Recovery Act Rural Law Enforcement Program

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) solicits applications for initiatives which assist law enforcement in rural states and rural areas. The program helps rural states and rural areas to prevent and combat crime, especially drug-related crime, and provides for national support efforts, including training and technical assistance programs strategically targeted to address rural needs.

The Assistance to Rural Law Enforcement to Combat Crime and Drugs Program, administered by BJA, helps rural states and rural areas prevent and combat crime, especially drug-related crime, and provides for national support efforts, including training and technical assistance programs strategically targeted to address rural needs. In addition, priority consideration will be given to local law enforcement agencies in rural areas where the unit of local government is not eligible to receive a direct allocation from the Recovery Act Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program or received a direct allocation that was $50,000 or less. Applicants were invited to submit a proposal under any one of the following categories to: (1) combat rural crime; (2) improve rural law enforcement investigations; (3) enhance rural detention and jail operations; (4) facilitate rural justice information sharing; or (5) develop a national training and technical assistance program.

Under Category 1, the village of Penn Yan, through its police department, will support targeted policing initiatives aimed at reducing criminal activity and increasing closure rates of open investigations. To accomplish this, the village will support the salary and fringe benefits of two newly hired part-time patrol officers and the salary of three existing part-time officers. An electronic fingerprinting system that will be linked to the state's criminal justice database and duty gear for the new officers will also be purchased. The combination of proactive patrols and additional follow-up investigations and surveillance conducted will help accomplish program goals. Project success will be measured by the number of new investigations initiated and the percentage of investigations that lead to an arrest or conviction.

CA/NCF