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 city of Paris and Lamar County are listed as disparate jurisdictions under the Fiscal Year 2009 Recovery Act JAG Program. The city will serve as the fiscal agent for both jurisdictions. Each jurisdiction will utilize the JAG Recovery funds to procure needed law enforcement equipment for enhanced communication capabilities and for officer patrolling.

The city of Paris Police Department will utilize the city of Paris' portion of the FY 2009 Recovery JAG award to replace outdated VHS tape video systems (used in front-line patrol cars) with digital systems. Converting to a digital format will be a more efficient means of downloading information to servers via a wireless connection.

The Lamar County Sheriff's Office will use the county of Lamar's FY 2009 Recovery JAG funding to: purchase a new patrol car to replace an old, worn-out patrol vehicle; equip four patrol cars with digital video recording systems; equip two vehicles with night vision equipment for use by patrol officers; and equip three vehicles with laptop computers for quicker completion of reports. The above equipment would be utilized by sheriff deputies to provide rapid and effective response to calls for service.

NCA/NCF