FY 2009 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.

Rockland County, the villages of Haverstraw and Spring Valley, and the towns of Clarkstown, Haverstraw, Orangetown, and Ramapo will apply their Fiscal Year 2009 Recovery Act JAG funding towards multiple criminal justice initiatives aimed at increasing public safety in the community. Specifically, through the grant, the town of Orangetown will support officer overtime incurred during additional patrols of targeted areas of the city. The town of Ramapo will use its share for educational materials, equipment, and officer overtime associated with a crime prevention program for senior citizens. The town and village of Haverstraw will combine funds to support officer overtime associated with the Operation Safe Streets Program. The program involves additional patrols within the downtown area. The village of Spring Valley will use funding to purchase two marked patrol vehicles and support police officer overtime related to targeted policing for quality of life and specific violent crime issues. The town of Clarkstown will apply its share to support officer overtime associated with the Operation Safe Shopper Program, which aims to increase police visibility near the shopping district during the holiday season to respond to and help decrease criminal activity. Rockland County, through the sheriff's office, will use remaining funds to computerize inmate law library materials at a county correctional facility. For administration purposes, the town of Clarkstown will serve as the fiscal agent for this award.

NCA/NCF