New Portable Two-way Radios for Patrol Officers

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 Creve Coeur will use the Recovery Act JAG funds to purchase 26 portable two-way radios for the police department. As first responders, the officers rely on communications equipment and portable two-way radios to effectively coordinate responses. Officers find that responses to emergencies include communication with a minimum of two different agencies, thus they rely on portable radios to ensure rapid deployment of personnel and services. The current police radios employ outdated technology and do not transmit signals reliably. Recent models of two-way radios are much more effective in transmitting and receiving signals. In addition, the new radio purchases will enable the Creve Coeur Police Department to comply with FCC regulations mandatory as of December 2012.

NCA/NCF