Bulk of funding to focus on technological upgrades to data collection and analysis

September 15, 2009

Washington, D.C.—Nevada Senators Harry Reid and John Ensign today announced more than $3.8 million for law enforcement and public safety across the state. Benefiting from a variety of technological upgrades to data collection and analysis, as well other departmental needs, is UNLV, the Washoe County Sherriff’s Department, the Nevada Department of Public Safety, Nye County, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the National Council Of Juvenile And Family Court Judges, Carson City, and the Washoe Country Tribe of Nevada.

“This funding will help law enforcement agencies all over Nevada,” Reid said. “This money will create jobs while providing law enforcement additional resources to keep Nevadans safe.”

“The economy in Nevada is hurting,” said Ensign.  “People are worried about their jobs, and this money will help create much-needed employment in our state and will help to ensure that law enforcement in Nevada will receive important funding and support.”

Detailed grant information follows:

• State Justice Statistics Program Grant for UNLV:University of Nevada –Las Vegas was recently awarded a $50,152 grant. UNLV will use these funds for their FY09 State Justice Statistics Program. This program will help Nevada tackle criminal justice issues by means of data collection and analysis. The program’s specific goal is to focus in on people who died during the course of an arrest by local Nevada law enforcement. The University of Nevada-Las Vegas will be breaking new ground because Nevada law enforcement are under no obligation to report arrest related deaths in custody.  For more information about this grant please contact The Office of Justice Program’s Office of Communications at 202-307-0703.
• DNA Backlog Reduction Program Grant for Washoe County Sherriff’s Department:The Washoe County Sherriff’s Department was recently awarded a $390,766 grant. The Sherriff’s department will utilize the funds for a Forensic DNA Backlog Reduction Program. This program both helps reduces forensic DNA sample turnaround time and improves efficiency by reducing DNA forensics casework backlogs. The Washoe County Sherriff’s Department will now be able to use the full law enforcement potential of DNA technology as a result of this grant. States and local government can request more funds to increase their crime labs that do DNA analysis in order to be more efficient and cost effective. For more information about this grant, contact the Office of Justice Program's Office of Communications at 202/307-0703.
• National Criminal History Improvement Program grant for Nevada Department of Public Safety:The Nevada Department of Public Safety was recently awarded a $225,762 grant. The Department of Public Safety will make use of the funds for a National Criminal History program. The point of the program is to improve the Nation’s domestic security by enhancing quality, completeness and accessibility of criminal history records. Secondly the program will help implement both criminal background check and non criminal background check all across the country. The Department of Justice helps states out with funds so they can build up their criminal history infrastructure so it can link up to the national one to supply information and conduct checks. Nevada’s backlog of court dispositions will be reduced as a result of this $225,762 grant.  For more information about this grant, contact the Office of Justice Program's Office of Communications at 202/307-0703.
• Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Program for Nye County: Nye County was recently awarded a grant in the amount of $15,037. The county will employ these funds to start up the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Program. This program allows states and local governments(including tribes) The program allows states and local governments to support crime prevention activities based on the immediate needs of the state or local government. The grant can be used to help state and local initiatives, technical assistance, training, personnel, equipment, supplies, contractual support and information systems for criminal justice. These systems encompass the following areas: law enforcement programs, prosecution and court programs, prevention and education programs, corrections and community corrections programs, drug treatment and enforcement programs as well as crime victim programs. Nye County intends to utilize the grant to support the Highway Enforcement Apprehension Team. This project will provide the ability for recording and securing of photographic and audio evidence of any reasonable suspicion/probable cause established for detaining and/or searching a vehicle. For more information about this grant, contact the Office of Justice Program's Office of Communications at 202/307-0703.
• Convicted Offender and/or Arrestee DNA Backlog Reduction Program for Washoe County Sheriff’s Department:The Washoe County Sheriff’s Department recently received a grant in the amount of $196,030. This program furthers the Department’s mission by offering an opportunity for existing laboratories that conduct DNA analysis of convicted offender and/or arrestee DNA samples ("DNA database samples") to reduce their backlog. The reduction in backlog is achieved by in-house analysis or by sending samples to laboratories for paid analysis. This grant relates to the other grant because the Washoe County Sheriff’s Department is using their total grant funds to pioneer DNA technology to help local law enforcement.
• Forensic DNA Backlog Reduction Program for Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department:The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department recently received a grant in the amount of $489,000. The funds will be employed to establish a Forensic DNA Backlog Reduction Program. This program is similar to the DNA program established for the Washoe County Sherriff’s Department. The focus will be reducing turnaround time and increasing efficiency. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department will now be able to use the full law enforcement potential of DNA technology as a result of this grant. States and local government can request more funds to increase their crime labs that do DNA analysis in order to be more efficient and cost effective. For more information about this grant, contact the Office of Justice Program's Office of Communications at 202/307-0703.
• National Council Of Juvenile And Family Court Judges receives grant:The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges recently received a grant in the amount of $2,100,000. They will use these funds to establish the Office on Violence against Women Technical Assistance Program. This program provides grantees and subgrantees with the expertise and support they need to develop and implement successful state, local, tribal, and campus projects; increase victim safety; and bolster offender accountability. Through cooperative agreements, OVW supports educational initiatives, conferences, peer-to-peer consultations, and targeted assistance. The Office on Violence against Women Technical Assistance Program will work with criminal justice and victim service organizations to respond effectively to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. The Office will also reach out to faith- and community-based organizations to address violence against women. The Office has been involved in funding a judicial education project that has been providing judges skill-based domestic violence workshops since 1999. This project is the National Judicial Institute on Domestic Violence. (NJIDV) For more information about this grant, contact the Office of Justice Program's Office of Communications at 202/307-0703.
• Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department receives a grant for DNA Backlog reduction program:The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department recently received a grant in the amount of $102,025. The Police Department plans to put these funds to work by establishing a Convicted Offender and Arrestee DNA Backlog Reduction Program. The point of the program is to reduce the backlog of convicted offender and arrestee DNA samples through in-house analysis or by sending them away to paid analysis service laboratories. This is vital because it links to the other DNA grants and also the Combined DNA Data Index System (CODIS) which related to the State and National DNA databases. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department will now be able to use the full law enforcement potential of DNA technology as a result of this grant. States and local government can request more funds to increase their crime labs that do DNA analysis in order to be more efficient and cost effective. For more information about this grant, contact the Office of Justice Program's Office of Communications at 202/307-0703.
• Paul Coverdell National Forensic Sciences Improvement Act Formula Grant Program for Washoe County Sheriff’s Department:The Washoe County Sheriff’s Department recently received a grant in the amount of $106,307. The Sheriff’s Department wants to put these funds to use by establishing a National Forensic Sciences Improvement Act Formula Grant Program. The Department plans to use the funds to improve the quality and efficiency of forensic science. They plan on eliminating backlogs in the analysis of forensic evidence including controlled substances, firearms examination, forensic pathology, latent prints, questioned documents, toxicology, and trace evidence. This grant correlates with the other grants that the Washoe County Sheriff’s Department has received that total $1,441,098. The majority of these funds will be used to reduce the DNA and forensic backlogs.
• Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program for Carson City, Nevada:Carson City, Nevada recently received a grant in the amount of $29,775. The city plans on using the funds to establish the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program. The program allows states and local governments(including tribes) to support crime prevention activities based on the immediate needs of the state or local government. The grant can be used to help state and local initiatives, technical assistance, training, personnel, equipment, supplies, contractual support and information systems for criminal justice. These systems encompass the following areas: law enforcement programs, prosecution and court programs, prevention and education programs, corrections and community corrections programs, drug treatment and enforcement programs as well as crime victim programs. Carson City plans on using its 2009 award to focus in on prevention and education activities. Funds will be used for prevention education classes for students in Grades K-12, parents and agency personnel. The main program will be DARE. The Carson City police department will host four community outreach events including a Cops and Kids Spaghetti Dinner, Safety Fair, National Night Out, Halloween Safety, Red Ribbon Campaign, and child ID campaigns. The overall goal of Carson City is to reduce crime and provide substance prevention programs for its people.
• Children’s Justice Act Partnerships for Indian Communities for Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California:The Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California was recently awarded a grant in the amount of $173,945. The funding will help tribal communities to address the needs of victims of child abuse and sexual abuse. The goal of this grant program is to help the tribes handle investigation, prosecution, and case management of child abuse, sexual abuse and physical abuse cases. Specialized services and procedures will be developed to address the needs of American Indian/Alaska Native(AI, AN) child abuse victims.