The unique characteristic of the career criminal project is the usw of computerized information and specially trained staff to compile full investigations within a short time period. This results in speedier trials, stronger convictions, and longer sentences for habitual offenders. A Federal Bureau of Investigation study of persons arrested for index crimes between 1970 and 1975 showed that 65 percent of the arrestees had two or more prior arrest. Studies on the local level have produced similar resutls. Furthermore, a project conducted by the Institute for Law and Social Research from 1971 to 1975 revealed that less than 40 percnet of all persons arrested for violent property offenses were convicted and incaracerated. The Rand Corportation has been studying habitual offenders in prison and found that they were arrested for only a small percentage of all the crimes they had committed. In Washington, D.C.'s Operation Doorstop, 90 percent of the suspects prosecuted have been indicted and 94 percent of those indicted have been convicted. This program was patterned after the 1975 LEAA test projects in 22 cities which resulted in similar conviction rates for career criminals. Other cities and the State of California have initiated their own programs. Federal matching funds will assure the continuation of these projects and establish new ones in other localities. The career criminal program will be cost effective. For example, LEAA's career criminal project grants totaled $14 million over a 2-year period, or about $2,600 per conviction. This is probably a fraction of the cast of permitting recidivist felons to circumvent the criminal justice system.