Agenda Item 4D - JAGAGENDA ITEM:
DATE:
SUBMITTED BY:
BACKGROUND:
STAFF REPORT
City of Atlantic Beach
Commission Meeting
Justice Assistance Grant
July 21, 2014
Michael D. Classef.2hl'ef of Police
AGENDA ITEM# 4D
AUGUST II, 2014
Justice Assistance Grants (JAG) are grants that have been established by the Federal
Government and administered by the State of Florida. Atlantic Beach has benefitted from
JAG grants for many years. The allocations for this grant must be approved by at least
half of the law enforcement agencies in Duval County. The total amount of the award for
Duval County is $325,172 whereas last year's award was $346,597.
There have been early discussions; however a final agreement has not yet been approved.
Last year Atlantic Beach received $81,205 in funding, but this year's county award is less
than last year's. Final negotiations with the other law enforcement agencies will be
concluded in the near future and AB' s final award amount should be available for the
August 11th Commission meeting. This grant can be used to enhance law enforcement by
supplementing existing nonfederal funds for program activities, which may include the
purchase law enforcement equipment or providing funding to retain law enforcement
positions that have been federally funded. This grant does not require any matching funds
from the City.
Due to budget shortfalls over the past several years, these funds have been utilized to
cover the majority of the salary expense for one (1) Crime Suppression Detective and one
(1) Community Oriented Policing (COPs) Officer. Both of these positions have played an
integral part in the city's Mayport Corridor initiative and continue to do so. Staff
recommends using the JAG funding for these positions.
Many times grants such as these are utilized to purchase equipment; however, I suggest
that the most productive use ofthese funds would be to continue funding for our COPs
position and the CSU Detective to work on the projects which the City has identified as
high priorities.
Subsequent to a final agreement being reached, the next step of the process for this grant
is for the Police Department to apply for the funding on-line and to submit hard copies of
the applications with original signatures. For this process, the City needs to authorize the
Mayor to sign the related paperwork. The City also needs to authorize Chief Classey to
submit the applications on-line and have the authorization to electronically sign the on-
line applications on behalf of the Mayor. The deadline for the on line applications is
August 15, 2014 and the hard copy submission is due no later than August 22, 2014.
1\UENIJA ITEM i14D
1\lJGUST II , 20 14
BUDGET: This actio n will prov ide grant fu nding to be add ed to t he 20 14-15 Patr o l
an d CSU Detect ive sa lary acco unts to partia ll y f und one ( l) CO Ps officer po s ition and
o ne (I) CS U Detect iv e positi on.
RECOMMENDATIONS: To a uth orize the Mayor to s ign t he related paperwork for
the app li cati o ns and the s ub seq uent paperwork related to the JAG grant. In additi on, to
auth o ri ze Mich ae l D. Cla ssey to subm it the app licat ions on J in e and have th e
auth o riza ti o n to e lectronica lly s ign th e o n-lin e ap pli cations on behal f of th e Mayo r and
the City.
ATTACHMENTS: No ne
REV IE WED BYCITY MANAGER: --:?f~ k