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NEWARK
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow today
announced that the Division of Criminal
Justice is awarding $5,750,000 in federal
grant funds to 17 New Jersey cities that
are facing high levels of violent crime
so that they can purchase “force multiplying”
crime-fighting technologies for their police
departments.
Attorney
General Dow announced the grants at the
Newark Police Communications Center with
Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A.
Murray, Newark Police Director Garry McCarthy,
Jersey City Police Chief Thomas Comey and
other prosecutors, mayors and police leaders.
Attorney
General Dow explained that the funds –
to be distributed as grants of $500,000
for the larger cities and $250,000 for the
smaller cities – may be used for various
technologies, including:
- “Eye
in the Sky” closed-circuit TV cameras
with gunshot detection capability for
targeted enforcement areas;
-
Automated License Plate Readers for patrol
cars, which can automatically identify
vehicles connected to a crime or to a
criminal offender;
-
Mobile Data Terminals for patrol cars;
and
-
equipment needed to convert to a countywide
or regional dispatch system.
Cities
that are allocated funds will have the option
of applying to use them to pay for personnel
needed to support the use of the technology.
For example, funds can be used to pay for
staff to monitor closed-circuit TV cameras.
The $5.75 million is a one-time source of
funding distributed by the Attorney General’s
Office using money provided by the U.S.
Department of Justice under the Edward Byrne
Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG)
Program.
“Police
officers put their lives on the line each
day to protect us, and we want to give them
every available tool to facilitate their
courageous efforts,” said Attorney
General Dow. “These grants are directed
to 17 cities facing high levels of violent
crime so that they can purchase crime-fighting
technologies that they otherwise could not
afford in these difficult economic times.”
“We
have seen first-hand in the Essex County
Prosecutor’s Office how closed-circuit
video surveillance systems can help solve
crimes and provide valuable evidence in
prosecutions, including homicides, sexual
assaults and robberies,” said Acting
Prosecutor Murray. “Faced with new
challenges, police can use these grants
to respond with the newest technology.”
“Today,
policing has evolved, as has crime and the
means used to fight it,” said Newark
Police Director Garry McCarthy. “This
generous donation will help the Newark Police
Department to purchase equipment to stay
ahead of criminals by keeping our police
personnel at the cutting edge of technology.
Officers will be armed with premium equipment
as they endeavor to provide the best possible
service to the community.”
“In
this era of declining levels of funding
and decreased staffing levels, police agencies
must explore other means to augment the
efficiency of our officers,” said
Jersey City Police Chief Thomas Comey. “This
funding will afford the Jersey City Police
Department the opportunity to upgrade and
expand our technology to better our community.”
The
initiative is designed to award grants to
cities experiencing significant levels of
violent crime so that they can purchase,
add to, or support technologies that will
serve as force multipliers at a time when
many of the cities have been forced to implement
layoffs or curtail hiring. In other cases,
the funds may be used for technologies that
will assist police to achieve efficiencies
through consolidation or regionalization
of police forces or particular police functions.
The
cities have been allocated specific amounts,
but they must apply to the Division of Criminal
Justice to receive the funds. Letters with
grant applications and information are being
mailed to the 17 cities this week.
The
funds are being distributed based on population
and levels of violent crime. Municipalities
were broken into two tiers based on the
2009 estimated census population: those
with a population of at least 75,000, and
those with a population of less than 75,000.
Three
separate measures were used to gauge the
amount of violent activity in each municipality:
-
The number of shooting incidents in 2010
that involved either a hit or a homicide.
-
The number of violent index crimes in
2009 that involved a firearm.
-
The number of violent index crimes in
2009 that did not involve a firearm.
These
measures were used to create an overall
average measure of each municipality's percentage
of the statewide total of violent activity.
Grants
of $500,000 each will be made available
to police departments in six cities with
a population of at least 75,000. These “Tier
One” cities, listed in descending
order based on the amount of violence experienced,
are:
-
Newark
-
Camden
-
Jersey City
-
Trenton
-
Paterson
-
Elizabeth
Grants
of $250,000 each will be made available
to police departments in 11 cities with
a population under 75,000. These “Tier
Two” cities, listed in descending
order of violence, are:
-
Irvington
-
Atlantic City
-
Plainfield
-
East Orange
-
Orange
-
Pleasantville
-
Asbury Park
-
New Brunswick
-
Passaic
-
Vineland
-
Bridgeton
The
six cities in Tier One account for 11 percent
of the state's population, but together
they are responsible for over two-thirds
(67.9 percent) of the 2010 shootings, about
half (51.1 percent) of the 2009 violent
index crimes with a firearm, and about one-third
(33.8 percent) of the 2009 violent index
crimes without a firearm.
The
11 cities in Tier Two account for 5.5 percent
of the state’s population, but together
account for over one-fifth (21.1 percent)
of the 2010 shootings, one-fifth (20.5 percent)
of the 2009 violent index crimes with a
firearm, and slightly less than one-fifth
(19 percent) of the 2009 violent index crimes
without a firearm.
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