West Memphis, county to split JAG 2017 funds

West Memphis, county to split JAG 2017 funds

Local law enforcement agencies to share $ 44,000 in grant money for training, equipment upgrades

news@theeveningtimes.com

West Memphis City Council considered renewing a special law enforcement grant. Joel Johnson with the police department answered specific questions about the pending Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) forwarded to the city by the Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance. More than $2 billion in funding was available this year for law enforcement agencies across the United States. Two local agencies will split $44,000 this years grant installment. The funding may be used for training equipment and supplies but may not be used for salaries, or buildings. West Memphis will share the grant with the Crittenden County Sheriffs office.

“This is a grant we’ve been getting since 2005, per regulation we split it with the county,” said Johnson. “We’ll get the lion’s share of $34,000 out of it and they’ll get $10,000 because we handle the administrative work.”

Councilman James Pulliaum and Willis Mondy asked what the grant would accomplish for the city.

“This bolsters purchases departments can’t normally make,” said Johnson. “We normally use it for vehicles but this year we are also using it for training purpose to upgrade our simulator.

This is a use of force and conflict resolution simulator. It trains officers to make proper decisions on use of force.”

The department purchased a used shoot don’t shoot Sports Entertainment Specialists manufactured training scenario simulator in April. Officers and city police cadets have been training with an electronically rigged Glock similar to their service weapon. The computer projects an interactive role play video on the wall. The bad guys actually engage in a dialog providing officers a chance to practice responses. Depending on the interaction the officer may de-escalate a situation or be forced into a shooting reaction. The computer tracks the trainees aim and shot timing. The whole scenario is then replayed, marked with shot intervals and targets struck for instant reinforcement.

“If the trainee is not doing the things he is supposed to be doing with the proper orders, the scenario can be altered into a shoot situation, but if he controls everything it could de-escalate into a no shoot situation,” said Captain Robert Langston when he introduced the simulator last April.

Bottom line the simulator provides better feedback and cost less than live rounds on the firing range.

“We have a $30,000 ammo budget every year,” said Langston last spring. “With 80 officers, that’s 500 rounds a piece per year.

With this simulator they are shooting thousands of rounds a month now and we can see make improvement in their marksmanship scores.”

“We are one of the few departments in the area that have one and upgrades are available to augment the training,” said Johnson.

Sheriff Mike Allen said the he’d direct the JAG grant toward keeping up with technology upgrades.

“It’s like having an iPphone, and there are just times you have to upgrade or just get out of sync,” said Allen. “We have notebook computers in the cars.

So we will upgrade equipment that moves slow and doesn’t communicate like it should. We’ve been getting this for twelve years. So the quorum court will approve it and it fills in a line item for us.”

While Allen expected the quorum court to act on it soon, West Memphis City Council authorized the mayor to enter into the memorandum of understanding to secure the grant during the first meeting in September.

The memorial JAG grant program was named for second generation New York City police officer Edward Byrne, murdered in the line of duty in 1988.

By John Rech