HORNE ANNOUNCES $110,000 GRANT FROM THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE RECORDS
IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (CJRIP)
PHOENIX -- Attorney General Tom Horne announced that a grant for $110,000 has been awarded from the Criminal Justice Records Improvement Program (CJRIP). The primary focus of the grant will be to improve the timeliness, completeness, accuracy and accessibility of the state’s criminal justice information system, with an emphasis on criminal history information.
“This grant will bring much needed resources to the Attorney General’s Office in our efforts to work cooperatively with other law enforcement agencies statewide, and make it easier for law enforcement agencies to fight crime,” Horne said. “The Arizona Criminal Justice Commission is a great partner to work with as we develop better and more efficient communications among Arizona’s law enforcement professionals and I appreciate their support of this grant.”
This grant will make it easier for law enforcement agencies to access information about when and where criminals are arrested by addressing high disposition backlogs, and automating procedures for reporting arrests and/or disposition information to the criminal history records Central State Repository.
The grant will also fund an attorney’s position, which will be responsible for conducting an analysis of statutes, administrative rules and policies surrounding the criminal justice process. This will include booking, disposition reporting, fingerprinting, prosecution responsibilities, and court procedures, such as trial, sentencing, warrants and disposition reporting. Additional responsibilities will include reviewing and drafting memorandums of understanding between agencies that share criminal data.
IDENTITY THEFT GRANT
PHOENIX-- The Attorney General’s Office has been awarded a $50,000 grant for expanding and improving the outreach and capacity of victim service programs to better address the rights and needs of identity theft victims. The grant was awarded by the United States Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime, through the Maryland Crime Victims Resource Center, Inc. With funding from this grant, the Office of the Arizona Attorney General will create a community-based coalition dedicated to educating the public on how to safe-guard their identity, educating consumers on how to report suspected identity theft, and training law enforcement officers on how best to respond to victims of identity theft.
Horne stated: “The Arizona Attorney General’s Office will use a systems-based model to promote close cooperation among coalition members, create training materials, and improve outreach tools and victim assistance services to better serve identity theft victims.”
The Arizona Identity Theft Coalition will be composed of public and non-profit agencies from across the state. Members will be drawn from a number of different service sectors ranging from law enforcement, legal services, government agencies, veteran’s services and academic institutions.
Since 2003 Arizona has ranked either first or second nationally in reports of identity theft. Arizonans reported 6,549 incidents of identity theft last year. Horne stated, “this is an opportunity for service providers to work together, to find cohesive and effective ways of providing services to victims of identity theft.”
