Tippah County 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 county of Tippah will use the Recovery Act JAG award to support the Tippah County Sherriff's Department. The Tippah County Sherriff's Department will purchase a four-site vent system and a new amplifier for their existing repeater. Currently, there are 'dead zones' in the county, where the officers have no communication back to dispatch. This can be a very dangerous situation for officers on a call. The new system will be installed with four repeater antennas located at four points in the county. The installation of a vent system means that signals will transmit from the nearest tower to the main repeater which is centrally located in the county. An amplifier will also be added to the existing repeater to increase the wattage and be able to receive and transmit the signals from the new towers located in the county. The Recovery Act JAG funds will improve the radio communication system between police officers and dispatch and enhance the safety of the citizens of Tippah County.

NCA/NCF