Chapter 9

Enhancing Law Enforcement Initiatives

Overview

Law enforcement is the most visible of all the criminal justice system components in a community. For this reason, law enforcement has an enormous impact on how residents view the quality of life in their neighborhoods, the criminal justice system, and the law.

In the more than 30 years since the first federally sponsored review of criminal justice operations in the United States, policing in this country has changed dramatically. Beginning with efforts in the 1960s and 70s, law enforcement agencies have worked to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their operations, improve relations with the communities they serve, and ensure the professionalism of their officers and executives. Today, most law enforcement officers have received specialized training. Law enforcement agencies make concerted efforts to recruit and retain women and minority officers, and to ensure that the makeup of departments more accurately reflects that of the communities they serve. And, with the widespread adoption of community policing, law enforcement officers no longer simply react to crime. They have become problem solvers in their communities, identifying crime-related problems and developing strategies--together with residents--for preventing and responding to those problems.

Many of these changes have come about as the result of OJP funding, research, evaluations, demonstration programs, training, and other assistance. But along with this progress have come new challenges:

• Many communities have made remarkable progress in addressing crime by implementing effective community policing programs, particularly as the result of funding provided by the Justice Department's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), the Administration's premier law enforcement assistance initiative. But law enforcement needs to continue its efforts to work with other justice system components in a comprehensive, community-based strategy to address crime. Community policing's community-based, problem-solving approach needs to expand to encompass other justice system components in a new, comprehensive approach known as community justice. OJP is working to evaluate the effectiveness of community policing, refine and document effective approaches, and help expand community policing into a more comprehensive community justice strategy.
  
  
• Law enforcement must continue to improve its response to domestic violence. Most law enforcement officers today recognize domestic or family violence as the serious crime it is--one that often leads to an intergenerational cycle of violence. However, law enforcement agencies must do more to enhance their response to these crimes and ensure that every law enforcement officer is trained to respond effectively and compassionately to domestic violence incidents. OJP is working to help law enforcement agencies develop and implement policies and protocols within law enforcement agencies; provide training for law enforcement officers on the special considerations for working domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking cases; and form partnerships with victim advocacy groups and other members of the criminal justice system to ensure victim safety and perpetrator accountability. In addition to the programs described in this chapter, other OJP programs addressing this issue are described in Chapter 4.
  
  
• Law enforcement must continue to improve its response to crime victims. The way police officers approach victims, at both the initial and subsequent contacts, has a significant impact both on the well-being of victims and on their capacity to cooperate effectively in the criminal justice process. Police agencies can enhance their ability to respond effectively to victims through training, identification of community resources for victims, and incorporating victim assistance professionals or volunteer advocates into law enforcement efforts. In addition to the programs described in this chapter, other OJP victim-related programs are described in Chapter 7.
  
  
• Law enforcement needs access to sophisticated technology and other tools to do their jobs more effectively and efficiently. Making advanced technology and other resources available and affordable, especially for small or rural law enforcement agencies, continues to be a priority for OJP. For example, early NIJ research on body armor resulted in saving the lives of many law enforcement officers who purchased bullet-resistant vests that were tested and evaluated according to standards developed by NIJ. Through NIJ, OJP is working to make a wide array of advanced technology, ranging from "smart" guns to crime scene DNA testing to advanced communication and information systems available to meet the needs of law enforcement. More information on law enforcement technology is provided in Chapter 8.

• Law enforcement is presented with major challenges in dealing with juveniles-both juvenile perpetrators of crime and with juvenile victims. Law enforcement practitioners are responsible for preventing and responding to violent juvenile crime and delinquency, juvenile involvement with guns, gangs, and drugs, school violence, and young crime victims and often need specialized training in handling juvenile cases.
  
  

OJP is working with state and local police and sheriff's departments, communities, and professional associations to promote and maintain the highest level of professional competence and capabilities in meeting the challenges of our rapidly evolving society. In FY 1999, OJP is administering two major new law enforcement initiatives. The Police Corps is a college scholarship program for students who agree to work in a state or local police force for at least four years. The program was recently transferred to OJP from COPS. In addition, BJA will make the first awards under the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Act of 1998. Under this program, BJA will provide funds to enable states, units of local government, and Indian tribes to purchase bulletproof vests for law enforcement officers.

Through the programs described in this chapter and other efforts, OJP is helping law enforcement agencies find effective and efficient strategies for identifying and addressing crime-related problems in their communities, demonstrating those strategies in real situations, documenting the results, and then providing training and technical assistance to help other communities adopt effective approaches.

Continuation Programs

The following programs will be conducted by current or already designated grantees. No new applications will be solicited in FY 1999.

Washington Metropolitan Area Drug Enforcement Task Force (earmark)
Grantee: Arlington County, Virginia Police Department
FY99 Funding: $2.25 million
OJP Sponsor: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)

Project Description: The Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area Drug Enforcement Task Force will continue to provide a visible law enforcement presence through the following activities: disrupting major links between drug suppliers, distributors, and users; initiating enforcement action against property owners who knowingly allow their property to be used in the distribution of illicit drugs; developing comprehensive intelligence systems; and coordinating with appropriate agencies to control illegal firearms used by drug organizations and drug traffickers. A regional gang tracking system also will continue to be supported.

Santee-Lynches Regional Council of Governments Law Enforcement Program (earmark)
Grantee: Santee-Lynches Regional Council of Governments
FY99 Funding: $500,000
OJP Sponsor: BJA

Project Description: The Santee-Lynches multijurisdictional community-oriented policing services initiative will continue to demonstrate how nonmetropolitan units of local government, their communities, law enforcement, and various public agencies and organizations can work in a collaborative, proactive manner to significantly reduce violent crime, drug trafficking and abuse, and gang and juvenile criminal activity. The goal of this effort is to restore neighborhood safety and enhance the quality of life in the community.

National Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Program
Grantees: State agencies responsible for administering motor vehicle theft prevention efforts
FY99 Funding: $1.3 million
OJP Sponsor: BJA

Project Description: The Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Act authorizes the U.S. Attorney General to establish a national voluntary motor vehicle theft prevention program. The purpose of the program is to identify vehicles that are not routinely operated during early morning hours or near international land borders or ports, so that law enforcement officers can check a vehicle before a stolen vehicle report has been filed. Under the FY 1999 program, BJA is offering implementation grants for states that have no statewide motor vehicle theft prevention decal program in place and for states with existing statewide programs that wish to make the transition to the Watch Your Car Program. Implementation grants of up to $200,000 will be awarded. Supplemental awards of up to $50,000 for FY 1996 and 1997 recipients will be made on a case-by-case basis to raise those recipients to the new $200,000 threshold. BJA encourages innovative approaches to implementing comprehensive, unique vehicle theft prevention initiatives and will evaluate applications on the size and scope of the proposed project and how it can work in concert with other theft prevention measures. Other factors for consideration include the amount of public and private resources leveraged in the proposal.

New Programs

Funding for the following programs will be available as noted. For information about individual program solicitations or application kits, check OJP's Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov or call the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) at 1-800/851-3420.

Internet Crimes Against Children
Grantees: Competitive
FY99 funding: $5 million
OJP Sponsor: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)

Project Description: In FY 1998, OJJDP made ten awards totaling $2.4 million to state and local law enforcement jurisdictions to create multijurisdictional, multi-agency task forces to respond to Internet crimes against children (ICAC). The purpose of these task forces is to develop comprehensive, locally based responses to the problems associated with computer crimes against children. It is anticipated that these task forces will become regional sources of ICAC expertise and will provide assistance to parents, teachers, and law enforcement working on computer-facilitated sexual exploitation issues. In FY 1999, OJJDP will continue to support these task forces and, in addition, will provide funding to an additional eight jurisdictions to develop similar responses to computer facilitated child sexual exploitation offenses.

2001 World Police and Fire Games
Grantee: Community Research Associates, Inc.
FY99 Funding: To Be Determined
BJA Sponsor: BJA

Project Description: The World Police and Fire Games promote friendly competition, fellowship and international relations, while also serving to strengthen interagency cooperation and community solidarity. BJA will provide technical assistance and funding resources for administrative and program support to help provide a safe and secure environment and to facilitate a substantive agenda for the event. It is anticipated that the Games, to be hosted in Indianapolis, Indiana in the summer of 2001, will draw approximately 10,000 participants and 40,000 attendees.

Police/Probation Partnerships
Grantee: Center for Creative Alternatives
FY99 Funding: To Be Determined
OJP Sponsor: BJA

Project Description: Police and probation officers traditionally have dealt with the same criminal offenders at different points in the criminal justice process and in isolation from each other. Recent efforts to implement police/probation partnerships have yielded a synergy that has benefitted both disciplines. These partnerships are providing problem-solving tools for police, allowing probation officers to supervise their case loads more intensively, and ameliorating crime "hot spots" in the community. Where these partnerships have been implemented, cities report a reduction in crime. In FY 1999, BJA will provide resources for technical assistance in the development and support of additional police/probation partnerships.

Community Law Enforcement and Recovery (CLEAR) Program (earmark)
Grantee: City of Los Angeles
FY99 Funding: $3 million
OJP Sponsor: BJA

Project Description: The CLEAR program brings together law enforcement and other government and community agencies in a focused effort to rid neighborhoods of street violence. The project targets gang leaders and violent gang members. Core participants include the Los Angeles Police Department, the City Attorney's Office, the Mayor's Office, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office and Probation Department, the District Attorney's Office, the city council and county supervisors, and community stakeholders. Program elements include probation officers riding with police, gang information and data sharing across departments and between city and county, cross-designation of city attorneys and district attorneys, an Unsolved Homicide Investigation and Analysis Unit, gang conditions of probation, witness protection, and a Community Impact Team in which community members and law enforcement officers work together to prioritize and address local problems. The goal of the program is to suppress gang activity and create an infrastructure for reclaiming neighborhoods and restoring resident safety.

Operation Streetsweeper (earmark)
Grantee: New Hampshire State Police
FY99 Funding: $1.5 million
OJP Sponsor: BJA

Project Description: The State of New Hampshire and northern New England have seen an increase in the amount of drugs coming from the southern regions of the country. Through interdiction units, the state police has determined that most of these drugs are arriving by vehicle couriers using the interstate highway system. The increase in drug trafficking is attributed to mid-to high-level drug dealers and associates working within the state. Operation Streetsweeper will provide funding for investigative equipment, confidential expenditures, and police overtime to enable the state police to concentrate on major criminal targets that are manpower and resource intensive.

Protocols for Law Enforcement and Medical Partnerships
Grantee: Police Executive Research Forum
FY99 Funds: $100,000
OJP Sponsor: BJA

Project Description: The professional activities of law enforcement officers and medical practitioners frequently intersect. Medical practitioners treat crime victims, violent criminals, and illegal drug users and frequently witness emerging trends of strategic importance to law enforcement decision-makers, such as changing trends in substance abuse, weapons used against trauma victims, and demographic shifts in victim populations. The Police Executive Research Forum will research the areas of interrelationship between law enforcement and medical professionals and develop protocols to facilitate partnerships between the two groups.

Training, Technical Assistance, and Capacity-Building Programs

The following describes both current and new initiatives.

Police Corps
Grantee: Competitive
FY99 Funding: $30 million
OJP Sponsor: Office of the Police Corps and Law Enforcement Education (OPCLEE)

Eligibility: College students who agree to work in a state or local police force for at least four years

Project Description: The Police Corps is a college scholarship program for students who agree to work in a state or local police force for at least four years. The funds cover education expenses, including tuition, fees, books, supplies, transportation, room and board, and miscellaneous expenses. Police Corps participants are selected on a competitive basis by each state. Students must pursue an undergraduate or graduate degree and possess the necessary mental and physical capabilities and emotional characteristics to be an effective law enforcement officer, be of good character, and demonstrate sincere motivation and dedication to law enforcement and public service. Until September 13, 1999, up to 10 percent of Police Corps candidates may be persons who have had some law enforcement experience and who have demonstrated special potential and dedication to law enforcement. Participants receive up to $7,500 per academic year, with a maximum per student of $30,000. Police agencies that employ Police Corps officers will receive $10,000 per participant for each year of service, or $40,000 for each participant who fulfills the 4-year service obligation. However, police agencies whose average size has declined by more than 2 percent since January 1, 1993, or has laid off officers since that time, are ineligible for this payment. Additional information about this program is available by calling the Department of Justice Response Center at 1-800/421-6770 or on OJP's Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/opclee/.

Vest Partnership Act of 1998 Grantees: State and local units of government and federally recognized Indian tribal governments
FY99 Funding: $25 million
OJP Sponsor: BJA

Eligibility: Units of state or local government and Indian tribes that have employees who meet the definition of law enforcement officer provided in the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Act of 1998. Broadly defined, law enforcement officer includes any officer, agent, or employee of a state, unit of local government, or Indian tribe who is authorized by law or by a government agency to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, or investigation of any violation of criminal law, or who is authorized by law to supervise sentenced criminal offenders. This definition includes part-time and full-time officers serving in parole offices, pretrial services, and jails.

Project Description: BJA will award funds directly to states (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands), units of local government, and federally recognized Indian tribes for the purchase of bulletproof vests for law enforcement officers. At least half of program funds will support grants to units of local government with fewer than 100,000 residents. Recipients are required to provide at least 50 percent of the cost of each vest purchased under this program. Indian tribal governments may use other federal funds to provide this match.

Civil Disorder Initiative
Grantee: Community Research Associates, Inc.
FY99 Funding: To Be Determined
OJP Sponsor: BJA

Project Description: Since the St. Petersburg, Florida, riots of October and November, 1996, and other more recent incidents, national organizations and local jurisdictions have sought assistance to update existing contingency plans to respond to and mitigate civil disorders. To determine the need for assistance, DOJ surveyed federal, state, and local public safety and emergency management officials, state police officers standards and training directors, and national organizations. The survey found that these officials believe the majority of jurisdictions have contingency plans and training programs that are neither current nor practical. Accordingly, a Department of Justice Civil Disorder Initiative was created. BJA was tasked to develop a model response plan and model program of instruction to help state and local jurisdictions prepare for and respond to civil disorders. Upon completion of these materials, expected in late summer 1999, BJA will offer the services of technical advisers to jurisdictions seeking to utilize these materials. For more information, contact Gale Farquhar, National Program Division, BJA, at 202/514-8528 or gale@ojp.usdoj.gov.

Self-Assessment Guide for Law Enforcement Agencies On Recruitment, Hiring, Training, and Retention of Women in Policing
Grantee: National Center for Women in Policing
FY99 Funds: To Be Determined
OJP Sponsor: BJA

Project Description: The National Center for Women in Policing will develop a self-assessment guide that can be used by law enforcement executives, managers, and policy makers to identify strengths and weaknesses in their agencies' policies, procedures, and practices for recruiting, hiring, training, and retaining women police officers.

Utah State Olympic Public Safety Command: Strategic Planning for Security for the
Salt Lake Olympic Winter Games in 2002 (earmark)
Grantee: Utah Department of Public Safety
FY99 Funding: $925,000
OJP Sponsor: BJA

Project Description: This project will supplement the $2 million BJA awarded the Utah Department of Justice Safety in FY 1998 to develop and implement a public safety master plan for the XIX Winter Olympic Games and the VII Paralympic Games. The project is researching prior events, designing a security planning structure, developing a security plan, identifying and obtaining resources, and testing and refining the security plan. The project also will implement the plan during the Games and conduct a follow-up review. Throughout this process, participating local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies will be consulted to ensure that the public safety master plan is coordinated among the various agencies.

National Law Enforcement Policy Center
Grantee: International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)
FY99 Funds: To Be Determined
OJP Sponsor: BJA

Project Description: The National Law Enforcement Policy Center establishes model law enforcement policies that can be adopted by law enforcement agencies at the state and local levels and used by law enforcement leaders for guidance and decision-making. The Policy Center also provides tuition-free regional policy development training for law enforcement agencies. For further information, contact Phil Lynn, IACP, at 703/836-6767 or visit IACP's Website at www.theiacp.org.

Law Enforcement Facilities Guidelines
Grantee: International Association of Chiefs of Police
FY99 Funding: To Be Determined
OJP Sponsor: BJA

Project Description: The IACP will continue to serve as the catalyst to bring about successful collaborations among government officials, law enforcement leaders, engineers, architects, contractors, and others involved in the design of police and public safety facilities. The IACP also will develop and support new and comprehensive police facility design guidelines to address technological and philosophical advances in law enforcement.

Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement Strategic Planning Training
Grantee: Circle Solutions, Inc.
FY 99 Funds: To Be Determined
OJP Sponsor: BJA

Project Description: This continuation effort will build on previous phases to provide updated training on a wide range of clandestine laboratory enforcement and cleanup issues. While using core training staff and identifying new instructors, the project will continue to deliver training programs designed to meet the growing needs of State and local agencies in this critical area. Current training programs will be updated and modules will be expanded as needed. Project staff will place a high priority on working closely with State and local agencies in designated High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTAs) to ensure that their specific training needs are identified and addressed.

Witness Intimidation Technical Assistance and Training
Grantee: Police Executive Research Forum (PERF)
FY99 Funding: To Be Determined
OJP Sponsor: BJA

Eligibility: State and local law enforcement managers and executives

Project Description: This project focuses on the development of model strategies and policies for deterring intimidation of witnesses by criminals and their associates. The program primarily provides support to BJA-funded demonstration sites, with limited assistance to other law enforcement agencies. PERF will also continue to develop a resource document on witness intimidation, conduct field conferences with all of the BJA Witness Intimidation Demonstration sites, provide technical assistance to each demonstration site, and develop a final analytical report of the problem of criminality among protected witnesses. In addition, PERF will provide limited technical assistance to nongrant agencies. For further information, contact Clifford Karchmer, PERF, at 202/466-7820 or visit the PERF Website at www.PoliceForum.org.

Rural Crime Prevention and Prosecution Program (earmark)
Grantee: Tulare County, California District Attorney's Office
FY99 Funding: $1 million
OJP Sponsor: BJA

Project Description: This model program addresses the special needs of California's rural residents. The program conducts educational activities to encourage farmers and ranchers to register their equipment with the sheriff's office, to inform them of available security systems, and to work with the media and various grassroots organizations to publicize prevention, suppression, and prosecution actions that deter criminals.

National Summit on Law Enforcement Response To Victims of Crime
Grantee: International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)
FY99 Funding: $150,000
OJP Sponsors: Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), BJA, National Institute of Justice (NIJ), and OJJDP

Project Description: The IACP will organize and facilitate a national summit on law enforcement responses to victims of crime. The purpose of this summit is to create a set of recommendations and policy statements that will enhance justice and services for victims of crime. In coordination with OJP, IACP will develop an agenda for the summit to identify promising practices in responding to crime victims, define specific problems hindering the provision of services, and recommend solutions to these problems.

Ben Clark Publind develop educational programs through the purchase and application of simulator, computer, and communications technologies; prepare or modify existing classrooms, auditorium, and scenario training sites for the installation and use of computers and other forms of technology; improve the physical training site with modern training and evaluation equipment; and improve the existing Website outreach program with a more comprehensive and interactive site that will allow students to reserve classes and housing accommodations over the Internet.