County-wide Law Enforcement Records Management and Jail Management Integration Project

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 4, Duval County will utilize its award to purchase and install an integrated Law Enforcement Records Management System (LERMS) that will link each law enforcement jurisdiction (including vehicles via mobile computers) in Duval County to a common database within the LERMS. A common system will allow officers in each jurisdiction to be dispatched from a Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) position. The CAD is a component of the LERMS that is seamlessly linked to the incident management and jail management software, and is interfaced to N-Dex, T-Dex, VINES, TLETS, and other regional and national data sharing sites.

The Duval County Sheriff's Department will be able to reduce crime and increase arrests using the enhanced LERMS and data sharing ability, as well as increase coordination with neighboring counties and federal jurisdictions via electronic means. Grant funds will cover personnel and fringe benefits (LERMS analyst/administrator); OJP mandatory training; equipment (integrated RMS that includes CAD, various software components, computers, storage devices, and imaging systems); and LERMS 2-year annual maintenance.

CA/CF