Rep. Brad Miller Announces Law Enforcement Funding Across the 13th District From the Recovery Act

Washington, D.C. - Rep. Brad Miller (NC-13) announced today that several law enforcement agencies throughout the 13^th District will receive $3.5 million in funding through the Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program administered by a division of the Department of Justice. The funding was approved in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act supported by Rep. Miller.

The JAG Program allows states and local governments to support a broad range of activities to prevent and control crime and improve the criminal justice system.  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.  Sixty percent of the allocation is awarded to the state and 40 percent is set aside for units of local governments.

"The JAG grants are currently the only source of federal funding available for multi-jurisdictional drug enforcement, including methamphetamine initiatives, and is critical for drug courts, law enforcement information sharing, gang prevention and prisoner re-entry programs," said Rep. Miller.

Funding that is awarded directly to the state governments will be administered by a State Administering Agency (SAA) which will then set priorities and allocate funds within that state.

"This funding is the difference between moving forward and being proactive in preventing crime," said Al Rhew, Chief Deputy Person County Sheriff's Department.

Fifty Attorneys General urged Congress to restore federal funding for crime and drug enforcement after a 67 percent funding cut from last year to the Edward Byrne Memorial Assistance Grants (Byrne/JAG) program forced law enforcement agencies to shut down multi-jurisdictional drug and gang task forces.

"We use the money for new technology to better protect our citizens and serve our communities," added Sheriff Sam Page, Rockingham County.

"We'll be able to take the money to further our efforts in drug interdictions, our gang task force initiatives and we will also use the funding for a re-entry program for those incarcerated to readjust to mainstream society," added Chief Tim Bellamy, Greensboro Police Department.