Retention of Jobs and Enhancement of Border Response Capabilities

This grant program is authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5) (the "Recovery Act") 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 counter-productive state and local tax increases.

The Recovery Act-Assistance to Rural Law Enforcement to Combat Crime and Drugs Along the Northern and Southern United States Borders Program will improve or enhance the administration and operations of the law enforcement function in rural states and rural areas along the Northern or Southern borders of the United States. The "Southern Border" of the United States is limited to, the following states: California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. The "Northern Border" of the United States is limited to the following states: Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The goal of the program is to build capacity to prevent, combat, and investigate crime, especially drug-related crime in rural states and rural areas along the borders.

The Okanogan County Sheriff's Office (OCSO) will use its grant funds to enhance coordination of agency responses to border-related incidents, as well as facilitate data collection for tracking and evaluation through the retention of two 911 dispatcher positions and the purchase of software for the dispatch center's Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. OCSO will train all of its 911 dispatchers on the new software for the CAD system to further enhance the agency's ability to combat drug and human trafficking.

CA/NCF