The LEAA effort is assessed, both in general and at the State level, and the history of Federal involvement in State and local crimefighting efforts is explored. The authors examine events and forces between 1960 and 1968 that were particularly important in shaping the 1968 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, and the kaleidoscope of LEAA administrative arrangements and policies that evolved during those years. The LEAA program in the States between 1968 and 1980 is scrutinized, with focus on the formal and informal administrative structures and procedures adopted by States and State planning agencies. Although the volume concludes that LEAA did not achieve all that its proponents hoped, numerous advances in criminal justice prompted by the LEAA initiative are discussed, including the development of criminal justice system personnel through education and training programs as well as the increased use of technology. Papers on the LEAA legacy within specific criminal justice components are included. More than 400 references are provided, as are approximately 12 tables and 10 figures.