$1.9M anti-crime grants awarded

The Youth Advisory Council and the Criminal Justice Planning Agency Supervisory Council have awarded a total of $1.9 million to new and ongoing projects related to prevention of crime, domestic violence, and substance abuse.

CJPA executive director Doris Chong said, in a memorandum to Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, that the grants from the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs cover 31 different projects.

The two biggest projects to be funded by the grants are the development of a criminal justice information system, amounting to $450,000, and the purchase of 10 new police patrol vehicles, amounting to $301,006.

According to Chong, the information system program will initially include the Department of Public Safety, Department of Corrections, and the courts. Future funding will be provided to include the Office of the Attorney General’s Criminal Division, the Office of the Public Defender, Rota, and Tinian.

Of the 10 new police vehicles that will be purchased, six will go to Saipan and two each will go to Tinian and Rota.

The two major projects will be funded under the 2005 Byrne Justice Assistance Grant, which total $1.24 million minus 10-percent for planning and administration.

Other projects covered by the Byrne JAG are:

* DPS Criminal Investigation Bureau’s tourism oriented policing, $18,000

* DPS Criminal Investigation Bureau’s thief apprehension select coalition, $17,500

* DPS Criminal Investigation Bureau’s sex offender registry, $22,900

* DPS Criminal Investigation Bureau’s sexual and child abuse response, $8,800

* DPS Criminal Investigation Bureau’s special homicide activity resolution, $28,000

* DPS Police Division’s summons and warrant apprehension, $20,000

* DPS Criminal Investigation Bureau’s crime scene investigation enhancement, $48,000

* DPS Police Division’s DARE program, $20,000

* DPS Fire Division’s arson investigative response task force, $15,000

* DPS Rota’s juvenile police unit, $7,610

* AGO Criminal Division’s juvenile criminal prosecution, $65,000

* Judicial Branch’s judicial document imaging upgrade, $65,000

* Superior Court’s family court, $20,000

* Public Defender’s case tracking, $8,059.
Grants under the 2004 Stop Violence Against Women Act, totaling $210,540 minus 10 percent for planning and administration, will fund four projects:

* Karidat’s Guma Esperansa shelter program, $66,320

* AGO Criminal Division’s family violence task force, $66,320

* Superior Court’s Family Court training and support, $9,563

* DPS’s Family Violence Task Force, $47,372.
Another $281,000 (minus 5 percent for planning and administration) from the 2005 Victims of Crime Act will finance seven programs:

* Department of Public Health’s multi-disciplinary response team, $15,600

* DPH Rota Health Center’s family violence task force, $12,000

* DPH victim help project, $13,000

* DPH Tinian Health Center’s family protection project, $20,500

* Karidat’s Guma Esperansa shelter program, $113,500

* Karidat’s victim advocacy project, $55,626

* Karidat’s victim hotline project, $36,724.

In addition, a $128,051 grant from the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment will fund the Department of Corrections’ RSAT program.

Chong also reannounced that the 2004 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention program would provide Tinian’s Little League Baseball Association with $2,180 and Rota’s Amateur Sports Federation with $15,080.

A $10,000 grant under the 2004 Juvenile Accountability Block Grant will also be awarded to the Division of Youth Services’ juvenile detention system improvement project.