FOR RELEASE??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ????BJS
MARCH 5, 2002??????????? ???????????
??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ?202/307-0703
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT MAKES $38 MILLION
AVAILABLE FOR STATES
TO IMPROVE CRIMINAL RECORDS SYSTEMS
WASHINGTON, DC ? The Justice Department has made $38 million available
in direct awards and technical assistance to help states improve the quality,
completeness and accessibility of criminal history records.? States will use these funds to continue
building the infrastructure that supports instant background checks for
firearms sales and to develop and enhance sex offender registry systems.?
The Justice Department?s Bureau of Justice
Statistics (BJS) is now accepting Fiscal Year (FY) 2002 applications for
funding through the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP).? Applications are due by April 1, 2002 and
BJS anticipates announcing awards by mid-July 2002.?
The goal of NCHIP is to improve the nation?s
public safety by enhancing and upgrading the nation?s criminal history
records.? These funds will allow
continued development of states? automated criminal record systems, as well as
support partnerships among federal, state and local law enforcement and
government agencies to address problems of stalking, domestic violence and
sexual assault against children.
NCHIP funds can be used by states for several
clearly defined areas including:?
?
to develop and
enhance automated adult and juvenile criminal history records;
?
to implement
and upgrade automated fingerprint identification systems;
?
to develop
systems that facilitate full participation in the FBI?s National Instant
Criminal Background Check System (NICS) established under the Brady Handgun
Violence Prevention Act, including full participation in the Interstate
Identification Index; and
?
to support
development of accurate and complete state sex offender identification and
registration systems, and to improve processes for entering data on stalking
and domestic violence into local, state, and national databases.?
All 50 states, the District of Columbia and
the territories, including Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Northern
Mariana Islands and American Samoa, are eligible to receive NCHIP grants and
technical assistance.? Applicants must
meet a 10 percent match requirement in order to receive NCHIP funds.?
The application and additional information
about NCHIP or the Bureau of Justice Statistics can be found online at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs or by calling the National
Criminal Justice Reference Service toll-free at 1-800/851-3420.
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BJS02074
After hours contact: David
Hess, 888/763-8943 (pager)