Adair County Criminal Identification Enhancement 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 III, Adair County, through its sheriff's office, will improve and expedite the identification of offenders through the purchase of LiveScan equipment and the hiring of staff. Specifically, the new equipment and associated software will be capable of both fingerprint and palmprint scanning, resulting in more accurate data that will be submitted to the state database and shared with other partners in the law enforcement and corrections communities. Funds will also be used to hire a new full-time employee tasked with operating and maintaining the equipment, and becoming an in-house expert responsible for training all detention staff on its proper use.

CA/CF