Crime Scene/Traffic Homicide Investigation Equipment

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 Alabaster will use the Recovery Act Jag funds to enhance their law enforcement efforts by purchasing an NPR-352 total station package, software, chemicals, and label book. The police department's goal is to aid in the successful prosecution of persons charged with violent crimes or vehicular homicide. The NPR-352 total station package allows for "to scale" diagramming of both crime scenes and traffic fatalities. The software also allows for 3D animation of wreck scenes and crime scenes. This type of animation is very exactly what happened during either a crash sequence or the sequence of events at a crime scene. The various chemicals and the label book will enhance the ability of the police department's criminal investigations unit to solve crime, including crimes in which offenders may try and clean up the scene.

NCA/NCF