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MEMORANDUM
TO:
Burlington City Council
FROM: Mayor Miro
Weinberger
DATE: May
14, 2012
RE:
2012 Justice Assistance Grant (JAG)
Burlington is again eligible to apply for Justice Assistance
Grant (JAG) funding this year through the Bureau of Justice
Assistance, a division of the Department of Justice. JAG
funding is intended to support a broad range of crime prevention
efforts, depending on local needs. JAG guidelines require
prior notice to the municipality's governing body. This year,
Burlington is eligible to apply for $63,132.
Based on staff feedback and priorities, I am proposing to apply
for the following crime prevention allocations as they pertain to
the JAG Project Priority Identifiers (in
bold):
- $31,500 - Restorative Justice, Victimization &
Community Courts
- These funds will allow the Community Justice Center to enhance
public safety, crime prevention efforts, low level offender
accountability, and support for victims of crime.
- The grant will fund in part three positions that focus a
portion of their time on supervising or providing direct service to
victims. In the restorative justice panel program, JAG funds
will be used to fund the victim liaison specialist in order to
ensure that victims' needs are prioritized when meeting with
low-level offenders.
- JAG funds will be used to compensate the Community Justice
Center Coordinator for her time directing the Parallel Justice for
Victims of Crime Project and to fund a portion of one of the
Parallel Justice Specialists to provide direct advocacy to victims
of crime.
- Additionally, a portion of the JAG funds will go to the
continued implementation of the Rapid Intervention and Community
Court program, specifically, the Criminal Justice System Liaison
Specialist's position.
- $21,632 - Justice Information Sharing -
Phase II of Computer Aided Dispatch & Records Management System
Development
- On October 1, 2011, the BPD successfully deployed Phase I of a
new and intuitive computer aided dispatch and records management
system to leverage technology for real-time decision making,
planning, and operational use. The Web-based, open source
system is easy to use, allowing most agency staff to master it. The
result has been less staff time spent on paperwork and redundant
data entry, a lower cost of operations, and the freeing of
resources to conduct core law enforcement operations.
- The system supports multi-jurisdictional deployment, offering
agencies the option of sharing the administration duties as well as
the data. In April 2012, the system was deployed at the South
Burlington Police Department. In the coming months, at least
three other local agencies will be shifting operations to this new
system.
- Phase I of development resulted in a build-out of 80% of the
anticipated functions. This portion of the JAG grant will fund a
significant piece of the estimated $50,000 of Phase II development
cost. Phase II objectives include integrating data flow with such
entities as the National & Vermont Crime Information Centers
(NCIC & VCIC) and the National & Vermont Law Enforcement
Telecommunications System (NLETS & VLETS), and the Vermont
Department of Motor Vehicles. Also, Phase II will include
further intuitive functions, such as capturing digital images,
video, and audio directly in the application rather than importing
data taken separately.
- $10,000 - Mental Health & Prevention
- This funding will satisfy the City of Burlington's commitment
to the HowardCenter's Street Outreach Program.
- This program serves to de-escalate crime and disturbance
connected to issues of mental health, substance abuse, and
homelessness on the Church Street Marketplace.
Please let me know if you have comments or questions.
Thank you.
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