September 17, 2010
FINANCE COMMITTEE APPROVES $913,000
FOR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT
Taylor applauds approval, over 1.65 million available to in-squad computer TraCS software
(MADISON) The Joint Finance Committee today approved $913,000 for a grant program through the Office of Justice Assistance to provide for in-squad software to operate the Badger Traffic and Criminal Software (TraCS) program. The program allows law enforcement agency to immediately enter data from traffic stops and searches into the Wisconsin Justice Information Sharing (WIJIS) program. Senator Lena C. Taylor (D-Milwaukee) applauded the committee’s approval, citing it as the last key vote on implementing traffic stop data collection.
“In this last action in a series of many, the finance committee has made available over 1.65 million dollars to local law enforcement agencies to speed use of the Badger TraCS software,” Taylor noted. “With this software, the data that is required to be collected at every traffic stop can be immediately entered along with the citation, reducing labor time and improving efficiency. I look forward to seeing more agencies join in this collaboration.”
In addition to the 913,000 approved the committee, federal funds for the same program are being prepared for distribution by the Department of Transportation, bringing the total to just 1.65 million dollars. The approval by the committee indicates a priority list of different agencies across the state that meet certain criteria. In all, there are 21 county sheriff departments indentified by OJA that meet these criteria.
“Every corner of Wisconsin will be touched by this grant program,” Taylor concluded. “Law enforcement will begin the collection of racial profiling data on January 1, and the state is helping to foot the bill for these agencies. With effective partnering between the Legislature, OJA, DOJ, DOT, and local law enforcement, this program will be a success.”
Taylor advocated for and authored the move to collect statewide traffic stop data in the 2009-11 state budget bill and served on the advisory council to adopt the administrative rules of the program.
