Stimulus package increases criminal justice grants

from the Portland Press Herald:

The federal stimulus package approved by Congress includes a major increase in the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant, federal law enforcement funding that has been sharply cut in recent years.

The state's Justice Assistance Council is scheduled to meet Monday at 1:30 p.m. at the Department of Public Safety in Augusta to take public testimony on how Maine's $9.6 million share should be spent.

The state is likely to propose spending the funds on computer upgrades that would allow different sectors of the criminal justice system to communicate and access one another's databases, said Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Anne Jordan.

If courts, prisons, prosecutors and police communicate better, then offenders will get more appropriate bail conditions and probation requirements. A prosecutor would know if a person charged with domestic violence had previously failed to complete a batterer's intervention program, Jordan said, or a police officer would know if a drug suspect is already out on bail in another county.

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