City of Reading 2012 JAG Law Enforcement Project

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 2012 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant will be utilized by the Reading Police Department and the county of Berks for law enforcement operations within the city of Reading and county of Berks.
The Reading Police Department will utilize 2012 JAG funds for overtime to deploy special details to conduct Problem Oriented Policing Operations within the city of Reading. Officers will be deployed to proactively combat problems occurring throughout the city and to work with citizens to solve or abate situations that often result in neighborhood degradation and crime. The Reading Police Department will be conducting Daytime and Nighttime Curfew Details, Street Level Drug Interdiction Details, Anti-Crime Undercover Details, Anti-Robbery Details, and Quality of Life Enforcement Details and to attend community meetings to discuss crime and quality of life issues. All details will be above and beyond the normal minimum manning levels utilized to deploy officers in the standard Reading Police Patrol Districts. The county of Berks will be utilizing the funding for payment of overtime wages. The District Attorneys Municipal Crash Reconstruction Task Force in Berks County is utilized to enhance the investigative needs for fatal crash investigations. The 15-member Task Force operates through joint investigations coordinated between members of the Berks County Detectives, Forensic Unit and cross-designated Berks County Detectives of the municipal/regional police departments in Berks County. The county of Berks will fund personnel overtime costs, investigative expenses and training relating to crash reconstruction. Another portion of the funding will be used for the payment of overtime wages for increased Operation Nightlight Patrols where police, county detectives, and probation officers conduct compliance checks of persons on adult and juvenile probation during non-traditional hours in the County of Berks. The funds will allow for approximately five (4) additional Operation Nightlight Patrol details. NCA/NCF