Project Feel-Safe

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 city of Garden City will serve as the fiscal agent for the disparate jurisdictions of the city of Garden City and Finney County. The city will receive the entire grant award amount. The city of Garden City will use the grant funds to implement Project Feel-Safe, which will increase police presence in areas of concern by 25 percent. The city police department will utilize increased bicycle and motorized patrols and door-to-door contacts to survey residents in areas of concern to increase police presence. The police department will coordinate with the local Crime Stoppers to publicize the availability and utility of Tip 411 for the anonymous reporting of crimes and coordinate with neighborhood residents to address localized issues, such as gang crimes. The police department will increase motorcycle and patrol vehicle presence in high traffic areas by 25 percent and will coordinate with neighborhoods to address localized speeding and other traffic violations. The installation of radar units and on-board video cameras in all vehicles and all motorcycles will provide enforcement and documentation tools. The police department will coordinate with traffic engineering to ensure that all strobe-communication emitters are synchronized for effective and efficient progress of emergency vehicles through high-traffic intersections. The goal of the project will be to make citizens in the areas of reported concerns feel safer through increased police presence and to reduce vehicle crashes and violations in high traffic areas. The police department intends to reduce vehicle crashes by 10 percent through increased patrol and reduce speed violations by 25 percent. Annual City-wide surveys in conjunction with monthly enforcement activity reports will measure progress of the project and adjustments will be continuous. The replacement and maintenance of funded equipment will be assumed by the police department on a rotating basis. All purchases will be completed by the end of the grant period.

NCA/NCF