apply its share towards software for its records management system and associated installation and training costs. The town of Coeymans Police Department will use its share to equip patrol vehicles with digital in car cameras. The city of Cohoes Police Department will use funds to purchase a wireless video surveillance system to be placed throughout the city for investigative and criminal intelligence efforts. The town of Colonie will use its share to purchase tactical body armor, video surveillance equipment, and forensic computer training. The town of Guilderland will use its share to purchase an evidence tracking program for its Police Department. Remaining funds will be used by the city of Watervliet Police Department to install remote surveillance cameras in targeted areas of the city. For purposes of grant administration, the county has been designated as the fiscal agent for this award.

NCA/NCF