BJA FY 09 Recovery Act Justice Assistance Grant 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 disparate jurisdictions consisting of the city of St. Joseph and Buchanan County will use their Recovery Act JAG award in the amount of $126,932 for training and equipment to continue critical law enforcement efforts. The city of St. Joseph, serving as the fiscal agent for the award, will use their share of the funds ($109,894) to support two primary objectives. The first objective is to utilize funding to enhance a COPS hiring grant. More specifically, the city will use a portion of its funds to support new hires with the purchase of equipment and supplies. The city will purchase six hand-held radios, one police canine, three door poppers, a weapons cleaner, nine tasers, and a tire changing machine, and cover the cost for basic law enforcement academy training. The second objective is to enhance the ability of current staff to provide law enforcement services in the most efficient manner possible through the use of technology or equipment. The city will also use a portion of its funds to purchase digital publishing software, in-car video camera systems, a computer scanner, crime scene investigation kits, drying cabinets, lens for forensic analysis, eight digital cameras, a camcorder, and video surveillance camera equipment for its police department. The county of Buchanan will use its share of the funds ($17,038) to purchase storage lockers and a truth verification system for use during investigations.

NCA/NCF