The Criminal Justice Planning Agency (CJPA) is the recipient of the more than $3.3 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) money from the U.S. Justice Department’s Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program, according to a nationwide distribution list released by DOJ on Wednesday.

According to the distribution list, the total grant to the CJPA is $3,331,575 and the CJPA will utilize stimulus funds “to further the goals of continuing public safety and increasing job development and economic growth,” according to a brief description of how the funds are to be used by CJPA.

“The CJPA will hire personnel in the fields of law enforcement, criminal justice, and substance abuse treatment coupled with expenditures for equipment, supplies, and contracted human services,” the information states. “This will stimulate economic activity and income to the territory of American Samoa.

According to USDOJ, all these expenditures will be made in coordination with local and federal law enforcement and human service agencies. In accordance with the ARRA goal of stabilizing state and local government budgets, funding will be used to procure goods and services that will create and preserve jobs and/or promote economic recovery.

In making the official announcement yesterday for American Samoa’s funding, U.S. Attorney Eric Holder said that by addressing American Samoa’s economic challenges while simultaneously meeting the territory’s public safety priorities, “these funds represent the best of what the Recovery Act can do for our communities.”

“This vital funding will help fight crime and build safer communities, and we look forward to continued work with the American Samoa community to address these criminal justice goals,” said Holder in a press statement.

The procedure for allocating JAG grants is based on a formula of population and violent crime statistics, in combination with a minimum allocation to ensure that each state, territory, and local jurisdiction receives an appropriate share of funding.

CJPA director Alaalamua Filoialii told Samoa News yesterday the agency’s board put together a lengthy application for about 20 proposals that were submitted to DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP), which administers the JAG program.

Alaalamua said he has not yet received the official notification of application approval.

He said the proposals cover a wide range of law enforcement areas “not just specifically for local law enforcement for the Department of Public Safety.”

The CJPA director said these funds cover areas such as law enforcement, the prison, High Court, Attorney General’s Office, Samoan Affairs Office and even rural area law enforcement — such as aumaga for village curfew. The funds can also be used to hire personnel and purchase equipment.

JAG funds support all components of the criminal justice system, from multi-jurisdictional drug and gang task forces to crime prevention and domestic violence programs, courts, corrections, treatment, and justice information sharing initiatives, according to the OJP website.

Meanwhile, no official announcement has been made on other USDOJ stimulus grant funds for American Samoa such as $700,783 for the Violence Against Women Program and the $204,000 for Victims of Crime Program.