FY 2009 Recovery Act JAG 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.

The town of Winthrop will use its Fiscal Year 2009 Recovery Act JAG award in the amount of $25,215 to support overtime within the Winthrop Police Department. The department intends to support community oriented policing and narcotics investigations with extra patrols on an overtime basis. One overtime program will have assigned officers engage in community policing duties based on citizen complaints in high-traffic and tourist areas. The second targeted program will assign officers to a narcotics unit that will become more proactive in drug investigations and the pursuit of interrupting the access to drugs. The Winthrop Police Department will resume collaborative partnerships with neighboring jurisdictions to re-establish the quality of life once enjoyed by the citizens of Winthrop.

NCA/NCF