TITLE: Bureau of Justice Assistance Annual Report Fiscal Year 1996. Series: BJA Annual Report Published: October 1997 Author: Bureau of Justice Assistance Subject: Criminal Justice System 46 pages 92,889 bytes ------------------------------ Figures, charts, forms, and tables are not included in this ASCII plain-text file. To view this document in its entirety, download the Adobe Acrobat graphic file available from this Web site or order a print copy from BJA at 800-688-4252. ------------------------------ U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance Bureau of Justice Assistance Annual Report Fiscal Year 1996 ------------------------------ To the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro-tempore of the Senate: Pursuant to The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 as amended by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-690) in accordance with Section 522, I am pleased to transmit the Bureau of Justice Assistance Annual Report for the Fiscal Year 1996. Respectfully submitted, Nancy E. Gist, Director, Bureau of Justice Assistance Washington, DC October 1997 ------------------------------ Table of Contents I. Moving Toward the 21st Century II. About the Bureau of Justice Assistance III. Addressing America's Needs Preventing Crime in America Comprehensive Communities: The Key to Crime Prevention Law Enforcement Initiatives Are Making a Difference Improving the Effectiveness and Efficiency of the Criminal Justice System Changing the Course of Corrections Special Programs Investing in State and Local Jurisdictions Technical Assistance and Evaluation: Creating a Model Criminal Justice System IV. Appendix TABLE 1: FY 1996 Byrne Formula Grant Program Awards, Total Active Subgrants, and Total Active Subgrant Awards TABLE 2: FY 1996 Byrne Discretionary Awards (Byrne and Other Funding), Total Active Grants, and Total Active Grant Awards BJA Legislative Purpose Areas TABLE 3: FY 1996 Byrne Formula Subgrant Totals by States and Purpose Areas TABLE 4: FY 1996 Discretionary Awards (Byrne and Other Funding) Program Descriptions and Funding Amounts TABLE 5: FY 1996 Local Law Enforcement Block Grants by States and Purpose Area TABLE 6: Local Law Enforcement Block Grants by State and State Agencies 1996 BJA-Funded Publications ------------------------------ Moving Toward the 21st Century The Bureau of Justice Assistance is charting its future by analyzing the past. What was once a criminal justice system solely focused on arrests and incarceration now is becoming a comprehensive community justice system. America no longer can prevent and control crime by incarceration alone. Communities are taking back their streets through community policing, community prosecution, community courts, and community corrections, and BJA is at the forefront of this movement. An increasing number of BJA-funded programs are comprehensive in nature and involve the community. FY 1996 was a crucial year for BJA and America's criminal justice system. America is approaching a new century, and the policies and programs implemented now and in the next few years will determine our success in the next century. BJA recognizes this historic time and is shaping its programs and goals to improve the criminal justice system and ensure that America's children can live safely in their neighborhoods. BJA-funded projects do make a difference. During the past decade BJA has implemented a number of vital projects. However, BJA funding for these projects is short term. A 1995 study revealed that 73 percent of those projects that were intended to continue were still running 3 to 4 years after Federal funding ceased. State and local units of government picked up the cost of these projects started with BJA funds. With this excellent record of continued funding, BJA projects will affect communities throughout the Nation and into the future. The end of the 20th century provides America with unprecedented challenges. In no part of our society is this more true than in the criminal justice system. BJA is meeting these challenges by helping to create a safe Nation and an improved criminal justice system. ------------------------------ "As we move toward the next millennium, we must apply crime control and crime prevention knowledge more effectively to create a safe and secure Nation for future generations. By implementing comprehensive, community justice programs and strategies, BJA is helping to create a better America for the 21st century, a Nation of communities mobilized to keep violence off its streets." Nancy Gist, Director, Bureau of Justice Assistance ------------------------------ BUILDING THE BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURY PLANS AND PROGRESS o In FY 1996, the Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) Program office began laying the ground-work for the Federal Law Enforcement Dependents Assistance (FLEDA) Program. Once fully operational in late FY 1997 or early FY 1998, FLEDA will provide financial assistance for higher education to the spouses and children of Federal law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. o In FY 1997, a national symposium on sentencing will be presented by BJA, the State Justice Institute, and the National Institute of Justice to enable judges, legislators, prosecutors, defense counsel, corrections officials, police, and community representatives to discuss and share experiences and perspectives on current sentencing policy. o BJA will continue to fund firearms trafficking programs, gang organized narcotics programs, and homicide initiatives. o BJA will expand Boys and Girls Clubs, school- based drug-prevention programs, and other community crime prevention measures. o BJA will continue to fund community justice, community prosecution, community courts, and corrections options programs. o BJA will continue to publish and disseminate an abundance of information on a wide range of vital criminal justice issues, including: o Crime Prevention and Community Policing o Urban Street Gang Enforcement o Stopping Hate Crime o Effective Sanctions That Fit the Budget o Addressing Community Gang Problems o Community Corrections ------------------------------ About the Bureau of Justice Assistance Moving toward the next millennium, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is assisting a record number of State and local criminal justice agencies by supporting them with funds, training, technical assistance, evaluation, and comprehensive strategic planning. Since its inception, BJA has worked with State and local governments, community organizations, and Federal agencies to reduce and prevent crime, violence, and drug abuse and to help improve the criminal justice system. The mission of BJA is to provide leadership and assistance in support of local criminal justice strategies to achieve strong neighborhoods and safe communities. In Fiscal Year 1996, BJA focused its efforts on the following goals: o Promoting effective, innovative crime control and prevention strategies. o Demonstrating and promoting the replication of effective crime control programs that support public-private partnerships, planning, and criminal justice system improvement. o Leveraging and efficiently administering available resources. o Providing a dynamic work environment that fosters and encourages excellence, innovation, and responsiveness. BJA's Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Program is unique because it is a Federal grant program tied to the criminal justice system with congressional mandates dedicated to State and local jurisdictions. The Byrne Program is a major source of Federal funds devoted to fighting crime on the local level. Through it, BJA works directly with State and local criminal justice practitioners to develop innovative and effective programs to fight violent crime and drug abuse. The two main components of the Byrne Program are the Byrne Formula and Discretionary Grant Programs. Each year Congress appropriates funds to BJA for distribution to State and local criminal justice systems. For FY 1996 Congress appropriated $475 million for The Byrne Formula Grant Program. The amount distributed to each state is determined primarily by the population of the State. Use of these Byrne Formula funds must fall into approved legislative purpose areas (see the Appendix). However, States may determine the amount to be applied to specific purpose areas, depending on crime patterns in their area. In addition to funding these State-level programs, BJA- administered Byrne Formula funds annually support an average of 6,600 local programs such as community policing initiatives, multijurisdictional task forces, and drug prevention programs. The Byrne Discretionary Grant Program provides BJA with the flexibility to appropriate funds to problem-specific areas. Awards are made for programs that develop new practices in crime prevention and drug control, training, technical assistance, and national-scope programs. BJA supports the replication of these innovative programs to make the criminal justice system stronger and more comprehensive. In FY 1996, BJA awarded more than $60 million in Byrne Discretionary and other funds to support more than 650 programs. BJA is an essential part of addressing the most pressing challenges facing the Nation's criminal justice system. In FY 1996, BJA implemented comprehensive approaches to crime through neighborhood-based programs with active citizen involvement, violence prevention and control initiatives, and programs that not only improved the functioning of the criminal justice system but also focused on enhancing the system's ability to remove serious and violent offenders from our communities. BJA programs emphasize the importance of multiagency coordination--at all levels of government--in addressing prevention, intervention, enforcement, adjudication, and corrections. In FY 1996, BJA-funded programs made communities safer and neighborhoods more resistant to crime, increased citizen involvement in justice and community crime prevention, and improved the effectiveness of the criminal justice system. BJA also managed $1.59 billion in grant activity, representing almost 7,500 active projects and programs in the 50 States and 6 Territories. By providing the best resources and training to State and local criminal justice agencies, BJA has been in the forefront of creating comprehensive community-based crime prevention and crime control measures. Neighborhoods in which these innovative approaches have been implemented are yielding the results. In Neighborhood Crime Watch communities, people feel safe to walk at night; in D.A.R.E. communities, children are learning the dangers of drugs; in community policing neighborhoods, citizens are working with police officers to prevent and solve crimes; and in Comprehensive Communities Programs, entire cities are seeing dramatic reductions in crime through local community efforts. After years of escalating violence on the streets of America's cities, the tide is changing. Criminal activity is beginning to feel the impact of effective, innovative, and comprehensive crime control strategies taking root in communities across the country. Since 1992, the Nation's overall crime rate has decreased by 7 percent. BJA continues to support, innovate, evaluate, and replicate effective programs. BJA-funded initiatives are a team effort, with Federal, State, and local agencies working together to rid America of crime and violence and to restore law and order in the Nation's neighborhoods and communities. ------------------------------ FY 1996 BJA FUNDS APPROPRIATED FOR ASSISTANCE TO STATE AND LOCAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCIES (IN $ MILLIONS) Byrne Formula Grants 475.00 Byrne Discretionary 60.00 Earmarked and transferred to Weed and Seed 28.50 Earmarked for D.A.R.E. 1.75 Earmarked for Boys and Girls Clubs of America 4.35 Earmarked for National Crime Prevention Council 3.00 Earmarked for National Judicial College 1.00 Earmarked for SEARCH 1.00 Earmarked for Metro Area Drug Enforcement Task Force 2.00 Earmarked for Olympic Games Law Enforcement 4.00 Earmarked and transferred to the FBI CASTLE Program 4.90 Special Programs 555.35 Regional Information Sharing Systems 14.50 National White Collar Crime Center 3.85 State Criminal Alien Assistance Program 500.00 Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program 30.50 Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Program .50 Church Arson Prevention Program 6.00 Local Law Enforcement Block Grants 503.00 Earmarked for D.C - Metro Police Department. 15.00 Earmarked for Boys and Girls Clubs of America 11.00 Earmarked for Drug Courts 15.00 Earmarked for NIJ Technology 20.00 Total $1,593,350,000.00 ------------------------------ FY 1996: PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS o BJA automated its application and award process, significantly reducing paperwork and increasing productivity. o BJA set efficiency records in disseminating grants: o BJA's Local Law Enforcement Block Grants Program distributed nearly $400 million to almost 3,000 local jurisdictions and $24 million to 56 States, Territories, and the District of Columbia in a record 6 months. o BJA distributed more than $2.7 million in Church Arson Prevention Grants to 587 county governments in only 2 weeks. o BJA and the National Crime Prevention Council received the prestigious Vice President's Hammer Award for their efforts at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. o As part of BJA's Comprehensive Communities Program, the membership of the East Bay Public Safety Corridor Partnership grew to include 27 communities in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area. o The success of Boston's Comprehensive Communities Program, including a reduction in homicides of young people by 71 percent, led to recognition by the President. o The BJA State Criminal Alien Assistance Program extended its eligibility to local communities that house illegal aliens in their jails. Formerly, the program reimbursed only the States for incarcerating illegal aliens. o The newly created BJA Comprehensive Homicide Initiative has helped to reduce the homicide rate in Richmond, California, by 50 percent since 1995. The Initiative's strategies target the underlying causes of homicide such as gang violence, domestic violence, violence associated with drug activity, and the availability of illegal firearms. ------------------------------ Addressing America's Needs In 1994 Congress stood up to crime and passed the most sweeping crime bill in America's history, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, and BJA has played a key role in carrying out its provisions. Most Americans believe that serious violent offenders need to be incarcerated. However, when the issues are broadly presented, Americans are willing to consider incarceration alternatives, such as intensive probation, house arrest, substance abuse treatment, and restitution for appropriate offenders. According to a recent national survey commissioned by the American Correctional Association, three out of four Americans believe a balanced approach of prevention, punishment, and treatment is better at controlling and reducing crime than is imprisonment alone. BJA has helped support that balanced approach. In FY 1996, BJA began full implementation of the philosophy and programs that comprise a comprehensive community justice system. That system includes the following elements: o Community Crime Prevention o Community Policing o Community Prosecution o Community Courts o Community Corrections Any successful State or local crime prevention and control strategy must engage its ultimate beneficiaries: the people living in the community. BJA-funded community-based strategies address neighborhood problems by involving community leaders and residents in the planning and delivery of services. All of BJA's programs, including the Comprehensive Communities Program, the National Citizens' Crime Prevention Campaign, the Community Justice Technical Assistance Program, and the Tribal Strategies Against Violence Program, support partnerships with Federal, State, and local governments; private organizations; and foundations that develop and achieve solutions addressing problems concerning crime and quality of life. Some comprehensive program approaches supported by BJA are problem-specific. For example, the Comprehensive Gang Initiative demonstrates a model approach to gang issues that carefully balances prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies. The model is designed to bring together cooperative and coordinated efforts by the police, other criminal justice agencies, human services providers, community agencies, and residents. Other programs receiving BJA funds, such as the Community-Based Prosecution Initiative, are not problem-specific but bring together the community, the prosecutor's office, and the local courts to solve problems, providing speedier access to justice and facilitating reintegration of offenders in neighborhoods. In FY 1996, an important BJA priority addressed a serious unmet need in local criminal justice systems by supporting programs to correct deficiencies in the delivery of criminal justice services. BJA emphasized the involvement of key stakeholders in the development of new initiatives, including community organizations and local, State, and Federal agencies. BJA supports programs that promote balance and fairness in law enforcement and the criminal justice system. By supporting programs that feature community participation as a cornerstone, BJA seeks to educate and engage citizens, thereby improving confidence in the criminal justice system and ultimately preventing crime. Through an effective combination of crime prevention funding, comprehensive community programs, law enforcement initiatives, adjudication programs, corrections initiatives, special programs, Local Law Enforcement Block Grants, and research, evaluation, and training, BJA is playing a critical role in controlling and preventing crime in America. ------------------------------ "If we reweave the fabric of community through community courts, through community justice, through community caring, through community involvement, we can make a difference." Attorney General Janet Reno ------------------------------ "The concept of community justice is unmistakably powerful and it is at the core of a vision that is undeniably hopeful." Laurie Robinson, Assistant Attorney General ------------------------------ Preventing Crime in America A crucial part of reducing crime in America is preventing crime from occurring in the first place. BJA's commitment to crime prevention is unsurpassed. Over the past decade, BJA funding to States and local communities increased by 85 percent --money that supported hundreds of new projects. BJA has created an all-encompassing approach to crime prevention to involve everyone from Federal, State, and local governments to schools and civic organizations, from private and public sectors to families and religious organizations. In FY 1996, BJA focused on creating strong partnerships among key stakeholders in individual communities and using these resources to develop comprehensive crime prevention initiatives. Only BJA's most enduring and successful initiatives, the National Citizens' Crime Prevention Campaign and its most visible symbol, McGruff the Crime Dog, educates people of all ages about how they can prevent crime and build community. The campaign has reached millions of people through public service announcements; crime, violence, and drug use prevention materials; and outreach and information on the World Wide Web. Through funding, technical assistance, and training, the campaign helps individuals, community and civic organizations; as well as Federal, State, and local government agencies build better, safer, and more caring communities. Through community action, the campaign has helped to decrease crime in schools, neighborhoods, and entire cities. Through the McGruff campaign, BJA provided unprecedented support for crime prevention education as part of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. BJA funding helped produce seven posters (of which more than 2,000 sets were distributed), a crime prevention tips brochure in three languages for visitors (more than 600,000 distributed), and a brochure in three languages for athletes and other members of the Olympic family (approximately 17,000 distributed). The efforts of BJA, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and the National Crime Prevention Council were recognized with a prestigious Vice President's Hammer Award for efficiency in government for work coordinating crime prevention services as part of the National Olympic Planning Group. Another successful, long-term community action program is National Night Out. This initiative began in 1989 as a one-night-a-year (first Tuesday in August) community gathering. It has since evolved into a yearlong program involving more than 28 million people, including law enforcement and government agencies, businesses, education institutions, community organizations, citizens, and youth in more than 8,800 communities in all 50 States, U.S. Territories, and U.S. military bases around the world. On August 6, 1996, nearly 30 million people celebrated the 13th Annual National Night Out with block parties, parades, rallies, and other events. In FY 1996, BJA also supported crime and violence prevention initiatives that targeted young people. BJA is building partnerships with the youth of America through education. One of the most highly visible BJA education initiatives is Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.), the Nation's predominant school-based drug abuse and violence prevention program. It teaches students in kindergarten through senior high school lessons on drugs, violence, and gang resistance skills in classes conducted by specially trained law enforcement officers. Another proven program is the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (B&G Clubs). In FY 1996, BJA awarded B&G Clubs more than $15 million to establish and enhance B&G Clubs in public housing and other community settings where there is a concentration of poverty, crime, and violence. B&G Clubs serve 2.6 million school-age boys and girls in 1,950 clubs by providing a safe haven for children. The clubs offer mentoring and youth activities, educational support, and a comprehensive violence prevention initiative. An evaluation of B&G Clubs in public housing confirmed that the clubs had a significant impact on reducing juvenile crime (crime rates were 13 percent lower in projects with B&G Clubs), on reducing drug activity (22 percent lower), and on reducing the presence of crack cocaine (25 percent lower). A common objective in all of BJA's crime prevention initiatives is addressing the needs of communities. Through the Tribal Strategies Against Violence (TSAV) Initiative, for example, BJA is helping to empower Native American communities' increased concern about crime and violence on reservations. TSAV is a Federal-tribal partnership designed to develop and implement reservationwide strategies to reduce crime, violence, and drug abuse. The program focuses on forming centralized planning teams comprised of service providers whose goal is to develop short-term and long-term strategies that encompass community policing and prosecution, domestic abuse, juvenile delinquency, and drug prevention education. In FY 1996, TSAV was expanded to seven tribes and served more than 325,000 Native Americans as well as their neighbors in surrounding communities. Through the next millennium, BJA will continue to lead Federal efforts to develop and support comprehensive crime prevention initiatives. BJA will continue to work with Federal, State, and local agencies and community organizations to develop effective crime prevention programs and build on the extraordinary success of the past decade. ------------------------------ " Working together, we can solve any problem and meet any challenge as long as we each do our part: government, business, families, religious institutions, communities, schools and especially young people themselves. Together, we can create safer streets in our towns and cities and a brighter, more secure future for our children." President Bill Clinton, National Night Out, 1996 ------------------------------ "We're getting these kids while we can still do something to help them--before they cross the line into serious crime." Bob Monahan, Boston's Boys & Girls Clubs of America Chief Operating Officer ------------------------------ FY 1996 SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE NATIONAL CITIZENS' CRIME PREVENTION CAMPAIGN o More than 50,000 Crime Prevention Month 1996 kits were distributed to law enforcement agencies, schools, libraries, community groups, local government leaders, and others. o More than 824 million educational materials were reproduced and distributed by local groups. o More than $54 million in public service advertising was donated to crime prevention messages, a more than 80 to 1 return on the Federal investment, reaching more than 90 percent of the U.S. population. o Nearly 50,000 adults called 800-WE-PREVENT to get free, detailed information on community crime prevention initiatives. o McGruff and Scruff violence and drug prevention materials reached almost 500,000 of America's youngest citizens in just 1 year. o Educational packets were provided to elementary school-age children in 71,000 public and private schools and to 14,000 law enforcement agencies. o A landmark compendium of crime prevention strategies, 350 Tested Strategies To Prevent Crime, was published and distributed nationwide. ------------------------------ Comprehensive Communities: The Key to Crime Prevention One of the most urgent domestic problems facing America is violence. For more than 30 years, America's justice system has tried a number of crime prevention methods and ideologies. Individually these programs have had limited success. In 1993 BJA took a new approach by combining those crime prevention concepts that were most effective to create the Comprehensive Communities Program (CCP). BJA realized that the only way to make progress against violence was to marshal the efforts of communities, the private sector, and Federal, State, and local governments. CCP seeks to catalyze the development of such partnerships. CCP strategies call for improving existing collaboratives and partnerships as well as developing new, innovative strategies. As such, these programs coordinate with customized projects and more comprehensive approaches within each community. For example, four of the CCP sites also are sites for the Pulling America's Communities Together (PACT) initiative. CCP sites draw on the experience and collaboratives developed under comprehensive, community-based PACT efforts in Atlanta, Denver, Omaha, and Washington, D.C. Under CCP, communities facing high rates of drug abuse and violent crime develop a comprehensive strategy for crime and drug control that requires police and other city agencies to work in partnership with the community. During the past 3 years, the 16 CCP sites have distinguished themselves from other BJA grant programs in their demonstration of how multiagency, public/private, government/community collaboratives, and partnerships can work together to formulate and carry out jurisdictionwide crime strategies to produce safer and healthier communities. CCP communities range from small, single-government jurisdictions such as Hartford, Connecticut; Columbia, South Carolina; Omaha, Nebraska; Wilmington, Delaware; Gary, Indiana; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Wichita, Kansas; to larger urban cities such as Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; Phoenix, Arizona; Seattle, Washington; Washington D.C.; and Fort Worth, Texas; to multi-jurisdictional communities such as metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia; metropolitan Denver, Colorado; and the East Bay Public Safety Corridor Partnership in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. The Boston CCP has been nationally recognized and offers valuable lessons for other CCP sites as well as for communities across the Nation. Crafted by more than 400 residents, police officers, and city agency representatives, Boston's Strategic Plan for Neighborhood Policing serves as the architecture for integrating community policing and community mobilization. It includes strategies for the city's 16 community districts and is tailored to reflect the public safety and quality-of-life needs of each district. In 1996 homicides in Boston dropped to a 30-year low, robberies to a 26-year low, and armed assaults to a 10-year low. Homicides by young people dropped by two-thirds; murders and assaults by juveniles with firearms almost disappeared. The Metro Atlanta CCP operates a variety of youth violence prevention, intervention, and enforcement strategies, including the highly regarded Teens, Crime, and the Community (TCC) program, an education and crime prevention curriculum aimed at reducing the high level of teen victimization and counteracting high-risk factors leading to juvenile delinquency. In addition, Atlanta has created a Youth Empowerment Grants Program that empowers young people to create their own solutions to the daily problems that affect their well-being. The Baltimore CCP is a partner in the development of a comprehensive initiative that provides recreational, educational, and other positive alternatives for youth in four communities that are coordinated by a resident-developed strategy. A community organizer supervises the activities of coordinators who work to develop youth leadership, help youth fulfill the community service hours required of all Maryland high school students, and encourage development of entrepreneurial skills and economic development projects. Each summer the Metro Denver PACT/CCP supports a six-county Safe Summer Program, which includes a youth-staffed hot line for recreational and employment opportunities. The number for the hot line is distributed throughout six counties on wallet-sized cards. Another six-county strategy involves providing $500 to $2,000 line officer grants for community policing projects, with at least 80 percent of such grants including a youth component. The Safe Summer Program and the Line Officer Grant Program have been recognized within the Metro Denver area as contributing significantly to reducing summer youth violence over the past several years. The Fort Worth CCP administers a community-based criminal justice plan developed by the Citizens Crime Commission of Tarrant County, the Fort Worth Independent School District, nonprofit organizations, law enforcement agencies, and numerous other agencies. A local service organization, Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, Inc., facilitates collaboration among the public schools, the B&G Clubs, and other agencies to reduce teen pregnancy. The Comin' Up Gang Intervention Program, a program of the B&G Clubs of Greater Fort Worth, provides a variety of needs-based services and activities that positively impact the lives of youth involved in gangs. The Phoenix CCP has designed its youth strategy to focus on increasing the levels of community knowledge, input, and involvement that are critical to reducing youth gangs and violence. More than 6,000 youth have participated in a local program Community Effort to Abate Street (C.E.A.S.) Violence, an antiviolence initiative that enlists parents, teachers, community members, and business people to teach youth how their choices impact their lives, families, and communities. The Seattle CCP addresses youth violence through a wide range of collaborative prevention, intervention, and enforcement efforts, including the Seattle Police Department's Family and Youth Protection Bureau and the Seattle Team for Youth Program. The Seattle Police Department's Gang Unit interacts with youth through the School Emphasis Team, Night Proactive Squads, and Investigations Squad. In addition, detectives from the Seattle Team for Youth and caseworkers from the Department of Health and Human Services work with families, schools, and community members to provide counseling and alternatives for at-risk youth involved in violent or gang activity. Central to the success of CCP is that once comprehensive crime strategies are implemented, they must be institutionalized in order for communities to reap the long-term benefits. To do this, CCP works to sustain the innovative partnerships between public and private organizations, governments and citizens, individuals and associations, and for-profit and not-for-profit groups by training and technical assistance available to communities with comprehensive strategies. In FY 1996, BJA helped CCP sites develop strategies to sustain their accomplishments, especially the partnerships and collaboratives established to support continued strategic and community-based crime initiatives. By developing a model sustainment plan for effective initiatives, BJA has made an impact on crime and violence for years to come. During FY 1997, BJA will continue to provide technical assistance and training support for CCP sustainment efforts. ------------------------------ " We know that if this can be done in Boston, it can be done in every community, in every neighborhood of every size in the United States." President Bill Clinton, announcing that his juvenile crime control bill is modeled after Boston's Comprehensive Communities Program. ------------------------------ "This is just a smarter approach to the problem of juvenile violence, and it is showing results." Jeremy Travis, Director, National Institute of Justice ------------------------------ BOSTON'S CCP EFFORTS PAY OFF o No juvenile homicides occurred in Boston in 1996. o From July 1995 through 1996, no youth under age 17 was killed by a firearm. o The number of young people age 24 and younger killed with a firearm declined 65 percent from 1995 to 1996. o Homicides of young people age 24 and under are down 71 percent as compared to 1995. o Gang-related violence fell by 70 percent in 1996. o Aggravated assaults with firearms are down 23 percent compared to 1995 and are down 55 percent compared to Boston's crisis year of 1990. ------------------------------ Law Enforcement Initiatives Are Making a Difference The Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) Uniform Crime Report and the Bureau of Justice Statistics' National Crime Victimization Survey reveal that both overall crime rates and violent crime rates declined in 1996. For the past 4 years, the criminal justice system has installed an effective combination of crime control and prevention, and BJA has been a primary force in the development and implementation of these crime reduction strategies. In FY 1996, BJA's focus on a comprehensive community justice system helped establish effective law enforcement initiatives through community mobilization and community policing. Two of the biggest problems plaguing America's communities today are drugs and guns. According to the FBI, nearly one-third of violent crimes in the United States is firearms related. In FY 1996, through Byrne Discretionary Grants, BJA funded firearm initiatives, such as licensee compliance programs, firearms trafficking training and support, firearms investigative task force projects, and the FBI's ballistic imaging automated examination system, that helped remove 114,300 weapons from the Nation's streets. In specific communities, the results have been even more dramatic. New York City: Prior to the Federal Firearms Licensee Compliance program, only 29 of the 950 Federal Firearms Licenses (FFLs) in New York City were in compliance with local laws. The firearms task force has been effective in discouraging unqualified applicants. For example, of the 245 new applications received during the program, 234 withdrew, 5 were disapproved, 5 were approved, and 1 was pending investigation. Of the 473 renewal applications received, 347 were abandoned, 62 were approved, 22 were disapproved, and 7 were still under investigation. The program also has been effective in reducing the total number of FFLs. In 1991 there were 952 FFLs in New York City. By 1996 that number had been reduced to 259. Gary, Indiana: Violent crime in Gary, Indiana, is increasing at an alarming rate. Last year, Gary had the highest per capita murder rate in the United States. BJA provided the city's Violent Crime Task Force with $112,000 to target, investigate, and prosecute individuals committing violent crimes with firearms in and around the city. Since the inception of the grant in 1994, 130 firearms have been seized, 98 investigations have been initiated, and 44 arrests have been made. Richmond, Virginia: A Firearms Investigative Task Force (FITF) was funded in Richmond in response to evidence that Virginia had become the primary source of guns used in crimes committed in New York City and Washington, D.C., and in response to the growing concern about violent and drug-related crime in Virginia. Since the program's creation in 1993, FITF has investigated 1,215 firearms violations, made 431 arrests, obtained 129 convictions (with many still pending in Federal court), seized 397 firearms, coordinated 333 firearms traces, provided assistance to the Virginia Department of State Police and to other State and local agencies, and gathered valuable intelligence on inter/intrastate illegal firearms violations. West Virginia: In South Charleston, the West Virginia State Police continued the operations of the Firearms Violations Task Force in response to a significant rise in violent crime and illegal firearms trafficking in West Virginia. A comparison between the first and second years of project activity revealed a 70 percent increase in intelligence reports, an 84 percent increase in dealer contacts, a 43 percent increase in firearms seized or confiscated, and a 75 percent increase in persons arrested. In addition to BJA's law enforcement efforts to prevent firearms-related violence, the agency also focuses its resources on controlling and preventing illegal drug activity. Through the Byrne Formula Program, BJA's drug enforcement initiatives contributed to the seizure of 379 tons of cocaine and 3,650 tons of marijuana. For every dollar of these funds invested in fighting drug trafficking, more than $730 in illegal drugs has been seized before reaching America's neighborhoods. BJA's law enforcement initiatives consistently demonstrate successful results because BJA collaborates with a wide range of Federal, State, and local agencies and national law enforcement constituent organizations. Because crime fighting is a team effort, BJA continues to work with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Police Executive Research Forum, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the FBI, and local and State law enforcement agencies. In FY 1996 BJA provided direct technical assistance and training to more than 220 jurisdictions throughout the country. Byrne Formula Grants fund all 56 States and U.S. Territories, with more than 950 interdiction projects and task forces. These activities are essential to crime reduction. In Arlington, Virginia, for example, the Metropolitan Area Drug Enforcement Task Force was earmarked $2 million to continue the successful operations of local law enforcement agencies investigating illegal drug trafficking. During the first half of 1996, 76 investigations were initiated and 86 case investigations were closed; 57 search warrants were executed, resulting in 218 drug arrests and the seizure of firearms; 31 felony and 53 misdemeanor convictions were made following drug arrests; and 36 informants were deactivated while 23 new informants were developed. Throughout FY 1996, BJA continued to fund effective law enforcement programs while creating new approaches to combating crime. The Comprehensive Homicide Initiative is a crucial new initiative designed to combat homicide and increase homicide clearance rates through innovative and comprehensive strategies that can be replicated in other jurisdictions. The cities of Richmond, Virginia, and Richmond, California, each received funding to focus prevention activities on the 39 broad homicide-reduction strategies of the IACP Murder Summit Report. The strategies target the underlying causes of homicide such as gang violence, domestic violence, violence associated with drug activity, and the availability of illegal firearms. The goal is to develop a comprehensive plan to improve the prevention, intervention, enforcement, and prosecution of homicide cases that can be replicated in other jurisdictions. The initiative brings together public agencies and private organizations as well as municipal, county, State, and Federal agencies. The violence prevention efforts of Richmond, California show how maximizing Federal funding can promote successful results. Richmond was granted $350,000 to hire more police officers, implement community-oriented policing, establish police substations in high crime areas, use more powerful computers and software, and work with the FBI and DEA to target violent drug offenders. Among the results are a 50 percent decrease in Richmond's homicide rate since 1995, a dramatic reduction in homicides in the city's Iron Triangle area (from 21 in 1995 to 8 in 1996), a decrease in homicide suspects between the ages of 15 to 24 (from 37 in 1993 to 12 in 1995), and a reduction in measurable violent crime (from 51 to 35 percent). The Richmond, California, Police Department also convened a Community Collaborative Violence Reduction Summit on June 17, 1996, to discuss housing issues, youth violence, substance abuse, and jobs and economic opportunities. Among the summit's youth-oriented results are an elementary school mentoring program, a youth job-training program, a probation-officer-on-campus program, a youth court in which minor offenses by youth are judged by their peers, a Just for Kids after-school program, and a youth citizens' police academy and explorer program. BJA continues to focus its crime control initiatives on children. Although overall crime in the United States has decreased recently, murders committed by juveniles have increased by 145 percent during the past 10 years. In FY 1996, BJA provided the Portland, Oregon, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, District Attorney's offices with $200,000 and $150,000, respectively, to continue the Gang Organized Crime Narcotics Violence Enforcement Project. Since the program's inception, 41 gang members in Portland have been referred for prosecution, and more than $10,000 in weapons and drugs have been seized. In Albuquerque, 92 gang members have been arrested, and 89 have been referred for prosecution. Another innovative criminal justice program developed for children is BJA's Children of Arrestees: Model Procedures for Law Enforcement. BJA developed this program to address a gap in the criminal justice process. Currently there is no national, standard operating procedure for dealing with children who are left behind when the responsible parent or guardian is arrested. BJA is working with local police and social service agencies to develop formal procedures that will limit the impact of an arrest on the children who are left behind. Crime and violence in America is not one- dimensional, and the initiatives used to combat crime and violence must be broad-based and innovative. BJA has been in the forefront in developing and implementing comprehensive, multi- jurisdictional crime control initiatives. BJA will continue to evaluate programs for their potential and implement effective, comprehensive law enforcement initiatives in the coming years. ------------------------------ "Community policing is an integral part of achieving the goals of combating crime and improving the quality of life in the nation's cities, towns, and rural areas." Joseph E. Brann, Director, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services ------------------------------ FY 1996 RETURN ON THE INVESTMENT OF BJA BYRNE FORMULA FUNDS o More than 216,500 offenders have been arrested. o More than 114,300 firearms and dangerous weapons have been seized. o Drug-related currency seized totaled $87 million. o Drug-related currency and assets forfeited totaled $318 million. o Cocaine seized was reported to be 379 tons worth $8 billion. o Marijuana seized was reported to be 3,650 tons worth $55 billion. o Marijuana plants destroyed totaled $285 million. o Methamphetamine seized was reported to be worth $425 million. For every dollar of BJA Byrne Formula Program funds invested in fighting drug trafficking, more than $730 in illegal drugs has been prevented from reaching America's neighborhoods. ------------------------------ Improving the Effectiveness and Efficiency of the Criminal Justice System Americans are calling for an effective and efficient criminal justice system. In FY 1996, BJA answered that call through the development and demonstration of innovative programs that support a comprehensive community justice system. The mission of BJA's Adjudication Branch is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of all aspects of the adjudication process--the courts, prosecution, and defense--through the creation of partnerships involving every component of the criminal justice system. BJA-funded initiatives focus on community justice, including a collaborative effort with the Red Hook Community Justice Center in Brooklyn, New York, and the Community Justice Assistance Center in New York City to establish community justice assistance centers nationwide. Other major areas of program activity are enhancing the operation of courts, ensuring access to justice, developing pretrial and post-conviction programs, and training State and local judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys. A key component of community justice is neighborhood-based community prosecution. Like community policing, the goal is to solve public safety problems as defined by the community. Many prosecutors are beginning to rethink their roles and focus on preventing crime and creating safer neighborhoods. These prosecutors recognize that criminal procedures alone do little to break the cycle of violence and that criminal activity can be reduced when neighborhoods are improved. Prosecutors are engaging in drug education in schools, coordinating projects to develop alternative activities for juveniles, and applying civil sanctions and city statutes to rid communities of crack houses. In most jurisdictions, community prosecution is still experimental, but the few jurisdictions that have taken the time to recognize the benefits of this approach are faring well. In Portland, Oregon, community prosecution was first implemented in the early 1990s and today it benefits many communities. Similar successes have been reported by jurisdictions throughout the country, ranging from suburban and rural areas such as Howard County, Maryland, to mid-size and large urban cities such as Kings County (Brooklyn, New York), Marion County (Indiana), and Middlesex County (Massachusetts). In Austin, Texas, the city's community justice program had produced dramatic results: o A 19 percent decline in Austin and Travis County's crime rate during the program's first 2 years, a more dramatic decline than reported in any other city in Texas or the United States. o The development of an infrastructure for citizen participation in criminal justice processes, including a training course for citizens on criminal justice issues. o Sponsorship of a series of community forums to hear citizens' concerns about neighborhood crime. The forums spawned the development and implementation of a neighborhood cleanup program using adult and juvenile probationers in partnership with community groups. o A successful campaign to amend legislation that mandates the addition of a victims' rights advocate to community justice task forces across the State. The nucleus of the community justice system is the court. To improve the court system, BJA is experimenting with several innovative programs, including the Delay Reduction Program in Delaware, which reduces case processing delays by using quasi-judicial personnel to substitute for trial judges at noncritical court-required events. BJA also funded the creation of a mandatory, 1-day pre- adjudicatory Juvenile Weapons Court for juveniles arrested on weapons-related offenses. Another crucial program is the Models of Effective Court-Based Service Delivery to Children. A number of court cases involve multiple family problems such as child abuse and neglect and domestic violence. The program's goal is to improve collaboration among State trial, juvenile, and family courts and among public health, mental health, and social services to address multiple family problems in a comprehensive way. In FY 1996, BJA also provided funding to continue effective court-based programs. The Prosecutor's Pre-Charging Diversion Program in Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded $25,000 to continue to provide youthful offenders with an option to formal adjudication in juvenile court. The program lowered the recidivism rate of youthful offenders, resulting in a reduction in crimes committed and in the number of juvenile court cases in the juvenile justice system. BJA also began a new initiative, the Health Care Fraud Prosecution Program, to address one of the biggest problems plaguing America and America's courtrooms. The General Accounting Office estimates that the health care industry consumes $1 trillion of the Nation's budget and about 10 percent--$100 billion--is lost to fraud, waste, and abuse. Most health care industry fraud occurs at the State level. Through the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), the Health Care Fraud Prosecution Program provides training and technical assistance to State attorneys general and to local prosecutors on investigating and prosecuting health care fraud. NAAG also provides direct technical assistance to the health care fraud units of Maryland, Minnesota, and Wisconsin to develop model strategies and techniques. In addition to implementing innovative pilot programs in FY 1996, BJA also continued funding formal research and in-depth analysis on improving criminal justice services, eliminating racial bias, improving the effectiveness of sentencing guidelines and mandatory minimums, and improving the interaction between State and tribal courts. ------------------------------ "Integral to the system's effectiveness is a strong, community-wide network consisting of law enforcement, prosecutors, the courts, corrections officials, health and mental health providers, the religious community, schools, legislative bodies, and the private sector, among others." Aileen Adams, Director, Office for Victims of Crime ------------------------------ WORKING TOGETHER TO CREATE A COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNITY JUSTICE SYSTEM BJA is assisting in the development of the Community Justice Assistance Center to help courts and communities throughout the Nation close the gaps between them. Organizations such as the American Prosecutors Research Institute, the National Center for State Courts, the National Institute of Corrections, the National Legal Aid Defender Association, and the Center for Effective Public Policy serve as partners in a consortium of technical assistance providers whose efforts will be coordinated through New York's Midtown Community Court. Plans for the center include mediation, job training, victim assistance, legal education, and youth development, as well as an extensive range of on-site services such as drug treatment, health care, and domestic violence counseling. ------------------------------ Changing the Course of Corrections The BJA has been a leader in funding corrections research and program development for several years. During the past 5 years, BJA has effectively changed the course of corrections by forging a multidimensional approach in American corrections that includes alternative sanctions and treatment for offenders, putting prisoners to work, and helping them make the transition from incarceration to the community. In 1996, the total correctional population in the United States reached almost 1.6 million--an increase of 4.4 percent from 1995. Since 1985, America's prison population has more than doubled, costing Americans more than $30 billion a year. Accordingly, BJA has invested considerable resources in researching, developing, and implementing effective and safe incarceration alternatives. In 1990 the Crime Control Act provided BJA with the authority to establish the Correctional Options Demonstration Program, a comprehensive program to help State and local governments respond to the pervasive problems of prison and jail overcrowding and the high recidivism rate of youthful offenders incarcerated in traditional correctional facilities. Since FY 1992, BJA has provided financial and technical assistance to State and local governments and to private, nonprofit organizations to support the planning, development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of demonstration projects that test a broad range of alternatives to traditional modes of incarceration. These projects assist offenders in pursuing a lawful and productive transition to the community following release by providing security, discipline, and comprehensive services, including diagnosis, counseling, substance abuse treatment, education, job training, and placement assistance while under correctional supervision. The projects also link services in the community with work opportunities to promote the development of offenders' skills. All BJA correctional options demonstration projects have four basic goals: reducing incarceration costs, relieving prison and jail crowding, reducing recidivism rates for youthful offenders, and advancing correctional practices. One project that meets these four goals is the Mobile Diversionary Drug Treatment Program. BJA awarded the Alabama Department of Corrections $370,000 to create the program, which offers offenders immediate treatment for their addiction. The 12-month, three-phase drug court includes a community track of intensive outpatient treatment for drug offenders and an institutional track for more recalcitrant drug offenders. Since the program's inception in FY 1993, more than 595 potential participants have been interviewed, 305 offenders have entered the diversion program, and more than 100 participants have graduated. In FY 1996, BJA convened a focus group with representatives from successful State and local correctional options projects to obtain their insights on the further development of the Correctional Options Demonstration Program. As a result of that meeting, BJA formed the National Technical Assistance and Dissemination Initiative for Correctional Options to encourage States to support new correctional options projects with Byrne Formula Grants and to use these Byrne Formula funds to leverage additional funding sources. BJA also funded impact evaluations of corrections options demonstration sites to identify model projects for other communities to emulate. Findings from the evaluations indicate that offenders who are admitted to these programs pose considerable challenges to treatment efforts because of their youth, lack of education, poor job skills, low rates of employment, lack of social stability, history of drug abuse, and extensive record of prior arrests and convictions. However, these projects are successful in delivering badly needed services to a high-risk offender population and offering far more services and supervision than normally provided. Florida, Maryland, New Hampshire, and Vermont have succeeded in reaching their goal of cost effectiveness by targeting offenders who otherwise would have spent a considerable amount of time in custody. The second part of BJA's corrections agenda provides a work and job skills ethic to offenders who are not given the opportunity to participate in an alternative corrections program. BJA supports the Prison Industries Enhancement (PIE) Program, which encourages joint ventures between private industries and State prisons to make goods and services using inmate labor. To date, the program has generated $6,111,453 in taxes and $10,458,796 to offset incarceration costs. Another $3,449,218 has been generated for family support and $3,644,557 for victims of inmate crimes. The third and perhaps most important part of the corrections process is transitioning the offender from incarceration to the community. Because 90 percent of offenders someday will be released and return to the community, a great deal of research and program development is needed at this stage. In FY 1996, BJA provided more than $1 million in funding to various sites to reduce recidivism and achieve a positive reintegration into the community. One such project is the innovative Opportunity to Succeed (OPTS) program, which was created to help addicted ex-offenders break this cycle of recidivism and become contributing members of their communities. This multiline demonstration project provides a unique blend of intensive services for addicted ex-offenders by building on the drug treatment they received while incarcerated. The theory behind OPTS is that ex-offenders who have reduced their drug use through treatment are more likely to turn their lives around if given a coherent plan of aftercare drug treatment and other support, particularly employment and training, health and mental health services, drug-free housing, and parenting and family skills training. A second transition project funded by BJA assists former offenders as they reintegrate into free society by combining substance abuse treatment and family counseling, GED education and academic enhancement, training in conflict resolution and relationship skills, and job training and placement. ------------------------------ MARYLAND An impact evaluation of Maryland's Correctional Options Program for youthful offenders, conducted by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, found that the program successfully reduced time spent in prison for its participants by about 4 months, delivered a diverse array of intense services, and achieved considerable cost savings without jeopardizing public safety. ------------------------------ VERMONT Vermont's Correctional Options Program sought to redistribute the State's correctional populations by broadening its sentencing options and addressing offender needs and risk factors. Since the program began in 1993, Vermont's prison admissions and court dispositions to prison have declined substantially, especially for non-violent offenders. These decreases were absorbed by sentences to less-expensive, treatment-oriented community supervision programs. Vermont's prison is now highly concentrated with violent offenders who pose the greatest risk to public safety. ------------------------------ Special Programs In addition to the Byrne Formula Grant Program and the Byrne Discretionary Program, BJA also funds projects through its Special Programs Division. Grants from the Special Programs Division address specific, large-scale problems such as natural disasters, motor vehicle thefts, Federal emergencies, church arson, denial of Federal benefits, and public safety officer deaths. Most Americans place a priceless value on the lives and contributions of public safety officers who serve their communities in potentially dangerous circumstances and want the courage and selflessness shown by these officers to be recognized. As a society, America wants to take care of these professionals. BJA is doing its part through the Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) Program. The mission of PSOB is to assist public safety officers, their agencies, and their families before, during, and after a tragedy occurs. The PSOB Program is designed to compensate spouses and children or parents of public safety officers killed or disabled in the line of duty. Since the program's inception in 1977, 4,000 families have received approximately $300 million in financial assistance. In FY 1996, PSOB increased its case closures by 30 percent from the previous year. A total of 184 claims were approved in 1996, providing $24.2 million in financial assistance to the families of public safety officers killed in the line of duty. In addition to financial support, the program provides moral support and, when necessary, referrals to organizations such as Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS), which provide crisis intervention and long-term support for surviving family members and coworkers of deceased public safety officers. In FY 1996, BJA provided $300,000 to COPS to support crisis intervention and grief counseling and to provide regional training for law enforcement representatives on line-of-duty deaths. Because of the tragic circumstances surrounding the PSOB Program, BJA staff receive training on helping individuals suffering from grief, critical incident stress, and post-traumatic stress disorder with sensitivity and professionalism. BJA also provides funds for the Emergency Federal Law Enforcement Assistance (EFLEA) Program, which authorizes the Attorney General to provide funds, equipment, training, intelligence information, and personnel to help alleviate emergency situations. EFLEA addresses extraordinary circumstances in which State and local resources have been completely exhausted or are inadequate to deal with a law enforcement emergency. Although no applications were received during 1996, EFLEA awards have assisted in a number of law enforcement emergencies in the past, including the Branch Davidian standoff in Waco, Texas, the San Francisco earthquake in December 1989, Hurricane Hugo, and the Los Angeles riots in May 1992. Another special program implemented in 1996 was prompted by the alarming string of church arson incidents in several southern States. President Clinton announced the new initiative, called the Church Arson Prevention Grant Program in July 1996 and made $6 million available to county governments in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Oklahoma, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Because of the urgent need to prevent further arson, BJA created and started this new program, disseminated grant applications, and distributed awards in less than 3 months. In only 2 weeks, BJA processed and distributed more than $2.7 million to 587 county governments. In addition to providing funds to prevent church arson, BJA also formed a partnership with Community Research Associates, Inc., the National Sheriffs' Association, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to create a multifaceted training and technical assistance program that will enhance the capacity of States and their local jurisdictions to develop community-based strategies to prevent church arson. The Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Act (MVTPA) of 1994 authorizes the Attorney General to develop, in cooperation with the States, the Watch Your Car Program, a national voluntary motor vehicle theft prevention program. A cooperative initiative among the States, local governments, and BJA, the program is designed to reduce the 1.5 million motor vehicle thefts each year in the United States. It allows an owner of a motor vehicle to display a decal on the vehicle to alert police that the vehicle is not normally driven between the hours of 1 and 5 a.m. Motorists also may choose to display another decal to signify that the vehicle is not normally driven across or in the proximity of international land borders or ports. BJA also manages two important clearinghouses through the Special Program Division: the Denial of Federal Benefits Program Clearinghouse and the Defense Procurement Fraud Debarment Clearinghouse. The Denial of Federal Benefits Program provides Federal and State courts with the ability to deny all or selected Federal benefits to individuals convicted of drug trafficking or drug possession. The sanction helps ensure that individuals found guilty of violating the Controlled Substances Act forfeit their claims to most taxpayer-supported economic benefits, such as Federal loans and licenses, and to other privileges. The Defense Procurement Fraud Clearinghouse establishes a single point of contact for contractors or subcontractors of the U.S. Department of Defense to confirm promptly whether potential employees have been convicted of defense contract-related fraud or another felony. These combined programs have processed more than 3,500 cases related to drug trafficking, drug possession, and defense fraud debarment. In FY 1996, BJA supported three additional special initiatives that are managed separately because they are such large, broad-based programs. The first program, the Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) Program, is part of BJA's collaborative law enforcement efforts. The RISS Program supports Federal, State, and local law enforcement efforts to combat criminal activity that extend across jurisdictional boundaries. Six regional RISS projects provide a broad range of intelligence exchange and related investigative support services to member criminal investigative agencies nationwide. The projects focus primarily on narcotics trafficking, violent crime, criminal gang activity, and organized crime. In FY 1996, the RISS Program completed electronic connectivity among all projects, as well as among other systems, to better facilitate the collection, dissemination, and analysis of criminal intelligence. Also in FY 1996, the RISS projects worked with the National Major Gang Task Force to encourage the sharing and dissemination of gang intelligence information between the law enforcement and corrections communities. The second program is the National White Collar Crime Center. In addition to drug trafficking and organized crime interdictions, BJA focuses its law enforcement efforts on economic crimes. The National White Collar Crime Center provides a national support system for the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of multijurisdictional economic crimes such as investment fraud, telemarketing fraud, boiler room operations, securities fraud, commodities fraud, and advanced-fee loan schemes. The Center's mission is to provide investigative support services to agencies fighting this crime, operate a national training and research institute focusing on economic crime issues, and develop the Center as a national resource in combating economic crime. Finally, BJA supported the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) in 1996. Under SCAAP, BJA provides Federal funds to States and localities to help pay the costs of incarcerating criminal aliens who are in the United States illegally and who have been convicted and sentenced for felony offenses. In 1995, SCAAP's first year, only States were eligible for funding, and BJA awarded $128.7 million to 44 States and the District of Columbia as partial reimbursement for the costs of incarcerating more than 37,000 criminal aliens. In FY 1996, both States and local governments received reimbursement totaling $500 million, less administrative costs. ------------------------------ "This is a test not just for law enforcement, but for all law-abiding Americans. With this step [the Church Arson Program], the national government will be helping local police not only to investigate arson and apprehend the guilty, but to help physically protect churches from harm in the first place." President Bill Clinton, July 2, 1996 ------------------------------ "The Church Arson Prevention Program has pulled everyone--church leaders, pastors, firefighters, law enforcement, and citizens--together. Now, the community has branched out beyond the Church Watch Program and reported any and all suspicious behavior, preventing crime before it happens." Major Joseph S. Momier, Jr., Catawba County, North Carolina, Sheriff's Office ------------------------------ Investing in State and Local Jurisdictions The Bureau of Justice Assistance invests significantly in local communities and community partnerships that support the development of comprehensive systems of community justice. BJA acknowledges that State and local jurisdictions are essential to reducing crime. In FY 1996, BJA administered the Local Law Enforcement Block Grants (LLEBG) Program, which helps State and local jurisdictions control crime and improve public safety strategies. In FY 1996, BJA distributed LLEBG grants using a formula based on Uniform Crime Report data on violent crime covering the past 3 years. BJA made direct awards to units of local governments that qualified for $10,000 or more. The largest grants went to New York City ($33,015,183) and Chicago ($18,351,721). Jurisdictions that did not receive direct awards were eligible to receive funds or increased services from their State, which received a base amount in addition to the funds allocated for jurisdictions that did not qualify for at least $10,000. Local jurisdictions used their grants for any of the following initiatives: o Hiring, training, and employing additional law enforcement officers and necessary support personnel. o Enhancing security measures in and around schools or other special risk areas for crime incidents. o Establishing or supporting drug courts. o Enhancing the adjudication of cases involving violent offenders. o Establishing a multijurisdictional task force, particularly in rural areas. o Establishing cooperative crime prevention programs. o Defraying the cost of indemnification insurance for law enforcement officers. BJA distributed more than $400 million in FY 1996 to almost 3,000 local jurisdictions and 56 States, U.S. Territories, and the District of Columbia in only 6 months. To process the unusually large number of applications, BJA created the Automated Application and Award Process. For the first time, BJA allowed jurisdictions to submit their one-page applications via modem or on diskette. All applications, even those submitted on paper, were scanned and stored electronically, significantly reducing paperwork during the review and award process. In addition to the day-to-day program assistance available to grant recipients, LLEBG Division staff are currently developing a long-term technical assistance plan. The LLEBG Program would like to provide grantees with technical assistance for equipment procurement, establish peer-to-peer technical assistance in conjunction with the Drug Courts Program Office, replicate the Automated Application and Award System at State levels, and establish automated grant monitoring procedures and standards to increase efficiency. The LLEBG Division will work with State administrative agencies and direct grantees to provide information necessary for facilitating systemwide planning and ongoing criminal justice efforts. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is in the process of selecting an organization to conduct a formal evaluation of the program. The evaluation design, a joint effort of NIJ and BJA, will analyze the use of funds by units of local and State governments, the decisionmaking models used by jurisdictions to allocate funds, selected process evaluations of local programs, and the methods used by BJA to allocate and distribute funds. ------------------------------ "Delinquency prevention will work in the long run, but real change will take time. We have already made significant progress toward the establishment of a comprehensive, nationwide approach to delinquency prevention--one that puts control of resources and decisions at the local level." Shay Bilchik, Administrator, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention ------------------------------ THE BUREAU OF JUSTICE ASSISTANCE: GAINING EFFICIENCY THROUGH TECHNOLOGY The LLEBG Program was authorized by the FY 1996 Omnibus Appropriations Act passed in late April 1996. In a fiscal year shortened by Government shutdowns, BJA managed to design, staff, and organize the LLEBG Program and disbursed all grants in just 6 months. To process the unusually large number of applications BJA received, the Bureau reinvented its grant award process. For the first time, BJA automated its application and award process, significantly reducing paperwork and increasing productivity for the grant monitoring process. ------------------------------ Technical Assistance and Evaluation: Creating a Model Criminal Justice System In FY 1996, BJA focused its efforts on continued research, evaluation, and training in all program areas. BJA funds a tremendous amount of research on what works in the criminal justice system, and evaluates programs to determine how they can be improved. The goal of BJA's evaluation component is to identify programs of proven effectiveness and to disseminate information about them so that they can be replicated in other jurisdictions. Results of BJA program evaluations guide the formulation of policy and programs with Federal, State, and local criminal justice agencies. Because applicants for Byrne Formula and Discretionary Grant Program funds are required to provide evaluations and assessments of their programs, BJA created the State and Local Evaluation Development Program to help build an evaluation capacity in each Byrne-funded locality. This supplemental technical assistance component will facilitate program and project evaluations, resulting in the implementation of more effective projects in all 56 States and U.S. Territories. In FY 1996, BJA funded Community Research Associates (CRA) and the Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA) to plan and organize the trainings, conferences, and workshops, and to distribute information in all BJA-funded localities. The State and Local Evaluation Program focuses on enhancing State and local criminal justice program evaluation capacities. The project provides a forum for sharing information on developing effective monitoring, reporting, and evaluation systems. In addition to funding these research organizations, BJA also invests heavily in hiring practitioners to respond to Byrne Program requests for evaluation assistance. BJA combines this broad-based technical assistance with project-specific support. BJA's State and Local Training and Technical Assistance Program provides training and technical assistance to States, units of local government, and recognized Native American tribes for developing and implementing comprehensive systemwide strategies to prevent and combat drug-related and violent crime and to improve the functioning of State and local criminal justice systems. Training projects funded in FY 1996 are described below. The Interstate Firearms Trafficking Compact, a BJA- funded, "train-the-trainers" program, provides training in 14 states and the District of Columbia. The program provides police trainers with a curriculum to train local law enforcement officers about the benefits and techniques involved in conducting firearms traces. National Funding Collaborative on Violence Prevention provides funding (in partnership with foundations and corporations), training, and technical assistance to reduce crime and violence in 12 public housing sites and nearby areas. A $275,000 grant was awarded to the Institute for Intergovernmental Research to continue conducting specialized training (including anti-terrorism training) of law enforcement agencies, with particular emphasis on multi-agency coordination, in the areas of threat identification, vulnerability assessment, preparation, response and recovery operations, and investigation. The Rural Law Enforcement Agency Resource Development program provides technical assistance and training to rural law enforcement agencies that serve a population of less than 25,000 people. In one year, more than 4,000 inquiries were received via the Internet from law enforcement agencies seeking assistance and more than 250 rural agencies were brought online. More than 700 hours of technical assistance were provided via the Internet, and onsite training was provided to sheriffs, police departments, and local prosecutors. The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) trains local law enforcement officers, in conjunction with the INS, to detect criminal activity by illegal aliens, recognize fraudulent documents and smuggling methods, and identify alien organized crime groups. In FY 1996, IACP and the INS trained nearly 300 officers from 91 law enforcement agencies. Since the program's first sessions in May 1991, more than 1,300 officers nationwide have been trained, and a 750-page reference manual has been produced. The Crime and Justice Research Institute provides the technical assistance to facilitate the planning, implementation, and evaluation of BJA- funded Comprehensive Homicide Initiatives. The Tribal Courts Program was funded to improve the interrelations of State, tribal, and Federal courts, and to help tribal courts create an effective and efficient justice system in their jurisdiction. CRA provides nationwide training and technical assistance in support of national drug control and violent crime prevention efforts by improving State and local violence prevention, intervention, community empowerment, drug enforcement, and criminal justice systems. The Community-Focused Courts Initiative strengthens court and community relations by identifying and studying models of collaboration between the courts and the public. To increase cooperation, in 1996 the National Center for State Courts convened a meeting with representatives of Federal agencies and private foundations. The Community Justice Assistance Center provides technical assistance to courts and communities throughout the Nation seeking to establish community justice centers. The American Prosecutors Research Institute provides training and technical assistance to local prosecutors for planning and implementing community prosecution programs. In 1996, two regional community prosecution technical assistance workshops were held to train prosecutors from 20 sites in the strategic and implementation of community prosecution programs. The SEARCH National Training and Technical Assistance Program (NTTAP), created in 1986, offers assistance to criminal justice agencies across the country in various areas. NTTAP helps agencies to improve the general level of knowledge and understanding of criminal justice information management, improve information management through the use of computer technology among local and State justice agencies, and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of State and local justice practitioners by developing technical resources and demonstrating the operational benefits of technology. BJA also funds project-specific assessments and technological advancements: The Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement was awarded a grant for more than $45,000 to test the validity of a study designed to determine whether Nebraska is using crime victim assistance funds efficiently and effectively. Once the Victim Services Needs Assessment Instrument has been tested and finalized, it will be made available to other States. The Prison Gang Intelligence System continues to counter criminal activity by organized gangs in State and Federal penitentiaries and their control over the criminal activity of street gangs. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation continued the Statewide Intelligence System Sharing Program to develop a high-speed database and computer network to exchange intelligence information on multijurisdictional illegal drug trafficking and violent criminal organizations. In addition, the Statewide Intelligence Sharing System Program is being developed in Connecticut, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. The Model Clandestine Drug Laboratory Enforcement Program helps State and local officials develop policies and procedures related to the use of hazardous chemicals in manufacturing illegal drugs. In FY 1996, 9 training programs reached 450 policymakers from 98 Federal, State, and local public safety agencies across the country. The Model Internet Systems for State and Local Criminal Justice Agencies program helps State and local criminal justice agencies access the Internet and electronically share and publish criminal justice data and information. ------------------------------ "These data are critical to Federal, State, and local policymakers in combating crime and ensuring that justice is both efficient and even handed." Jan Chaiken, Director, Bureau of Justice Statistics ------------------------------ Appendix ------------------------------ BJA Legislative Purpose Areas The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 established 21 purpose areas (listed below) that define the nature and scope of programs and projects that might be funded under the Byrne Formula Grant Program (recently expanded to 26 purpose areas). These areas in toto provide substantial authorization for programs that address drug control, violent and serious crime, all aspects of criminal justice processing including incarceration and treatment of offenders, and general improvements in justice system operations. 1. Demand-reduction education programs in which law enforcement officers participate. 2. Multijurisdictional task force programs that integrate Federal, State, and local drug enforcement agencies and prosecutors for the purpose of enhancing interagency coordination and intelligence and facilitating multijurisdictional investigations. 3. Programs that target the domestic sources of controlled and illegal substances, such as precursor chemicals, diverted pharmaceuticals, clandestine laboratories, and cannabis cultivations. 4. Community and neighborhood programs that assist citizens in preventing and controlling drug abuse and drug-related crime, including special programs that address the problems of crimes against the elderly and special programs for rural jurisdictions. 5. Disrupting illicit commerce in stolen goods and property. 6. Improving the investigation and prosecution of white-collar crime, organized crime, public corruption crime, and fraud against the Federal Government, with priority attention to cases involving drug-related official corruption. 7. a. Improving the operational effectiveness of law enforcement through the use of crime analysis techniques, street sales enforcement, schoolyard violator programs, and gang-related and low-income housing drug control programs. b. Developing and implementing anti-terrorism plans for deep draft ports, international airports, and other important facilities. 8. Career criminal prosecution programs, including the development of model drug control legislation. 9. Financial investigative programs that target the identification of money laundering operations and assess funds obtained through illegal drug trafficking, including the development of proposed model legislation and financial information-sharing systems. 10. Improving the operational effectiveness of the court process by expanding prosecutorial, defender, and judicial resources and implementing court delay reduction programs. 11. Programs designed to provide additional public correctional resources and improve the corrections system, including treatment in prisons and jails, intensive supervision programs, and long-range corrections and sentencing strategies. 12. Prison industry projects designed to place inmates in a realistic working and training environment that will enable them to acquire marketable skills and make financial payments for restitution to their victims, support of their own families, and support of themselves in the institution. 13. Providing programs that identify and meet the treatment needs of adult and juvenile drug- dependent and alcohol-dependent offenders. 14. Developing and implementing programs to provide assistance to jurors and witnesses as well as assistance (other than compensation) to victims of crime. 15. a. Developing programs to improve drug control technology, such as pretrial drug testing programs; programs to provide for the identification, assessment, referral to treatment, case management, and monitoring of drug-dependent offenders; and enhancement of State and local forensics laboratories. b. Criminal justice information systems to assist law enforcement, prosecution, courts, and corrections organizations (including automated fingerprint identification systems). 16. Innovative programs that demonstrate new and different approaches to enforcement, prosecution, and adjudication of drug offenses and other serious crimes. 17. Addressing the problems of drug trafficking and illegal manufacture of controlled substances in public housing. 18. Improving the criminal and juvenile justice systems' response to domestic and family violence, including spousal abuse, child abuse, and abuse of the elderly. 19. Drug control evaluation programs that State and local units of government may use to evaluate programs and projects directed at State drug control activities. 20. Providing alternatives to prevent detention, jail, and prison for persons who pose no danger to the community. 21. Programs in which the primary goal is to strengthen urban enforcement and prosecution efforts targeted at street drug sales. 22. Programs for the prosecution of driving-while- intoxicated charges and the enforcement of other laws relating to alcohol use and the operation of motor vehicles. 23. Programs that address the need for effective bindover systems for the prosecution of violent 16- and 17-year-old juveniles in courts with jurisdiction over adults. [Certain violent crimes, including murder and felonies committed with firearms, are specified.] 24. Law enforcement and prevention programs that relate to gangs or youth at risk for involvement in gangs. 25. Developing or improving a forensic laboratory's capability to analyze DNA for identification purposes. [Funding in this area requires adherence to (or the promise to adhere to) regulations that will be developed and disseminated by the Attorney General with the assistance of the FBI and the National Institute of Justice during the next year.] 26. Programs to assist States in the litigation processing of death penalty Federal habeas corpus petitions. (Added by the Appropriations Act of 1995.) ------------------------------ BJA Documents Published October 1, 1995 - September 30, 1996 Annual Report BJA Annual Report 1995 (NCJ 161417) Document Scans for File Conversion: A Report to the Attorney General: Multijurisdictional Task Forces Use of Overtime and Related Issues FY l994 (NCJ 160936) Lengthening the Stride: Employing Peace Officers From Newly Arrived Ethnic Groups (National Criminal Prevention Council, NCJ l59738) Building and Crossing Bridges: Refugees and Law Enforcement Working Together (National Crime Prevention Council, NCJ l50047) Fact Sheets: Boys and Girls Clubs of America (FS00106) Business Alliance Program: Creating Business and Community Partnerships (FS000119) Comprehensive Gang Initiative (FS000116) Correctional Options Grant Program (FS000056) Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) (FS000039) Denial of Federal Benefits Program and Clearinghouse (FS000102) Defense Procurement Fraud Debarment Clearinghouse (FS000103) Differentiated Case Management (FS000061) Federal Surplus Real Property Transfer Program (FS000045) Financial Investigations Program (FS00012) FY 1994 Review of State Formula Grant Strategies (FS000110) Keeping Drug Activity Out of Rental Property: Establishing Landlord Training Programs (FS000117) Local Law Enforcement Block Grants Program (FS000l47) Model State Drug Statutes (FS000047) Multiagency Response to Clandestine Drug Laboratories (FS00014) National Citizens' Crime Prevention Campaign (FS000121) National Night Out: A Community-Police Partnership Program (FS000122) National White Collar Crime Center (FS000120) NCJRS Document Data Base (FS000048) NCJRS Online Services (FS000041) Organized Crime Narcotics Trafficking Enforcement Program (FS000115) Police Hiring Supplement Program (FS000111) Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program (FS000046) Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program (FS000066) Regional Information Sharing System (FS000037) SEARCH Training and Technical Assistance Program (FS000107) Training Local Law Enforcement Officers in Criminal Activities Involving Illegal Aliens (FS000109) Treatment Accountability for Safer Communities (FS000044) Trial Court Performance Standards and Measurement System (FS000059) Miscellaneous: Understanding Community Policing (reprint with covers) (NCJ 148457) (OF) Monographs: Developing A Strategy for a Multiagency Response to Clandestine Laboratories (Reprint) (NCJ 142643) (OF) Regional Seminar Series on Developing and Implementing State Anti-Stalking Codes (NCJ 156836) National Assessment of Structured Sentencing (NCJ 153853) Publications Lists: BJA Publications List-Fall 1995 (BC000189) BJA Publications List-Spring 1996 (BC000189) BJA Publications List Redesign-Summer 1996 (BC000189) **OF -- Fee for Service Product ------------------------------ This publication was supported by cooperative agreement number 97-DD-BX-0011 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice to the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. For a copy of this document online, as well as more information on BJA, check the BJA Home Page at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA