FY 2009 Recovery Act JAG

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.

Tuscaloosa City, Northport City, and Tuscaloosa County have been identified as disparate and will share the Recovery Act JAG award. Tuscaloosa City, through its police department, will use its portion of this award to fund the 'City of Tuscaloosa Police Department: Police Vehicle Project'. Over the course of the project the Tuscaloosa Police Department plans to purchase six fully equipped police vehicles. These vehicles will be equipped with lights, a siren and radio, a mobile data unit, and an in-car video system. Once these patrol units are complete, they will be inventoried into the police fleet and placed in the field. Northport City, through its police department, will award funds for the 'Northport Police Department Video Technology Project'. This project will enable the department to expand its capabilities in the area of video recorded evidence. The police department will equip ten marked patrol units with in-car digital dash cameras and expand the storage space of the main computer server to easily store, archive, and retrieve video evidence. A portion of the funds are also planned for a video recording and archiving system to be installed in two interview rooms in the Criminal Investigation Division. This system will allow for recording of suspect interviews for court presentation. Tuscaloosa County, through its sheriff's office, will use funds to purchase equipment that will improve job efficiency for sworn personnel. Several agencies will benefit from the equipment purchased with JAG funds. All items will be purchased from U.S. companies that are in desperate need of business and revenue in order to sustain jobs.

NCA/NCF