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TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
today announced that the Division of Criminal
Justice is distributing nearly $3.6 million
to over 500 New Jersey law enforcement agencies
to purchase or replace body armor vests
for their officers.
According
to Director Taylor, a total of $3,586,827
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.
Notifications of awards for the 2011 round
of funding were emailed to participating
agencies today. Grants were provided to
all 544 agencies that applied.
“Last
year, upon taking office, this administration
restored millions of dollars in dedicated
funding for police body armor which the
prior administration had diverted as a stopgap
for unrelated state budget expenses,”
said Attorney General Dow. “Under
my watch, funding from the Body Armor Replacement
Fund, which totals nearly $3.6 million this
year, will be used to stop only one thing:
the bullets that threaten our devoted officers
in New Jersey.”
A
county by county, agency by agency list
of the grants is available with this release
at www.njpublicsafety.com.
“In
these tough economic times, police are hard-pressed
to find money for new equipment,”
said Director Taylor. “This $3.6 million
in funding will help to ensure that one
of their most crucial pieces of equipment
– lifesaving body armor – will
not be outdated and worn out when our officers
hit the streets to protect New Jersey residents.”
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 New Jersey State
Police, for example, is currently purchasing
a vest, together with certain accessories,
at a state contract price of $759.80 per
vest package.
Since
the inception of the Body Armor Replacement
Fund Program in 1998, the Division of Criminal
Justice - Grants & Program Development
Section has provided nearly $50 million
to the New Jersey statewide law enforcement
community to purchase thousands of new vests.
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
- 2007
- $4,563,086
- 2008
- $4,095,934
- 2009
- $1,300,190 *
- 2010
- $3,513,558
*
In 2009, program revenue was significantly
reduced
in addressing the state’s budget
crisis.
For
more information on the Body Armor Replacement
Fund Program log on to the Division of Criminal
Justice Web site at www.nj.gov/lps/BodyArmor
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