Controlled Substance Education and Enforcement Project

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.

Price County will use its Fiscal Year 2009 Recovery Act JAG award to develop a controlled substance education and enforcement project. The current trend in Price County, as well as across the country, is the abuse of prescription controlled substances. The Price County Sheriff's Department will develop a series of educational presentations on controlled substances designed for citizen groups. Officers will be trained bi-anually in courses that employ Simunition reality-based training techniques. The goals of the project are to increase officer enforcement efforts through countywide educational seminars, the incorporation of preliminary breath testing (PBT) devices, and the use of a hand-held radar unit in patrol cars. A portion of the JAG funds will be applied to the salaries and benefits for a lieutenant and an investigator, both of whom are critical to the continuity and success of this four-year program.

NCA/NCF