4-15-2009 National:
Today (March 6, 2009) President Barack Obama announced that Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice are making available $2 billion Recovery Act 2009 funding allocations for state and local law enforcement and criminal justice assistance, available through the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program.
This funding will be used to help communities keep their neighborhoods safer with more cops, prosecutors, and probation officers; more radios and equipment; more help for crime victims and more crime prevention programs for youth.
JAG Program funds can be used for a variety of efforts such as hiring law enforcement officers; supporting drug and gang task forces; funding crime prevention and domestic violence programs; and supporting courts, corrections, treatment, and justice information sharing initiatives.
The procedure for allocating JAG grants is based on a formula of population and violent crime statistics, in combination with a minimum allocation to ensure that each state and territory receives an appropriate share of funding.
(eAdvocate Post)
60 % of the allocation is awarded directly to a state and 40% is set aside for units of local government.
Funding will be used by states and more than 5,000 local communities to enhance their ability to protect communities and combat crime.
The Recovery Act includes more than $4 billion overall to assist state, local and tribal law enforcement and for other criminal justice activities that help to prevent crime and improve the criminal justice system in the United States while supporting the creation of jobs and much needed resources for states and local communities.
To see the breakdown of JAG allocations for states, territories, and units of local government, visit http://www.recovery.gov/.
Because of these funds, 25 police recruits in Columbus, Ohio are graduating today, after they learned in January that instead of being sworn-in as officers they would be let go. Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman announced last week that he would use money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to pay the recruits’ salaries so they could keep their jobs.
Here are other examples of how the money will be used:
Map of the United States showing local cities receiving 2009 JAG grant funds
White House Press Release regarding various uses of the 2009 JAG Grants funds
USDOJ, Bureau of Justice Assistance 2009 JAG grant application package
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