City of Apache Junction Police Department - Project Nightmoves, Electronic Ticketing Systems, and Traffic Operation Assistance Street Team Operations

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 Apache Junction, through the Apache Junction Police Department (AJPD), will purchase equipment for traffic enforcement and pay for overtime for police operations targeting burglary, drug, and gang activity. With these funds, four handheld e-ticket machines will be purchased which will reduce citation amendments and allow officers to issue multiple tickets simultaneously. As officers become more efficient in issuing citations, their contact time will be reduced, which may lower their risk of being harmed. The increased efficiency will also allow officers time to increase their number of stops. The AJPD will also conduct 22 operations for their Tactical Operation Assistance Street Team (TOAST). TOAST will target operations that address burglary, drug, and gang activity. Specifically, the TOAST team works to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle individuals and organizations committing such crimes. Funds from this award will pay for overtime for TOAST team officers during their four-hour deployments.

NCA/NCF