Continuing his longstanding fight to secure federal resources for community safety, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), co-chair of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus, announced today that the City of Passaic has been awarded $180,339 in federal Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (Byrne JAG) funding. Rep. Pascrell spearheaded efforts in Congress to prevent the Trump administration from withholding these critical law enforcement funds as political leverage. Thanks in part to his efforts, the now-released funds will go towards the purchasing of law enforcement-related equipment for the Passaic Police Department.    

"Our brave men and women in uniform put their lives on the line day in and day out keeping our communities safe, so we must do everything we can to ensure that they have every resource available to them," said Rep. Pascrell, a longtime champion in Congress of Byrne JAG funding. "Amid increasingly difficult budget constraints, the safety of our communities must not be sacrificed. Equally important, those tasked with protecting our cities and towns must have unceasing support of every level of government. This federal award is great news for our police officers in Passaic, but we can and must do more to support them. I vow to never stop fighting in Congress for the brave first responders who never stop fighting for us.”

“The City of Passaic serves as the administrator of this grant for both Clifton and Paterson.  As Mayor I cannot stress enough how important it is for our emergency response teams to have the necessary backup, and equipment they require when responding to emergency calls,” said Passaic Mayor Hector C. Lora. “This funding will help provide our police departments around our areas with those necessary resources so they can continue protecting and serving the families and residents of our communities. Our Congressman Bill Pascrell continues his fight as a champion for all of our local law enforcement and emergency responders and as Mayor of Passaic I am proud of our congressman and his continued dedication in making sure that our men and women in uniform have the support they need to confidently respond to emergency incidents in and around our community.”

“We are deeply appreciative to Congressman Pascrell for his efforts to help win this grant for the City of Passaic,” said Passaic Police Chief Luis Guzman. “This money will help us provide needed services to our community with new and updated equipment.”

In Congress, Rep. Pascrell fought to protect the Byrne JAG program, the COPS Hiring program, and other key funding streams for state and local law enforcement. In July 2018, Pascrell stood with New Jersey elected officials in support of NJ Attorney General Grewal’s lawsuit against the Trump administration for continuing to hold hostage Byrne JAG and COPS Hiring program funds. Pascrell has also led New Jersey Democrats in demanding the Trump administration disburse approximately $4 million in federal Byrne JAG funds to New Jersey.

As co-chair of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus, Rep. Pascrell has made federal support for law enforcement a chief priority in Washington. Rep. Pascrell was the principal sponsor of H.R. 2379, a congressional reauthorization of the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program. On May 24, 2019, his legislation was signed into law, permanently authorizing $30,000,000 annually for the Bulletproof Vest Grant Program. On March 26, Reps. Pascrell and John Rutherford (R-FL-04) introduced the Probation Officer Protection Act, H.R. 1866, which would give federal probation officers the power to arrest third party individuals that obstruct a parole officer from carrying out their job. Reps. Pascrell and Rutherford also introduced the National Law Enforcement Museum Commemorative Coin Act, H.R. 1865, which would authorize the minting of a coin in honor of the Museum.