Law Enforcement Equipment Recovery

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 Cape Coral will use JAG Recovery funds to provide necessary specialized equipment for various law enforcement and public safety initiatives of the Cape Coral Police Department. The Cape Coral Police Department will use JAG funds to purchase equipment that will improve the efficiency and efficacy of the Department's SWAT team, firearms use, evidence storage, and locator services for Alzheimer and Autistic patients. Specifically, funds will be used for Fire Arms Simulation Training; to purchase a WDS Suit for in-house self defense instructors and specialized equipment for the Department's SWAT team; to improve evidence storage capacity; and to support Project Lifesaver which is a national program dedicated to assisting families with mentally challenged members in danger of wandering off.

Covering a variety of local issues, all of the proposed projects have been unfunded for at least the past three years. With the economic situation continuing to deteriorate, they will continue to be unfunded in the near future. These projects were chosen for their potential time and cost recovery and because they address the department's biggest challenge: Increasing officer presence on the streets without increasing sworn staff. The goal of this project is to recover two FTEs of sworn time for reallocation.

NCA/NCF