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 town of Marion will use its Fiscal Year 2009 Recovery Act JAG award to replace twenty 10mm Glock 20 handguns with new Glocks handguns. Due to the age of the guns, many have had replacement parts added to keep them functional and are overdue for replacement. The Town of Marion will also purchase ten M26 Tasers and twenty holsters. Currently, the Marion Police Department has ten M26 Tasers that were donated by Eastern Airlines, but without holsters. The use of the tasers has proven to significantly lower officer injury rates. Four Smith and Wesson M & P 15 rifles and five Mossberg model 590A-1 shotguns will also be purchased. New surveillance equipment will be obtained. Specifically, a body wire will be purchased to allow investigators to monitor criminal transactions in real-time. This will help increase the safety of the police department's informants and undercover officers. Currently, the department only has tape recorders for these types of operations. Two Stinger Spike Systems and one training unit will be purchased. These will complement the two other spike sets the department has and will enable them to stop dangerous high-speed pursuits. Finally, the department will purchase a video monitor for training, news alerts, and pertinent information.

NCA/NCF