Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2009, $853,404)
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 town of Big Stone Gap will use the grant funds to hire personnel and support overtime for law enforcement officers to combat drugs. The project will allow six rural members of law enforcement to combine resources, establish a central office, and make street-level undercover narcotics purchases. The target area has the highest level of overdose deaths per capita in the state of Virginia and is one of the poorest counties in the state. The goals of the project are to hire a project director, two criminal analysts, a call taker, and data entry personnel. The staff will support the agents in their undercover operations.
CA/CF