(Little Rock – April 7, 2009) Mayor Mark Stodola and Police Chief Stuart Thomas were joined by City Directors Joan Adcock and Ken Richardson, City Manager Bruce T. Moore, and members of the Little Rock Police Department today as the City announced its plans for the Recovery Act Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program.

The allocation is for $2,897,792 to grouping of Little Rock, North Little Rock, Jacksonville, Maumelle, Sherwood, and Pulaski County. The Mayor noted, “This grouping is determined by the Justice Department and funding is made based on costs of prosecution or incarceration. The local governments submit a joint application and must complete a Memo of Understanding for the application process.”

An agreement has been reached wherein the LRPD acts as a Fiscal Agent for the project and will submit the joint application. Funds will be distributed as follows: 
* Little Rock -- $1,907,580 – 65.83% 
* North Little Rock -- $495,342 – 17.09% 
* Jacksonville -- $146,917 – 5.07% 
* Maumelle -- $30,236 – 1.04% 
* Sherwood -- $66,835 – 2.31% 
* Pulaski County -- $250,882 – 8.66%

Each of these agencies will identify planning, evaluation, and technology improvement programs for the grant monies. Little Rock has traditionally used the JAG and Block Grant funding for technology improvements such as deployment of patrol car audio/video recording, wireless data transmission to patrol cars, and crime analysis systems mapping.

According to Chief Thomas, “The Little Rock Police Department will use these funds this time to update and enhance the Department’s Records Management Software – which is critical for crime analysis and efficient resource deployment. It is also mandated by National Incident Based Reporting System reporting.”

The breakdown on the use of these funds would be computer software: $745,500, computer hardware: $600,000, and an IT Programmer Position: $200,000 (over a three year period). This leaves $357,580 remaining. This will be sufficient to add this new system to the Mid-Town Police Facility as it is built.

The Chief noted that the Arkansas Crime Information Center mandated that all Arkansas law enforcement agencies convert from the traditional Uniform Crime Reporting standard to the FBI’s NIBRS by the end of 2008. Little Rock received a waiver through the end of 2009, but the conversion must be made by that time. The City’s Records Management System was created in 1990 and cannot be converted to this new format.

The new software will not only satisfy the new NIBRS, but will also allow the LRPD to participate in the FBI’s N-DEX data sharing system which would be utilized as both a regional and national incident and arrest repository. In addition NIBRS will eventually be required for any agency submitting federal grant requests.

City Manager Bruce T. Moore said, “This new software will pay dividends for the City for years to come.”

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