Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Application FFY 2011

The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (JAG) allows states and units of local government, including tribes, to support a broad range of activities to prevent and control crime based on their own state and local needs and conditions. Grant funds can be used for state and local initiatives, technical assistance, training, personnel, equipment, supplies, contractual support, and information systems for criminal justice, including for any one or more of the following purpose areas: 1) law enforcement programs; 2) prosecution and court programs; 3) prevention and education programs; 4) corrections and community corrections programs; 5) drug treatment and enforcement programs; 6) planning, evaluation, and technology improvement programs; and 7) crime victim and witness programs (other than compensation).

The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services will use its Fiscal Year 2011 JAG funds to improve the effectiveness of statewide enforcement and prosecution efforts against violent crime (including gun and drug trafficking, and gang violence), develop local capacity to adopt intelligence-led policing strategies based on real-time crime analysis, and maintain high quality criminal justice records and forensic laboratory services. The funding will be given to local criminal justice agencies based on a competitive process and contingent upon their creation and implementation of programs designed to impact these priorities. The projects to be funded will address: (1) Prosecution and defense programs that handle cases involving drugs, gangs, and guns; (2) reentry strategies and programs; (3) a variety of projects to improve the accuracy and completeness of state criminal history records and facilitate electronic data sharing among authorized users; and (4) forensic services including the enhancement of ballistic evidence and DNA processing.

To meet the overall goal, the grant funds will be used to support the following priorities: (1) Improve the quality, accuracy and timeliness of criminal justice records; (2) improve forensic laboratory capabilities in DNA identification, ballistic evidence processing, new technologies and improved quality; (3) enhance the quality and effectiveness of drug and violent crime prosecution and enforcement, especially as it relates to gangs and to illegal possession, use or sale of guns; (4) improve the quality and effectiveness of prosecution and defense services; (5) provide additional support for the State's Regional Crime Analysis Centers who share information and provide law enforcement with accurate and timely data; (6) enhance local law enforcement efforts to effectively and efficiently reduce the incidence of crime and violence in their locality; and, (7) provide technical assistance and training to New York's eighteen county reentry task forces.

NCA/NCF