Support of Hired Officers Using Recovery Act Funding

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 county of St. Louis will use awarded JAG Recovery Act grant funds to purchase equipment and vehicles to support police officers in the line of duty. The goal is to ensure that officers are able to begin work immediately upon the completion of their training program with the necessary equipment to work effectively at their jobs. Specifically, a total of $60,324 will be used to fully equip fourteen police officers and just over half of the costs associated with funding the salary of a fifteenth officer. The use of the JAG grant money to equip these officers will allow the officers to immediately begin work upon completion of any required training program. Another $283,125 will be used to purchase fully marked vehicles for eight of the officers funded through the CHRP grant program. One of these vehicles will be specifically outfitted with a cage system at a cost of $42,500 that will allow for the transport of arrestees. Another of these vehicles will be outfitted with most of the forensic gear needed for processing crime scenes at a cost of $37,200. Finally, a total of 312 tasers will be purchased. Of the 639 commissioned officers that frequently have direct access to the public, only 327 are equipped with a taser.

NCA/NCF