The federal government provided $278.4 million in special grants in 2013 to fight crime in states, territories and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Department of Justice reports.
The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program (JAG) uses a formula-based award system for law enforcement, prosecution, courts and other crime-affiliated programs. Local governments received $88.4 million while states received $183.1 million.
The determinate for local allocations was based upon proportions of the state’s three-year violent crime average. The congressionally mandated formula allocates half of the funds based on a state’s or territory’s share of violent crime and half of the funds based on population.
California accounts for 12.96 percent of the nation’s total population and received $30.8 million.
A smaller state such as Vermont accounts for less than 1 percent of the nation’s total crime and 2 percent of the nation’s population. Vermont received approximately $366,000.
California has $12.3 million set aside for local awards based on its three-year violent crime averages of 161,997 crimes. Each crime was valued at $76.13. Vermont got $278,392 for 623 crimes, or $446.86 per crime.
The city of Oakland has a three-year average of 6,570 violent crimes, or 4.1 percent of all violent crimes in California. It is eligible for about $500,000 (6,570.67 multiplied by $76.13).
JAG awards may also be used for crime prevention, corrections, drug treatment, technology improvement and crime victim and witness programs.
