TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram today
announced that the Division of Criminal
Justice is distributing $4.5 million to
more than 500 New Jersey law enforcement
agencies to purchase or replace body armor
vests for their officers.
A
total of $4,563,086 is being provided to
state, county and local law enforcement
and corrections agencies from the state’s
Body Armor Replacement Fund, which was established
by legislation in 1998 and is funded through
a $1 surcharge on traffic tickets and forfeitures
of bail.
Checks
for the 2007 round of annual funding were
mailed to the participating agencies during
the past few weeks. Grants were provided
to all 545 agencies that applied.
“This
is by far the largest distribution that
has been made for life-saving body armor
vests in the decade that the state’s
Body Armor Replacement Fund has been in
place,” said Attorney General Milgram.
“We’re pleased to provide this
record-setting level of funding to better
protect the police officers who put their
lives on the line each day to keep the people
of New Jersey safe.”
>>
2007
Body Armor Distribution List (79k pdf)
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“Our
goal is to ensure that every officer in
New Jersey is protected with a bullet-resistant
vest that is up to date and meets performance
standards,” said Gregory A. Paw, Director
of the Division of Criminal Justice.
The
cost of body armor varies, but the minimum
grant amount is $500. The state has a multi-vendor
contract with distributors that enables
law enforcement agencies to purchase the
make and model of vest that best meets their
needs. As a condition of the state grant,
agencies must purchase vests from a list
of vests certified by the National Institute
of Justice, the research arm of the U.S.
Department of Justice. There are hundreds
of approved vests on the list. The vest
selected for troopers by the New Jersey
State Police has a state contact price of
$742.50 per vest.
Since
the inception of the Body Armor Replacement
Fund Program in 1998, the Division of Criminal
Justice - Grants & Program Development
Section has provided nearly $32 million
to the New Jersey statewide law enforcement
community to purchase thousands of new vests.
The
increase in grant funding this year is attributable
to interest accrued by the Body Armor Replacement
Fund account.
The
following amounts have been distributed
in prior years:
- 1998
- $2,055,323
- 1999
- $3,296,390
- 2000
- $3,860,170
- 2001
- $3,690,778
- 2002
- $3,770,409
- 2003
- $3,755,622
- 2004
- $3,806,901
- 2005
- $3,698,166
- 2006
- $3,947,155
For
more information on the Body Armor Replacement
Fund Program log on to the Division of Criminal
Justice Web site at www.nj.gov/oag/BodyArmor. |
