The Drug, Gang, and Violent Crime Control (DGVCC) program allows state, county, local, and tribal governments to support activities that combat drugs, gangs, and violent crime. The DGVCC program provides funding to support the components of a statewide, system-wide enhanced drug, gang, and violent crime control program as outlined in the Arizona 2016-2019 Drug, Gang and Violent Crime Control State Strategy.
The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) funds awarded to Arizona by the United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (DOJ/BJA) continue to support program activities along with state Drug and Gang Enforcement Account (DEA) funds established under A.R.S. §41-2402. The Byrne JAG program provides states, tribes, and local governments with critical funding necessary to support a range of program areas including law enforcement, prosecution and courts, prevention and education, corrections and community corrections, drug treatment and enforcement, planning, evaluation, and technology improvement, and crime victim and witness initiatives.
Arizona prioritizes the use of these funds to support apprehension efforts, prosecution projects, and projects that reinforce these activities , such as drug adjudication and sentencing, drug forensic analysis activities, and corrections and community corrections projects. In addition, funds may also support substance abuse treatment for corrections-involved individuals, and prevention and education efforts.
Drug, gang and violent crime enforcement efforts must frequently cross jurisdictional boundaries in order to arrest, prosecute, and sentence criminals. ACJC supports improving the effectiveness of collaborative law enforcement by leveraging state and federal funds to reduce drug trafficking, drug-related violent crime, and criminal street gang activities throughout Arizona. Furthermore, ACJC strongly encourages agencies to coordinate efforts with other projects or initiatives, such as the direct local agency Byrne JAG funds, methamphetamine interdiction, Homeland Security programs, prescription drug abuse initiatives, and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) activities.
The DGVCC program is designed to implement projects aligned with ACJC’s approved Arizona 2012-2015 Drug, Gang and Violent Crime Control State Strategy. The strategy identifies purpose areas for funding projects designed to address the drug, gang and violent crime problem in the state. These purpose areas are as follows:
- Apprehension;
- Prosecution;
- Forensic Support Services;
- Adjudication and Sentencing;
- Corrections and Community Corrections;
- Substance Abuse Treatment for Correction-Involved Individuals; and
- Prevention and Education
For purposes of outlining funding priorities for the FY 2017 Drug, Gang, and Violent Crime Control Program, the Commission has developed a tier system. Each purpose area has been categorized into Tier I, Tier II or Tier III. Tier I projects will receive the primary focus in allocating funds. Although Tier I projects will receive priority consideration, the funding recommendation will recognize, to the extent possible, the workload impact one part of the criminal justice system has on other parts of the system.
Tier I
Tier II
- Forensic Support Services
- Adjudication and Sentencing
- Corrections and Community Corrections
Tier III
- Substance Abuse Treatment for Corrections-Involved Individuals (Eligible under the RSAT progam)
- Prevention and Education
In preparing applications, applicants may find it useful take into consideration the strategic principles listed below:
- Include proactive strategies to address the drug, gang, and violent crime problem;
- Include a collaborative strategy;
- Use specialized personnel or specialized processes to address the drug, gang, and violent crime problem;
- Consider gaps in services;
- Place a focus on intelligence and information sharing
- Include resource or cost sharing;
- Build and maintain partnerships at the federal, state, and local levels;
- Support evidence-based and/or innovative approaches; and
- Include evaluation processes that assess effectiveness and utilize sound and reliable data.
None is available.