Fishers Police Department Traffic Safety Initiative

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 Fishers will use the Recovery Act JAG funds in the amount of $21,417 to purchase a new patrol vehicle for an officer who will be added to the department traffic safety unit. Between 2006 and 2008, the Fishers Police Department developed and implemented a targeted traffic enforcement plan aimed at achieving significant reductions in serious crashes. During this period, police officers issued approximately 6000 citations for aggressive driving, speeding, and restraint and license violations. Crash data for this period reflected a statistically significant correlation between the number of traffic stops and a reduced number of serious crashes on roads where enforcement efforts were concentrated. The additional patrol vehicle will enable the town to expand their efforts to decrease accidents utilizing this proven traffic safety program.

NCA/NCF