Equipment and Training in Support of Police Services

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 disparate jurisdictions consisting of the city of Douglas and Converse County will use their Recovery Act JAG award to purchase law enforcement equipment and pay for training. The city of Douglas, serving as the fiscal agent for this award, will use their share of the funds ($22,106) to purchase taser cams and digital recorders to assist in documenting the use of force in making criminal arrests. The recordings will be used in litigation cases and in investigations for criminal prosecutions. The city will also provide training for police department personnel on communicating in Spanish. This will help to eliminate communication errors that have delayed the provision of emergency services and impacted officer safety. Converse County will use their share ($11,053) of the award to purchase a digital fingerprint device to assist in the registration and tracking of sex offenders in the county. This will allow the county to expedite the fingerprinting and criminal background checks on arrestees.

NCA/NCF