FY 2012 | ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Assistance
U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

810 Seventh Street NW.

Washington, DC 20531

Eric H. Holder, Jr.

Attorney General

Karol V. Mason

Assistant Attorney General

Denise E. O'Donnell

Director, Bureau of Justice Assistance

Office of Justice Programs

Innovation • Partnerships • Safer Neighborhoods

www.ojp.gov

Bureau of Justice Assistance

www.bja.gov

NCJ 245762

The Office of Justice Programs (OJP), headed by Assistant Attorney General Karol V. Mason, 

provides federal leadership in developing the nation’s capacity to prevent and control 

crime, administer justice, and assist victims. OJP has six components: the Bureau of Justice 

Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of 

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; the Office for Victims of Crime; and the Office 

of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking. More 

information about OJP can be found at www.ojp.gov.
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • i

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 Fiscal Year 

2012.

This report also includes information pursuant to:

■ Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-351, Section 522(b) [42 U.S.C. 3766b(b)]), addressing grants made 

under the Edward Byrne Memorial Grant Program.

■ Second Chance Act of 2007: Community Safety Through Recidivism Prevention (Public Law 110-199, Section 5 [42 U.S.C. 17503]).

■ Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-322 [42 U.S.C. 3796ff et seq.]), addressing the Residential 

Substance Abuse Treatment for State Prisoners (RSAT) Formula Grant Program.

Respectfully submitted,

Denise E. O’Donnell

Director

Bureau of Justice Assistance

July 2014

FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • iii

Message From the Director

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), a component of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, was created 

in 1984 to strengthen the nation’s criminal justice system through leadership and services in grant administration and policy 

development. For 30 years, BJA has been a national leader in developing policy, programs, and sound grant management that 

support America’s state, local, and tribal strategies to prevent crime, reduce recidivism, and promote a fair and safe criminal justice 

system. 

BJA focuses its program and policy efforts on leveraging grant funding, training and technical assistance (TTA), partnerships, and diverse 

local and national resources to address chronic and emerging criminal justice challenges nationwide. To accomplish its mission, BJA 

provides innovative, evidence-based, and results-driven criminal justice policy; nurtures longstanding and productive partnerships within 

the field; promotes accountability among partners; and encourages local control of programs.

This Report to Congress highlights key resources that BJA provided to the field in fiscal year (FY) 2012, demonstrating the many examples 

of how these resources enabled our stakeholders to work with partners and communities to build exciting, worthwhile projects tailored 

to their local needs and conditions. Some of the most successful initiatives described in this report sprang from good ideas that were 

generated in the field. 

Officer safety continues to be a primary focus for BJA. BJA’s VALOR (Preventing Violence Against Law Enforcement and Ensuring Officer 

Resiliency and Survivability) program is a national officer safety initiative that provides evidence-based TTA to help prevent violence 

against law enforcement officers and ensure their resilience and survivability following violent encounters. VALOR training is based on 

research and lessons learned from past incidents. As part of the VALOR initiative, BJA’s Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response 

Training (ALERRT) supports the increased demand for active shooter response training. BJA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have 

partnered to develop and offer ALERRT free of charge to state and local law enforcement throughout the nation. 

BJA’s Justice Reinvestment Initiative is a data-driven approach to improving public safety by reducing corrections and related criminal 

justice spending and reinvesting the savings into strategies that can strengthen neighborhoods and decrease crime. To date, competitive 

awards have been made to national TTA providers that offer free, direct services to states. Thirty-five jurisdictions now participate in the 

Justice Reinvestment Initiative. 

Another important effort is our Second Chance Act (SCA) programs, which focus on reducing recidivism, incorporating evidence-based 

strategies, and evaluating the effectiveness and impact of reentry programs. SCA activities provide site-based awards, TTA, evaluation 

expertise, and other resources for high-risk returning citizens. Programs include mentoring and transitional services, technology career 

training for adults and juveniles, assisting adults and juveniles with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders, familybased adult substance abuse treatment, and research and knowledge transfer. To date, grants have been made to 500 recipients in 

48 states. 
iv • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

BJA also provided funding in support of the 2012 Republican and Democratic Conventions to the two host cities—Tampa, Florida and 

Charlotte, North Carolina. The funding addressed extraordinary law enforcement expenditures, including overtime pay, onsite analytical 

support, and technical assistance. As a result of BJA’s assistance, the two host cities were able to efficiently purchase and procure all 

the necessary equipment, provide required overtime, and fund all the extraordinary law enforcement and related security costs, which 

enabled them to ensure top security and safety for all the officials and participants at the conventions. In cooperation with the two host 

cities and its TTA provider CNA, BJA published the first After Action Report to assist law enforcement in planning for security for future 

large-scale national events, which is available at www.bja.gov/Publications/LSSE-planning-Primer.pdf. 

BJA administers the leading source of federal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions: the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice 

Assistance Grant (JAG) Program. JAG provides states, tribes, and local governments with funding to support activities in seven purpose 

areas: law enforcement; courts (prosecution, defense, and indigent defense); crime prevention and education; corrections and community 

corrections; drug treatment and enforcement; planning, evaluation, and technology improvement; and crime victim and witness initiatives. 

In FY 2012, BJA awarded 1,128 local and 56 state JAG grants totaling more than $287 million. 

As BJA Director, I am proud of the role we played in the success of these programs and the numerous other programs and initiatives that 

BJA funded in FY 2012. I applaud the many achievements of the men and women in the justice field who, with the support of BJA and 

collaborative efforts at the state and local levels, have made such a difference in their communities. I look forward to addressing future 

challenges together and sharing our success with the many partners that make it possible.

The online version of this report, available at www.bja.gov/AR, also includes links to our partners and the resources mentioned throughout 

the report as well as access to a searchable database of BJA funding by state and locality, program, and fiscal year. 

Sincerely,

Denise E. O’Donnell
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • v

Contents

Message From the Director ............................................................................................................................................................................... iii

FY 2012 At-A-Glance .......................................................................................................................................................................................... vi

FY 2012 Programs

Enhancing Law Enforcement Initiatives and Protecting and 

Supporting Victims of Crime .....................................................................................................................................................................1

Honoring America’s Public Safety Officers..............................................................................................................................................21

Supporting Innovation in Adjudication....................................................................................................................................................23

Advancing Information Sharing and Technology to Fight Crime, 

Counter Terrorism, and Protect the Homeland.......................................................................................................................................33

Supporting Corrections and Reentry ......................................................................................................................................................49

Breaking the Cycles of Mental Illness, Substance Abuse, and Crime.....................................................................................................61

Addressing Crime and Justice for American Indians and Alaska Natives ..............................................................................................67

Empowering Communities and Building Capacity..................................................................................................................................73

Performance Measurement.....................................................................................................................................................................83

Acronyms and Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................................................................91

Appendixes (online at www.bja.gov/AR)

FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • vii

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) strengthens the 

nation’s criminal justice system and helps America’s local, 

state, and tribal governments reduce and prevent crime and 

violence. 

In fiscal year (FY) 2012, BJA focused its program and policy efforts 

on providing a wide range of resources to law enforcement, 

courts, corrections, treatment, justice information sharing, and 

community-based partners to address emerging and chronic 

crime challenges nationwide. 

BJA delivers resources to state, local, and tribal communities 

and justice agencies with an emphasis on creating and sustaining 

partnerships and promoting data-driven and evidence-based 

practices and policies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness 

of the justice system. At the same time, BJA encourages 

innovation and testing of new strategies to meet the unique 

needs of the communities it serves.

In FY 2012, BJA focused on several key justice priorities facing 

America’s communities. These priorities addressed the U.S. 

Department of Justice’s (DOJ) strategic goals and objectives and 

included:

■ Improving state and local efforts to reduce and prevent violent 

crime—including gang, gun, and drug crime—through datadriven and evidence-based strategies.

■ Addressing economic and financial crime, including mortgage 

fraud and intellectual property crime.

■ Supporting state and local law enforcement in identifying and 

preventing terrorist incidents.

■ Promoting interoperability and information sharing to improve 

the ability of state and local law enforcement and justice 

agencies to share criminal intelligence while ensuring respect 

for privacy rights and civil liberties.

■ Ensuring fairness and access to justice by improving the 

capacity of America’s courts.

■ Supporting smart and effective approaches to offender reentry 

and justice reinvestment.

■ Helping improve the functioning of criminal justice systems in 

tribal communities

A brief look at a few of the many programs administered by BJA 

in FY 2012 reveals the following:

Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants provided 

more than $287 million to 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 

5 territories for local, state, and tribal justice initiatives.

VALOR (Preventing Violence Against Law Enforcement and 

Ensuring Officer Resiliency and Survivability) training, which 

helps prevent violence against law enforcement officers, was 

delivered to nearly 5,500 officers at 35 events.

Intellectual Property (IP) Enforcement Program grantees 

disrupted or dismantled more than 580 IP theft organizations and 

arrested more than 1,200 individuals suspected of committing IPrelated crimes.

The Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Office approved 195 claims 

for survivors of officers who died in the line of duty.

The Wrongful Conviction Review Program awarded more 

than $2.2 million to public and nonprofit entities that represent 

potentially wrongfully convicted individuals.

The State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training Program delivered 

109 workshops to nearly 11,000 law enforcement professionals.

Through the Global Justice Information Initiative, BJA 

developed a toolkit that showcases the initiative’s comprehensive 

recommendations and resources to help users solve their justice 

information sharing issues.

Through Second Chance Act Programs, BJA awarded $48 million 

for site-based awards, training and technical assistance, and 

evaluation.

FY 2012 At-A-Glance
viii • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

At the end of FY 2012, 35 state and local jurisdictions participated 

in BJA’s Justice Reinvestment Initiative. 

BJA awarded 50 Adult Drug Court Program grants totaling more 

than $15 million and, in a joint effort with the Substance Abuse 

and Mental Health Services Administration, awarded 10 additional 

grants totaling more than $2.8 million.

As part of DOJ’s Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation,

BJA awarded 42 grants totaling more than $26 million under the 

various purpose areas.

FY 2012 APPROPRIATIONS FOR BJA-ADMINISTERED PROGRAMS

Formula

$480,000,000 (44%)

Discretionary

$257,000,000 (24%)

Reimbursement

$274,000,000 (25%)

Payments

$78,300,000 (7%)

BJA partnered with the National Institute of Justice on two 

Demonstration Field Experiments in the areas of probation and 

post-release community supervision. 

These and other BJA efforts reflect the dedication, commitment, 

and successes of a nation of justice partners who believe that 

more can always be done to help reduce and prevent crime and 

enhance the criminal justice system.
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • ix

FY 2012 FUNDING BY BJA PROGRAM AREAS

Enhancing Law Enforcement Initiatives

and Protecting and Supporting 

Victims of Crime

39%

Honoring America’s 

Public Safety Officers

6%

Supporting Innovation

in Adjudication

4%

Countering Terrorism and Advancing 

Information Sharing and Technology To

Fight Crime and Protect the Homeland

7%

Supporting Corrections

and Reentry

30%

Breaking the Cycles of Mental Health,

Substance Abuse, and Crime

8%

Empowering Communities

and Building Capacity

2%

Addressing Crime and Justice for

American Indians and Alaska Natives

4%

FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 1

CHAPTER 1

Enhancing Law Enforcement Initiatives and 

Protecting and Supporting Victims of Crime

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) supports initiatives 

that address the prevention, suppression, and subsequent 

reduction of violent crime, gang activity, and economic 

crime; and it provides resources, including training and 

technical assistance (TTA), to law enforcement agencies and the 

communities they serve. These initiatives include smart policing, 

officer safety, anti-human trafficking task forces, forensics, drug 

market intervention (DMI), mortgage fraud, intellectual property 

(IP), leadership development, and crime prevention. Further, BJA 

administers victim-centered programs that leverage support from 

partners at the state, local, and tribal levels. 

Edward Byrne Memorial Justice 

Assistance Grant Program

The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) 

Program is the leading source of federal justice funding to 

state and local jurisdictions. It provides states, tribes, and local 

governments with critical funding that is necessary to support 

a range of activities in seven purpose areas: law enforcement; 

courts (prosecution, defense, and indigent defense); crime 

prevention and education; corrections and community 

corrections; drug treatment and enforcement; planning, 

evaluation, and technology improvement; and crime victim and 

witness initiatives. JAG awards have a 4-year project period, but 

funds are distributed up front rather than on a reimbursement 

basis, allowing recipients to earn interest on their awards and 

generate additional funding for successful initiatives and future 

projects. 

The largest percentage of annual JAG funding was allocated 

for the law enforcement purpose area. More than 60 percent 

of annual JAG funding from awards made in fiscal years (FY) 

2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 was allocated for law enforcement 

personnel, initiatives, and equipment, including multijurisdictional 

drug and gang task forces, police cruisers, training, technical 

assistance, and less-than-lethal devices. 

In FY 2012, 10 percent of the funding was allocated for the court 

purpose area, including activities to support programs such as 

adult courts, family courts, and veteran courts. In addition, 9 

percent of funding was used for the planning, evaluation, and 

technology improvement purpose area, including activities for 

planning a program or conducting an evaluation to improve the 

technology used in a program. The remaining funding (19 percent) 

was used for the other program areas: corrections and community 

corrections, crime prevention and education, crime victim and 

witness protection, and drug treatment and enforcement. 

BJA’s JAG Showcase (www.bja.gov/Programs/JAGsuccess.html) 

highlights statewide, local, and subgrantee JAG projects that 

have demonstrated success or have shown promise in meeting 

the program’s objectives and goals while positively affecting 

communities. Each year, new methods are being discovered 

to reduce and prevent crime, violence, and drug abuse and to 

improve the functioning of the criminal justice system. The JAG 

Showcase serves as a resource for criminal justice professionals 

who seek to stay informed about the most interesting, innovative, 

and results-oriented projects that have been funded with JAG 

money in the last several years.

In FY 2012, BJA awarded 1,128 local and 56 state applications 

for JAG funding totaling more than $287 million (approximately 

$193.8 million to states and territories and $93.6 million to local 

units of government). 
2 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

Smart Policing Initiative 

Developing data-driven solutions that are effective and 

economical—as measured by reduced crime, higher closure rates, 

and realistic cost—is of great benefit to law enforcement agencies 

in this era of budget reductions and limited staffing. The Smart 

Policing Initiative (SPI) seeks to identify those solutions. Beginning 

in 2009, law enforcement agencies have been testing solutions 

with their research partners. These research partners, generally 

from local universities, work closely with their SPI agency partner 

and help identify the issues, develop solutions, and devise an 

evaluation plan to measure their impact. 

In FY 2012, SPI sites began reporting results. These results 

included statistically significant findings such as offender-based 

programs centered on micro-hot spots that reduced violent crime 

in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; problem-solving teams that reduced 

violence in chronic hot spots in Boston, Massachusetts; place- and 

offender-based strategies that produced a 22 percent reduction 

in homicides in Los Angeles, California; place-based crime 

prevention through environmental design strategies that reduced 

thefts and calls for service at high-traffic convenience stores in 

Glendale, Arizona; and community policing that enhanced police 

legitimacy in distrustful, high-crime migrant neighborhoods in 

Palm Beach County, Florida. 

In FY 2012, BJA made grant awards totaling nearly $1.2 million to 

four new sites: the Columbia (South Carolina) Police Department, 

East Palo Alto (California) Police Department, Port St. Lucie 

(Florida) Police Department, and Rochester (New York) Police 

Department. At the end of FY 2012, 28 agencies participated 

in SPI.

More information about SPI can be found on the Smart Policing 

web site: www.smartpolicinginitiative.com.

Officer Safety

Preliminary data indicates that felonious assaults on law 

enforcement and corrections officers decreased during the 2012 

calendar year after significant increases during the previous 

2 years. As of mid-December 2012, 64 law enforcement and 

corrections officers had died after being assaulted while 

performing their jobs. Forty-seven of those officers died as a 

result of firearms-related incidents, a decrease of 13 percent over 

the same time period the previous year. 

Leading experts in officer safety recognize that, following the 

significant increases in officer deaths during the previous 2 

years, many agencies made policy changes to improve officer 

safety through additional training and increased requirements 

that officers wear protective vests. BJA provides resources and 

funding to encourage these developments. 

Bulletproof Vest Partnership

Created by the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 

1998, the Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) Program is a U.S. 

Department of Justice (DOJ) initiative designed to provide a 

critical resource to state and local law enforcement. With serious 

state and local budget constraints facing jurisdictions across 

the United States, the BVP Program continues to provide funds 

to help jurisdictions purchase bullet- and stab-resistant body 

armor for sworn law enforcement and corrections officers. In FY 

2012, BJA awarded a total of nearly $20 million to 4,180 state, 

local, and tribal jurisdictions. These funds will be used to pay for 

up to 50 percent of the cost of protective vests that meet the 

current National Institute of Justice (NIJ) body armor standards. 

During the first quarter of FY 2012, the BVP program reached a 

significant milestone—the 1 million mark for total vests purchased 

in part with BVP funds. Additionally, beginning in FY 2011, 

jurisdictions are required to have a written mandatory-wear policy 

for uniformed officers engaged in field activities to receive BVP 

funds. BJA has documented evidence that numerous agencies 

implemented mandatory body armor wear policies following the 

addition of this requirement to the BVP Program.

Program accomplishments in FY 2012 include:

■ Based on data collected and recorded by BJA staff, in FY 2012, 

vests were directly attributable to saving the lives of at least 

33 law enforcement and corrections officers in 20 states. This 

represents an increase of 13.7 percent over FY 2011.

■ At least 13 of the 33 vests that saved officers’ lives are 

confirmed to have been purchased in part with BVP funds.
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 3

More information about the BVP Program can be found at www.

ojp.gov/bvpbasi/.

VALOR—Preventing Violence Against Law 

Enforcement Officers and Ensuring Officer Resilience 

and Survivability

Preventing Violence Against Law Enforcement Officers and 

Ensuring Officer Resilience and Survivability (VALOR) is a national 

officer safety TTA initiative that is designed to help prevent 

violence against law enforcement officers and ensure officer 

resilience and survivability following violent encounters during 

the course of their duties. The initiative was created in response 

to the recent precipitous increase in ambush-style assaults that 

have taken the lives of many law enforcement officers. VALOR 

promotes officer safety and helps prevent line-of-duty injuries 

and deaths by assisting law enforcement in gaining/honing skills 

needed to prevent or survive a violent encounter; and provides 

training (in-person and online), research, publications/resources, 

and more to state, local, and tribal law enforcement in order to 

achieve greater officer safety.

VALOR activities in FY 2012 include:

■ Delivering onsite and online VALOR trainings and workshops, 

including Active Shooter Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid 

Response Trainings (ALERRT). 

■ Conducting research activities that feed into the VALOR 

trainings and materials and ensure the currency of issues and 

materials.

In FY 2012, 33 law enforcement and 

corrections officers survived deadly assaults. 

These incidents occurred in locations 

ranging from major metropolitan areas to 

rural small towns. The officers assaulted 

were equally diverse in age, gender, years 

of service, and assignment. What unites 

these incidents is that at least 33 officers are 

alive today because they were wearing a 

protective vest when the assault occurred. 

■ On August 5, 2012, as members of the Sikh 

Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin prepared for 

worship, a lone gunman began firing a .9mm 

semi-automatic pistol at those gathered, 

killing six persons and injuring four others. 

Lieutenant Brian Murphy, one of the first 

officers to arrive at the scene, was ambushed 

by the gunman as he attempted to provide 

assistance to one of the victims. Although 

Lieutenant Murphy suffered multiple gunshot 

wounds, he survived the attack because he 

was wearing a protective vest that stopped 

three bullets from entering his body and 

striking vital organs.

■ On July 27, 2012, while attempting to conduct 

a routine motor vehicle stop, Officer Matthew 

Fox of the Town of Fortville (Indiana) Police 

Department was shot and seriously injured 

when the operator of the motor vehicle 

suddenly stopped his vehicle, exited with a 

high-powered assault weapon, and fired more 

than 75 rounds in the direction of the police. 

Officer Fox was struck in the head by one 

bullet, but several other rounds struck him in 

the chest area and were stopped by the vest 

he was wearing. Officer Fox still faces a period 

of recovery, but as of October 29, 2012, he 

had returned to a light-duty assignment with 

his agency and is looking forward to returning 

to full duty in the future.

■ In Gloucester Township, New Jersey, 

during booking on charges resulting from a 

domestic violence incident on the morning on 

December 28, 2012, the subject fought with 

officers and after a violent struggle was able 

to obtain a firearm. The subject then used 

the gun to shoot three police officers who 

were in the booking area. Two of the officers 

suffered minor injuries; however, Sergeant 

James Garber was struck by multiple rounds, 

including one that struck his abdomen and 

another that struck the center chest area of 

his bullet-resistant vest. Although Sergeant 

Garber required surgery, he was discharged 

from the hospital on January 1, 2013 and 

started the new year with his family in the 

comfort of his own home—all because he was 

wearing a protective vest.

SUCCESS

STORIES: PROTECTIVE VESTS SAVE LIVES
4 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

■ Updating the Attorney General’s Officer Safety Toolkit, which 

provides information on officer safety resources available 

through the federal government.

■ Providing awareness/outreach materials and activities.

The Institute for Intergovernmental Research (IIR) is the grantee 

that administers the VALOR initiative on behalf of BJA. IIR 

partnered with Texas State University for the ALERRT sessions 

and with the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund 

for outreach and awareness.

In FY 2012, BJA through IIR accomplished the following:

■ 35 VALOR trainings held.

■ 5,480 law enforcement officers trained.

■ 4 ALERRT sessions held.

■ 256 Attorney General’s Officer Safety Toolkits disseminated to 

the field.

■ 2,698,166 visits to and 37,640 downloads from the VALOR web 

site.

■ 4,293 registered users on VALOR’s secured site (www.

valorforblue.org/Home/Login/) for vetted law enforcement 

personnel.

For more information, visit www.valorforblue.org/. 

Reducing Officer Injuries

BJA’s Reducing Officer Injuries (ROI) program is a partnership 

between BJA and the International Association of Chiefs of Police 

(IACP). The goal of this program is to understand the nature of 

on-the-job injuries experienced by public safety officers and to 

develop responses to lessen such occurrences and lead to an 

overall increase in efficiency and effectiveness. 

In FY 2012, the program analyzed all officer injuries occurring 

within 18 participating law enforcement agencies over a 12-month 

period to determine if there were trends in injuries and what 

policy and training recommendations BJA and IACP might make 

to reduce or prevent future injuries. The program is finalizing its 

recommendations, which should be made available in FY 2013. 

ROI also conducted awareness and outreach activities that 

included presenting research findings at various speaking 

engagements such as the IACP Annual Conference. Through 

these presentations, practitioners have learned about the value of 

tracking injuries within their organizations. 

National Center for the Prevention of Violence Against 

the Police

The National Center for the Prevention of Violence Against 

the Police is a partnership between BJA and IACP. The center’s 

mission is to prevent felonious assaults against law enforcement 

by developing and disseminating information as part of BJA’s and 

IACP’s officer safety initiatives.

In FY 2012, the center examined data from federal, state, local, 

campus, and tribal law enforcement agencies, as well as from 

existing IACP sources such as the data captured through IACP’s 

Division of State Association of Chiefs of Police’s Reducing Officer 

Injury initiative—another program that complements BJA’s officer 

safety initiatives—to gain insight into the profession and the 

threats facing law enforcement officers. 

The center also disseminated research findings in the form 

of informational briefs, reports, and a best practices guide 

distributed to more than 22,000 IACP members. The center raised 

awareness and conducted outreach through its web site, IACP’s 

Police Chief Magazine, and social media. Other material produced 

and disseminated to the field in FY 2012 includes: 

■ Preventing Line of Duty Deaths: A Chief’s Duty is a selfassessment tool to assist law enforcement executives in 

evaluating their agency’s efforts to fully address the safety 

needs of their officers.

■ National Data Collection: A Call to Action (Informational Brief 

#2) summarizes the current state of the center’s data collection 

efforts; provides recommendations to begin addressing issues 

surrounding data capture, sharing, and analysis; and identifies 

areas where the IACP can assist the field.

■ Law Enforcement Officers Killed by Felonious Assault in 2011

focuses on prevention through awareness by collecting brief 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 5

summaries of each line-of-duty death from felonious assaults in 

2011, with hopes of facilitating the examination process. 

RISSafe Program

A component of BJA’s Regional Information Sharing Systems 

(RISS), RISS Officer Safety Event Deconfliction System (RISSafe) 

is the only comprehensive and nationwide deconfliction system 

that can be accessed by all law enforcement agencies on a 

24/7, 365-day basis. Planned law enforcement events—such as 

undercover operations—often create the potential for conflict 

between agencies or officers that are unknowingly working in 

close proximity to each other. RISSafe stores and maintains data 

on such events with the goal of identifying and alerting agencies 

of potential conflicts that may affect law enforcement efforts. 

RISSafe was first deployed in 2008. Since its inception, more 

than 615,127 operations have been entered, resulting in more 

than 208,057 identified conflicts. In 2012, 57,500 conflicts were 

identified, which represents 35 percent of the 164,094 events 

entered. In April, RISS launched RISSafe Mobile, which enables 

officers to submit events to RISSafe and receive notification of 

potential conflicts via their mobile devices. At the end of FY 2012, 

23 RISSafe Watch Centers were operating throughout the country. 

The RISS Officer Safety Website (www.riss.net/) serves as a 

secure one-stop shop for law enforcement to access all types 

of officer safety-related information, including concealment 

methods, armed and dangerous subjects, training and videos, and 

other awareness topics such as narcotics, gangs, and domestic 

terrorism. During FY 2012, there were more than 18,000 visits to 

the RISS Officer Safety Website. (To learn more about BJA’s RISS, 

see Chapter 4.)

Presidential Candidate Nominating 

Convention Program

BJA provided $100 million in funding to support extraordinary law 

enforcement expenditures and related security costs, including 

overtime, associated with the 2012 Republican and Democratic 

National Conventions. The program’s scope included onsite 

analytical support and technical assistance to the two 2012 

host cities—Tampa, Florida and Charlotte, North Carolina—and 

development of two after-action reports and one comprehensive 

blueprint incorporating lessons learned from both nominating 

conventions. The blueprint will assist future local, state, and 

federal law enforcement agencies that will play a role in planning, 

managing, and providing security for a large-scale special event, 

including presidential nominating conventions. 

Each host city received a grant of $49,850,000. The remainder 

of the funding (approximately $300,000) was used to sponsor 

Managing Large-Scale Security Events: A Planning Primer for 

Local Law Enforcement Agencies and two after-action reports.

Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force Initiative

Combating human trafficking requires a comprehensive response 

from both government and nongovernment entities in areas from 

human rights to employment issues to law enforcement. Working 

with an Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) grantee and DOJ’s Civil 

Rights Division, BJA’s Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force Initiative 

uses proactive investigations to identify and rescue victims of 

human trafficking. BJA and its partners work closely with local and 

state law enforcement agencies to organize anti-human trafficking 

task forces with a multidisciplinary, victim-centered approach that 

takes into account both the humanitarian principle behind the 

identification and rescue of victims and the role that trafficking 

victims play in the investigation and prosecution of traffickers. 

In FY 2012, BJA and OVC jointly released the Enhanced 

Collaborative Model to Combat Human Trafficking Competitive 

Grant Announcement, for which each selected site was awarded 

two awards—one to support law enforcement agencies to 

coordinate the goals, objectives, and activities of the entire 

task force, and one to support a victim service organization to 

coordinate the provision of culturally and linguistically appropriate 

services to all identified trafficking victims. Fourteen new awards 

totaling more than $6.8 million were made at seven sites (i.e., 

seven law enforcement agencies and seven victim service 

providers). As of September 30, 2012, BJA has funded 17 antihuman trafficking task forces.
6 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

BJA also solicited proposals to develop and provide training to 

address human trafficking on tribal lands. The trainings would 

build awareness of human trafficking in Indian Country and 

provide law enforcement and community stakeholders with the 

tools necessary to begin the process of victim identification, 

rescue, and restoration, while applying consistent and appropriate 

consequences for perpetrators. Through a competitive process, 

BJA awarded $305,000 to the Upper Midwest Community 

Policing Institute (UMCPI), the incumbent BJA grantee. 

Additionally, UMCPI continued to deliver advanced investigators 

anti-human trafficking training to local law enforcement. In 

partnership with the National Judicial College (NJC) and the 

National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), it also 

delivered anti-human trafficking training for state judges and 

prosecutors. Program accomplishments in FY 2012 include:

■ Advanced Investigators Training (213 trained).

■ Human Trafficking for State Judges (279 trained).

■ Human Trafficking for Prosecutors (196 trained).

Violent Gang and Gun Crime Reduction 

Program (Project Safe Neighborhoods)

The Violent Gang and Gun Crime Reduction Program, also 

known as Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), is a strategy for 

reducing gun and gang crime across the nation. The PSN strategy, 

which focuses on aggressive and coordinated enforcement 

of existing gun laws in federal and state courts, concentrates 

on the implementation of five elements that are integral to a 

comprehensive, coordinated gun and gang crime reduction and 

prevention program: (1) partnerships, (2) strategic planning, (3) 

training, (4) community outreach, and (5) accountability. Over 

the past several years, BJA has supported these five elements 

through both competitive grant funds and the delivery of TTA to 

the field. 

BJA assigned a senior State Policy 

Advisor to manage both grants for the 

2012 National Conventions to ensure 

consistency with the grantees and provide 

daily liaison with staff from both cities. 

Monthly conference calls were held with 

representatives from both host cities 

starting in December 2011. Before the 

applications were accepted, extensive 

outreach was conducted regarding 

sole-source requests, vehicle waivers, 

lodging requests, and food and beverage 

approvals. 

Grant management included a series of 

site visits to each city. The initial site visits 

were conducted with both cities before 

the convention awards were finalized. 

They were done to help agencies prepare 

for managing their grants and included a 

representative from the DOJ Office of the 

Inspector General, who provided an onsite 

fraud, waste, and abuse training to both 

cities. Second onsite monitoring visits were 

conducted just before the conventions, 

which involved reviewing all award files 

and observing the purchased equipment 

and technology upgrades. Final visits will 

be conducted in FY 2013 just before the 

awards’ closing.

As a result of BJA’s guidance, oversight, 

and technical assistance to the two host 

cities of the conventions both cities were 

able to effectively plan, manage, and 

provide a high level of security for these 

national special security events. Both 

cities were able to efficiently purchase 

and procure all the necessary equipment, 

provide required overtime, and fund all 

the extraordinary law enforcement and 

related security costs, which allowed them 

to ensure top security and safety for all the 

officials and participants of the conventions.

SUCCESS

STORIES: SUPPORTING THE 2012 NATIONAL CONVENTIONS
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 7

Program accomplishments in FY 2012 include:

■ BJA transitioned the PSN program from a formula-based 

funding allocation to a competitive-based program. In this 

competitive environment, the key factors for funding selection 

were need, the involvement of a research partner, and the 

use of more effective intelligence- and data-driven strategies. 

Performance results and related factors were also considered.

■ BJA provided approximately $3.9 million in competitive grants 

for local PSN initiatives. These competitive grants supported 

the delivery and implementation of the PSN strategy to 

communities and task forces as they continue to expand 

their gang and gun violence reduction efforts. The 13 funded 

PSN sites were Salinas, California; Bibb and Twiggs Counties, 

Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; East Saint Louis, Illinois; Louisville, 

Kentucky; New Orleans, Louisiana; Detroit, Michigan; Omaha, 

Nebraska; the Navajo Nation, New Mexico; Syracuse, New 

York; Cincinnati, Ohio; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Salt Lake 

City, Utah.

■ BJA provided $531,660 for the PSN TTA program. In FY 2012, 

BJA received approximately 50 PSN TTA requests. 

■ On July 18–19, 2012, BJA, in collaboration with Michigan 

State University (MSU) and the Eastern District of Texas U.S. 

Attorney’s Office (USAO), delivered the Research Partner 

Orientation Course (RPOC) at Lamar University in Beaumont, 

Texas. Designed for new task force research personnel and 

current task force members, RPOC discussed promising 

practices of law enforcement researchers and explained the 

roles and responsibilities of the research partner. This training 

is the first of its kind to provide a standardized curriculum to 

familiarize new and current research partners with their roles 

and responsibilities as PSN task force members. Additionally, 

RPOC will provide BJA with a mechanism to facilitate the 

delivery of evidence-based research practices to PSN task 

forces. Approximately 60 law enforcement and criminal justice 

personnel (including teams from USAOs in Texas and Louisiana) 

attended the training. The attendees provided very positive 

feedback regarding RPOC at the conclusion of the training.

■ As a result of PSN task force investigations in FY 2010, 11,276 

individuals were prosecuted and convicted of violations of 

federal firearm offenses; for FYs 2011 and 2012, the numbers 

were 10,771 and 10,545, respectively.

■ The American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) 

supports PSN Anti-Gang TTA requests; conducts training for 

law enforcement, probation, and parole personnel as well as 

engages local government and community stakeholders; and 

makes available information, tools, and resources on promising/

best practices, emerging gun and gang violence trends, and 

information/intelligence sharing between probation/parole and 

law enforcement. During FY 2012, APPA: 

− Trained more than 800 participants through anti-gang 

trainings. 

− Held a webinar on Gang Awareness and Assessment in Rural 

Communities: Implications for Community Corrections.

− Developed several articles for publication, including “PoliceProbation/Parole Partnerships: Responding to Local Street 

Gang Problems” for Police Chief and “Gangs and Guns 

a Threat to Public Safety: Enhancing Firearm Interdiction 

Strategies” for the Journal of Community Corrections.

For more information on PSN, go to www.psn.gov. 

Law Enforcement Leadership

BJA has been examining police leadership needs for some time. 

Not since the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement 

and Administration of Justice has there been an extended 

examination of leadership needs. This examination has been 

undertaken in part to respond to the increased demands, scrutiny, 

challenges, and changes policing has undergone over the past 20 

years.

The BJA Executive Session on Police Leadership—hosted 

with St. Petersburg College (Florida)—brought together a 

cross-disciplinary group of current and future police leaders 

and other influential community stakeholders to undertake an 

examination of the needs of police leaders and the development 
8 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

of leadership in the future. Eight work groups were formed 

to examine eight significant areas considered vital for future 

police leaders in producing community safety: Law Enforcement, 

Collaboration & Trust, Creating Problem Solving and the Law, 

Work on Policing, Community Building, Performance Measures, 

Leadership Development (Training), and Leadership Development 

(Experiential Learning). Each of these work groups is developing a 

product for publication:

■ The Law Enforcement work group is producing “Organization 

of the Future—Developing an Integrated Public Service Model 

and New Partnership System.”

■ The Collaboration & Trust work group is producing “Yale 

University Law School Student Clinic Innovations in Policing: 

Onsite City Studies of Police-Community Innovative 

Collaborations.” 

■ The Creative Problem Solving and the Law work group 

is producing “Enhanced Role of Prosecutors in Building 

Sustainable Communities.”

■ The Work of Policing work group is producing “Videotaped 

Forum at the U.S. Capitol on the Changing Nature of Police 

Work in Contemporary America.”

■ The Community Building work group is producing “Role of 

Police in Early Stages of Community Design and Development, 

Working with Non-police Entities.”

■ The Performance Measures work group is producing 

“Measurement System for Public Service Model Leader and 

Organization.”

■ The Leadership Development (Training) work group is 

producing “Learning Agency Program: Prototype for MultiAgency Learning Center (North Carolina).”

■ The Leadership Development (Experiential Learning) work 

group is producing “New Learning Landscape that Re-Positions 

Leadership Development for Leaders of the Future.”

■ In July 2012, the initiative’s core conclusions for policing of the 

future were presented at the summer meeting of the Major 

Cities Chiefs in the paper, “Organization of the Future.”

National Forensic Academy

The University of Tennessee’s National Forensic Academy (NFA) 

is an intensive 10-week, in-residence training program designed 

to increase the skills of crime scene investigators. It provides a 

practical, hands-on, knowledge-based interdisciplinary training 

environment in which participants learn the best practices and 

standards in crime scene investigation. NFA has long been the 

standard for forensic training, and in recent years the program 

has gained greater efficiency, allowing for more comprehensive 

training and more cost-effective delivery. 

In FY 2012, NFA held two training sessions. The first had 24 

graduates from 10 states representing 18 agencies, and the 

second had 24 graduates from 12 states representing 22 

agencies. 

Drug Market Intervention

Previously under the PSN initiative, BJA developed a training 

curriculum for local teams interested in implementing an openair drug market intervention (DMI) initiative, commonly referred 

to as the “High Point model” after the successful program in 

North Carolina. DMI is a strategy that uses focused deterrence, 

intervention, and prevention to eliminate illegal open-air drug 

markets and the crime, violence, and disorder associated with 

them. 

The BJA-sponsored DMI Training Initiative, in partnership with 

MSU, consists of a continuum of three trainings for sites that 

are interested in replicating the strategy. Each selected site’s 

team consists of a law enforcement officer, a local prosecutor, 

a community leader, and a social service provider, all of whom 

attend all three trainings. Each team receives a site visit from a 

BJA technical assistance provider, along with ongoing support to 

assist local teams in adapting the model to their local context and 

circumstances. BJA’s national partners have developed a training 

manual that interested jurisdictions can use to implement DMI 

locally. 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 9

Program accomplishments in FY 2012 include:

■ Completed the fourth DMI training for the Round III DMI sites, 

which was held in October 2012 at the Roanoke (Virginia) Police 

Department Training Academy. Training evaluation results and 

feedback from the participants were positive.

■ Responded to more than 120 TTA requests from the field.

■ Addressed numerous requests for DMI information, resources, 

and onsite assistance. MSU fulfilled general field requests from 

Sanford, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Peoria, Illinois; Baton Rouge, 

Louisiana; Kansas City, Missouri; Memphis, Tennessee; and 

Austin, Texas.

■ Provided targeted assistance to the Round III DMI sites: 

Jacksonville, Florida; Lake County, Iowa; New Orleans, 

Louisiana; and Flint, Michigan. International support was 

provided to Toronto, Canada and Santiago, Chile.

■ Published two documents on the High Point DMI effort:

− A lessons-learned guide that can be readily used as a 

resource tool online and during training sessions.

− A High Point evaluation, “The Impact of Drug Market Pulling 

Levers Policing on Neighborhood Violence: An Evaluation of 

the High Point Drug Market Intervention,” that was accepted 

for publication in Criminology and Public Policy and is 

available on the DMI public web site (www.dmimsu.com/). 

■ The DMI strategy was presented to PSN coordinators—

Assistant U.S. Attorneys and Law Enforcement Coordinating 

Councils—at the National Advocacy Center as part of the 

Addressing Violent Crime in the 21st Century training program. 

DMI was presented as an effective strategy when PSN problem 

analysis reveals overt drug markets to be associated with 

violence. The presentation included findings from DMI and PSN 

research and made attendees aware of the DMI TTA program. 

■ The DMI strategy was part of the PSN training curriculum for 

Strategic Problem Solving and Research Partnerships, piloted 

in Beaumont, Texas on July 10–11, 2012, which was attended 

by approximately 60 law enforcement and criminal justice 

personnel, including teams of personnel from USAOs from 

Texas and Louisiana.

Mortgage Fraud

As news reports have indicated and justice and community 

representatives have reported, the number of vacant and 

abandoned properties in communities across the United States 

has increased, and mortgage fraud and foreclosures are reported 

to play a key role. One estimate gives a conservative figure of 

$218 billion in losses in 2007 as a direct result of mortgage fraud 

on subprime loans. Vacant and abandoned properties often 

become unsightly, diminish the property values of surrounding 

homes and communities, and invite disorder and criminal activity 

into these communities. Mitigating the effects of these problems, 

reducing the frequency of these occurrences, and restoring these 

properties to productive use can play a significant role in reducing 

and preventing neighborhood crime.

In 2009, BJA convened a working group of representatives from 

various regions of the country in response to the accelerating 

growth of mortgage fraud and problem vacant properties. The 

goal of this initiative is to increase the capacity of state and local 

agencies to prevent, detect, investigate, and prosecute mortgage 

fraud cases in coordination with federal agencies. In FY 2012, 

BJA continued to respond to state and local needs through a 

network of TTA providers: the National White Collar Crime Center 

(NW3C), National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), National 

District Attorneys Association (NDAA), and St. Petersburg 

College Center for Public Safety Innovation (CPSI). 

In FY 2012, NW3C received supplemental funding to continue 

its TTA efforts in the area of mortgage fraud. BJA’s site-based 

grantees continued to use their resources to launch investigations 

and prosecutions of individuals suspected of engaging in 

mortgage fraud, and they have reported several successes in this 

arena. 

Program accomplishments in FY 2012 include:

■ NW3C held a training program, “Mortgage Fraud Trainings to 

State, Local, and Tribal Criminal Justice Systems,” in Phoenix, 

Arizona; San Diego, California; Tallahassee, Florida; Buffalo 

Grove, Illinois; Indianapolis, Indiana; Carson City, Nevada; and 

Hillsborough, New Jersey.
10 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

■ NDAA developed curricula for training prosecutors: Mortgage 

Fraud Training for Prosecutors developed curricula for training 

prosecutors.

■ CPSI developed online videos and training materials for line 

officers on how to address vacant properties and crimes 

associated with these properties.

■ NCPC mortgage fraud activities included:

− Completed four radio public service announcements (PSA) on 

mortgage fraud prevention in English and translated two of 

those PSAs in Spanish.

− Developed one set of posters, palm cards, and fliers about 

spotting the “red flags” of mortgage fraud for use by 

law enforcement and mortgage fraud prevention support 

services.

− Presented on the mortgage fraud and vacant property 

initiatives of the grant at the 7th Annual Land Bank 

Conference in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The conference 

explored the ways that land banking can transform vacant, 

abandoned, and foreclosed properties into productive reuse.

− Produced and posted two podcasts (one with James Freis, 

the Director of Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and 

the other with Eileen O’Connor, Counsel for the Lawyers’ 

Committee for Civil Rights Under Law). Both podcasts 

focused on mortgage fraud in 2012 and are available on the 

NCPC web site.

− Created a mortgage fraud prevention/victimization fact 

sheet. 

− Created the platform and theme for the spring 2013 NCPC 

Mortgage Fraud Virtual Conference—“Mortgage Fraud: 

Saving Homeowners. Empowering Victims.” 

National Gang Center

The National Gang Center (NGC) is a collaborative effort 

between BJA and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

Prevention (OJJDP). This partnership recognizes that solutions to 

combat street gang activities must reach out to gang members of 

all ages and involve a range of strategies, including prosecution, 

prevention, intervention, suppression, and aftercare. NGC 

conducts research on street gangs and serves as a clearinghouse 

for individuals and agencies seeking information and TTA in the 

areas of gang prevention, intervention, suppression, and reentry. 

Program accomplishments in FY 2012 include:

■ Continued to operate and maintain the NGC web site (www.

nationalgangcenter.gov/). 

■ Developed and disseminated the National Gang Center 

Quarterly Newsletter.

■ Developed two new publications for online dissemination: 

− Street Outreach and the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model. 

− Highlights of the 2010 National Youth Gang Survey.

■ Updated and posted to the NGC web site a database of gangrelated state legislation and municipal codes.

■ Conducted five law enforcement trainings, and developed and 

administered pre- and post-training exams for participants.

■ Developed and published a brochure describing NGC’s 

law enforcement curricula, which is made available at all 

appropriate conferences sponsored by NGC, BJA, and OJJDP, 

and at other conferences when requested. 

■ Provided training for several law enforcement conferences, 

including the Milwaukee Anti-Gang Conference hosted by 

the USAO for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the National 

Association of School Safety and Law Enforcement Officials 

National Conference, and the Virginia Gang Investigators 

Association conference.

■ Updated the National Youth Gang Survey Analysis. 

■ Disseminated the 2011 National Youth Gang Survey to a 

nationally representative survey sample of 2,500 police 

and sheriff’s departments. NGC staff coordinated the datacollection effort to achieve a response rate of 81 percent.
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 11

■ Updated three CD–ROMs: Gang Publications Library, 

Addressing Community Gang Problems, and Best Practices to 

Address Community Gang Problems.

Intellectual Property Crime

The improved coordination of IP rights enforcement efforts 

among federal, state, and local authorities is a high priority for 

DOJ. BJA’s IP Enforcement, Training, and Technical Assistance 

Program (IP Grant Program) assists state and local law 

enforcement agencies and educational institutions in providing 

resources for IP crime prevention, response, and TTA efforts. 

In FY 2012, BJA made $2.45 million available to support these 

efforts, with 13 jurisdictions receiving funding to reimburse 

expenses related to performing criminal enforcement operations; 

educating the public to prevent, deter, and identify criminal 

violations of IP laws; establishing task forces to conduct 

investigations, forensic analyses, and prosecutions; and 

acquiring equipment to conduct investigations and forensic 

analysis of evidence. In addition, NW3C and NAAG continued 

to offer regional BJA-sponsored trainings on the subject of IP 

investigation and prosecution. 

Finally, BJA, in collaboration with NCPC, launched the National 

IP Theft Public Education Campaign. The purpose of the 

campaign is to combat the purchase and sale of counterfeit and 

pirated products. It will educate the public on various forms of 

IP theft and highlight the potential health, safety, and economic 

consequences of this type of theft. 

IP Grant Program accomplishments in FY 2012 include:

■ Offered 14 regional trainings to law enforcement agencies 

throughout the country.

■ Produced and launched national IP theft awareness campaign 

materials in partnership with public-sector collaborators at the 

federal, state, and local levels as well as private-sector partners 

such as industry, nonprofit organizations, and media outlets. 

Since the campaign’s launch in November 2011, it has garnered 

more than $42 million in donated media time, and the PSAs 

have received more than 52,952 total airings on TV in 208 of 

210 markets and 26,830 airings on radio.

■ IP Enforcement grantees disrupted or dismantled 583 IP theft 

organizations and arrested 1,245 individuals suspected of 

committing IP-related crime.

Leading by Legacy

The Leading by Legacy program, funded through the FY 2009 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and developed 

in partnership with IACP, was designed to meet the leadership 

and management training needs of rural law enforcement 

agencies. The program provides onsite training, webinars, CD–

ROM training, and onsite technical assistance to agencies in small 

The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office 

has been able to successfully use BJA 

grant funding to expand its collaborative 

partnerships in investigating cases 

involving several federal, state, and local 

agencies to identify patterns and trends 

involving violations of IP and to share vital 

information that would lead to arrests and 

prosecutions.

During FY 2012, six defendants from 

Thousand Oak Barrels Company, Inc., 

located in Prince William County, 

Virginia, reached a plea agreement on 

12 counts of trademark infringement. 

Special agents from Virginia’s Bureau of 

Criminal Investigation Fairfax Field Office 

specifically assigned to IP cases initiated 

the investigation. This was the first instance 

in Virginia that a company was successfully 

convicted of trademark Infringement. 

SUCCESS

STORIES: INVESTIGATING TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT
12 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

rural areas of the United States. Onsite trainings are limited to 

30 participants and designed to allow participants to become 

actively engaged in small group exercises and interact with the 

cadre of trainers.

During FY 2012, five trainings were held across the country. 

A total of 134 individuals, representing rural law enforcement 

agencies in more than 25 states, completed the training and 

returned to their communities with improved leadership and 

legacy-building skills. Also during FY 2012, Leading by Legacy 

funding allowed IACP to assist four rural law enforcement 

agencies with technical assistance that focused on specific 

problems the agencies were experiencing and provide a 2-day 

regional training event for agency executives, command staff, and 

first-line supervisors from northeastern South Dakota. 

IACP’s ability to partner with local agencies and law enforcement 

training facilities to cohost the training has helped reduce costs 

and allowed the grant to be extended so that the balance of 

funds can be expended to conduct additional trainings. As of 

September 30, 2012, a total of 367 chiefs, sheriffs, and command 

staff officers from 235 law enforcement agencies serving rural 

communities in 45 states have benefitted from this leadership 

training.

Those who have completed the training continue to receive 

support through access to webinars on a variety of topics and an 

active e-mail list to which alumni can submit questions and seek 

information on topics or issues their agencies are experiencing. 

During the period of the project funded through the ARRA, 

this training was restricted to law enforcement agencies from 

rural communities. Because of this restriction, IACP was forced 

to decline training requests from numerous small agencies that 

did not qualify as rural because of their geographic location 

near metropolitan areas. Recognizing the need of small law 

enforcement agencies serving communities with fewer than 

60,000 residents, BJA provided nearly $450,000 of FY 2012 JAG 

Discretionary funds to IACP to begin providing Leading by Legacy 

training to these agencies over the next 2 years.

Volunteers in Police Service

The goal of the Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) Program, 

managed by IACP, is to enhance the capacity of state, local, 

campus, and tribal law enforcement to use volunteers. The VIPS 

Program serves as a resource for all law enforcement volunteer 

programs and efforts, and it offers print and multimedia resources 

Below are some samples of testimony from 

Leading by Legacy course participants and 

local media:

Chief Arleigh R. Porter of the Sturgeon Bay 

(Wisconsin) Police Department attended 

training and said, “I wanted to express 

to you my appreciation for the extremely 

valuable program ‘Leading by Legacy’ that 

was provided to rural law enforcement 

leaders. Somehow, I have become one of 

the ‘Old Timers’ in this great profession and 

have had the fortune of having attended 

training from coast to coast across this 

great country of ours. The program that 

the IACP provided was some of the finest 

training that I have attended, especially in 

the short 2 1⁄2 days that is allowed.”

Based on information presented during the 

Leading by Legacy training and assistance 

from IACP’s Leading by Legacy staff and 

instructors, Chief Jim Willis, Mount Desert 

(Maine) Police Department, used an online 

survey to ask his community to provide 

feedback on the services provided by 

his agency. The residents and business 

owners were pleased to be asked for their 

opinions, and the results indicated that the 

police department and its officers are doing 

an excellent job of serving their community. 

The local newspaper highlighted the results 

of the survey.

SUCCESS

STORIES: LEADING BY LEGACY
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 13

and TTA to agencies interested in establishing or enhancing a law 

enforcement volunteer program. More than 2,260 local programs 

have registered, representing 256,000 volunteers from all 50 

states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. 

Program accomplishments in FY 2012 include:

■ Released a new e-learning course, VIPS and Disaster Response,

for which 170 people registered.

■ Registered the 700th person for its Building Blocks of a Law 

Enforcement Volunteer Program e-learning course. 

■ Created the VIPS State Advocate Network through which 

established VIPS coordinators will increase outreach and 

communication at the local and state levels.

■ Partnered with the University of North Texas Health Science 

Center to educate 70 law enforcement officers and 60 

volunteers on the use of the National Missing and Unidentified 

Persons System.

■ Released nine audio podcast presentations featuring news and 

information about the VIPS Program that were viewed more 

than 1,700 times.

■ Promoted the VIPS: Celebrating a Decade of Service campaign 

through which 135 new VIPS programs were registered; articles 

were featured in the magazines, newsletters, and blogs of the 

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), IACP’s 

Discover Policing, USAonWatch, National Sheriffs’ Association 

(NSA), and NCPC.

The VIPS web site (www.policevolunteers.org), which has received 

nearly 65 million hits since its inception, serves as a gateway to 

information and resources about this national initiative for law 

enforcement agencies and citizens.

Celebrate Safe Communities

Celebrate Safe Communities (CSC) is a national crime prevention 

program that takes a local approach—local people working with 

local law enforcement to address local issues. CSC was created in 

2008 by NCPC and BJA, in partnership with NSA. The CSC web 

site (www.celebratesafecommunities.org) aims to increase local 

crime prevention capacity by providing free, downloadable, and 

customizable community education and engagement tools, TTA 

materials, and other crime prevention publications and resources. 

For agencies struggling with cuts in crime prevention budgets, 

the CSC program offers law enforcement agencies, crime 

prevention practitioners, and others engaged in public safety 

a cost-effective way to address specific trends, such as home 

burglaries, or general crime prevention education. 

The centerpiece of the CSC program is Crime Prevention Month 

in October, during which local sites are encouraged to host 

community public safety events. For the last 2 years, BJA and 

NCPC have selected a law enforcement theme for each week of 

the month based on national crime trends and feedback from 

local site partners. The CSC provides targeted resources to help 

localities address these issues. 

Program accomplishments in FY 2012 include:

■ Developed and implemented four podcasts on key topics: 

community engagement, school safety, working with local 

businesses, and program operation.

■ Held four webinars that reached more than 100 law 

enforcement officers, crime prevention practitioners, and local 

community-based organizations.

■ Launched an electronic media kit that was downloaded by 

1,771 local sites.

■ Published a home safety brochure, posted a quarterly online 

newsletter, and updated a BJA-sponsored publication to 

include tips on addressing crime trends, such as mortgage 

fraud and elder abuse.

■ Launched a program evaluation that revealed:

− More than half of the CSC sites have participated for 2 or 

more years, and all planned to participate in the coming year.

− 80 percent of site organizers found the starter kit of crime 

prevention resources very or extremely helpful.

− 64 percent of site organizations (mostly law enforcement) 

reported an economic impact on crime prevention 
14 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

programming, and with little or no resources, held public 

education events that reached 300 to 1,000 participants, with 

one event in Hawaii reaching 8,000.

■ Launched four brief videos that were viewed by more than 

1 million people: Help Keep Your Community Safe, featuring 

Ann Harkins, President and CEO of NCPC; Getting Involved 

in Neighborhood Safety, featuring former Sgt. Steve Parker 

of the Des Moines County (Iowa) Sheriff’s Office; Start a 

Neighborhood Watch, featuring Carmen Caldwell, Executive 

Director of Citizens’ Crime Watch of Miami-Dade, Florida; 

and How to Build a Stronger Community, featuring Denise E. 

O’Donnell, BJA Director.

■ More than 240 sites in 40 states participated in CSC in FY 2012. 

Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, and Texas had the largest 

number of events per state.

Campus Safety

Campus safety services vary greatly on the nation’s college and 

university campuses. Campus law enforcement agencies include 

full-service police departments (both armed and unarmed), 

private security operations, contractual services, and more. 

Such departments also vary greatly in how they relate to and 

share information with local and state public safety agencies. 

Working with organizations in the field such as the International 

Association of College Law Enforcement Administrators as well 

as with federal partners such as the COPS Office and the Federal 

Bureau of Investigation (FBI), BJA works to identify gaps in 

training and resources and then addresses those needs.

Under this campus safety initiative, in FY 2012 Margolis Healy & 

Associates continued work on Phase Two of its Develop EvidenceBased, Modern Crime Prevention Strategies for Institutions of 

Higher Education project by examining and identifying successful, 

evidence-based, and age-appropriate crime prevention 

programming suitable for institutions of higher education. 

Additionally, Margolis Healy & Associates received a supplemental 

award of nearly $300,000 to examine and identify successful 

multidisciplinary, evidence-based safety and security assessment 

models for student travel abroad (including policies and 

processes) that would be appropriate for institutions of higher 

education. By and large, institutions of higher education have not 

implemented multidisciplinary safety and security assessment 

and prevention strategies for student travel abroad. However, 

as the demand for student travel abroad access increases, such 

measures are becoming more important than ever.

Finally, in FY 2012, BJA, the FBI, and the U.S. Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS) jointly sponsored a Campus Security 

Focus Group of experienced university police leaders to identify 

promising practices for providing security at campus events. The 

meeting was a discussion of practices that can supplement an 

existing security plan in order to minimize the probability of an 

incident; aid in apprehension of violent offenders; and maximize 

the ability to respond to incidents that may take place at large 

spectator events on college campuses. 

Statewide Automated Victim Information 

and Notification Program

Victims of crime have a great need for information about their 

offender’s case. Court schedules, release and parole dates, and 

other information can reduce the risk of repeat incidents and help 

prevent further victimization. The Statewide Automated Victim 

Information and Notification (SAVIN) Program, administered by 

BJA, was created to assist states in building, implementing, and 

improving victim notification capacity. By providing registered 

victims with timely and accurate information about any important 

dates and developments relating to the criminal proceedings 

at issue in their case, SAVIN helps protect victims of crime from 

further victimization and ensures that their rights are secured. 

Missing Alzheimer’s Disease 

Patient Assistance Program

Law enforcement agencies expend countless hours annually 

searching for missing persons with Alzheimer’s disease, who, if 

not found quickly, are at high risk of serious injury or even death. 

In addition, law enforcement officers may not be trained or 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 15

■ With assistance from the national SAVIN TTA 

Program, the Pennsylvania SAVIN program (PA 

SAVIN) recently redesigned the SAVIN section 

of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime 

and Delinquency web site, including the PA 

SAVIN logo. The PA SAVIN site provides a 

brief description of SAVIN and offers page 

links for specific visitors to the site—victims, 

law enforcement, corrections, victim service 

providers, and other interested parties—that 

provide a comprehensive list of resources. 

■ The North Carolina Statewide Automated 

Victim Assistance and Notification (NC 

SAVAN) program developed and coordinated 

a highly successful statewide outreach and 

awareness campaign targeting Spanishlanguage communities that included print 

and television PSAs. The NC SAVAN program 

teamed up with Univision, a Spanish-language 

television network, to develop and air a 

PSA and host a talk show. The PSA tells 

victims how to seek help from NC SAVAN. 

Univision produced the PSA without charge 

to the program and waived the $15,000 

cost of a 3-hour talk/call-in show that aired 

on Univision’s Spanish-language television 

station. The purpose of the call-in show was 

to educate the Hispanic community about 

victims’ rights, as well as NC SAVAN resources 

and services available to victims of crime. 

The various resources developed, including 

the television PSA, can be viewed on the NC 

SAVAN program web site.

■ In May 2012, New Hampshire’s new SAVIN 

program received technical assistance from 

the national SAVIN Program to conduct a 

roundtable discussion with 11 crime victims 

and survivors to help plan their SAVIN 

program. One of the outcomes of this highly 

successful and informative roundtable was 

that the New Hampshire SAVIN program 

created a SAVIN Victim/Survivor Advisory 

Council to help guide the implementation of 

its new program.

SUCCESS

STORIES: SAVIN IN ACTION

equipped to handle the special needs of those with Alzheimer’s 

disease once they are found. 

Since 2009, BJA has partnered with the Alzheimer’s Disease and 

Related Disorders Association, IACP, and Project Lifesaver, Inc. 

(PLI) to support several Alzheimer’s registries, provide devices for 

tracking missing persons with Alzheimer’s disease, and develop 

guidance and training programs. These programs help educate 

law enforcement agencies and their officers about the special 

needs of persons with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias 

and provide techniques and tools that officers can use when 

interacting with these individuals.

BJA awarded a total of nearly $900,000 to the University of 

Illinois and the University of South Florida for projects to create 

protocols for a “Holistic Approach for Law Enforcement and 

Communities to Manage Missing Persons with Alzheimer’s” and 

the “Promotion of a National Silver Alert System.” These projects 

will enhance efforts to protect and locate missing persons with 

Alzheimer’s disease.

Program accomplishments in FY 2012 include:

■ The Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association 

enrolled more than 10,000 new persons and 1,300 caregivers 

in the MedicAlert + Safe Return system and processed more 

than 10,000 renewals. They achieved a 94 percent successful 

return rate for those reported missing who were enrolled in 

the program. The online Safety Center maintained by the 

Association continues to average more than 21,000 visitors 

each month.

■ IACP has continued to host semi-annual meetings of the 

Alzheimer’s Advisory Board that was implemented in 2010. 

Based on recommendations from the Advisory Board, the 

“Approaching Alzheimer’s” training curriculum was developed, 

with four pilot trainings held during FY 2012. A total of 176 

persons completed these trainings, with evaluations showing 

that the training was well received. Additionally, several short 

videos depicting law enforcement officers interacting with 
16 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

missing persons with Alzheimer’s disease were developed for 

use during the training and distribution for roll call training.

■ PLI continued to distribute the tracking equipment and provide 

training to law enforcement agencies. Fourteen agencies 

received the equipment, and PLI is processing applications from 

another 53 agencies. 

Witness Intimidation

AEquitas’s Improving the Justice System Response to Witness 

Intimidation (Initiative on Witness Intimidation [IWI]) is a BJAfunded, field-initiated project to improve the criminal justice 

system’s response to intimidation. The project seeks to develop, 

evaluate, and refine justice system practices that identify, prevent, 

and suppress all forms of intimidation to increase victim safety 

and offender accountability.

In FY 2012, IWI partnered with three pilot sites—Knoxville, 

Tennessee; Duluth, Minnesota; and San Diego, California—to 

conduct safety audits, focusing on assessing each community’s 

responses to witness intimidation. Each site received training on 

the safety audit process and initiated safety audit/data collection. 

IWI will prepare a final report for each site with the findings and 

recommendations of the safety audit and help to develop a 

strategy for implementing the recommendations.

The qualitative data collected thus far has provided an 

opportunity to create a systems approach to the assessment and 

reduction of witness intimidation. 

Program accomplishments in FY 2012 include:

■ IWI provided TTA on how to develop, catalog, and maintain 

resources for justice system professionals that will better enable 

them to investigate and prosecute intimidation crimes.

■ The Safety and Accountability Audit methodology 

developed and employed by IWI staff at each of the pilot 

sites has generated rich qualitative data about the systemic 

vulnerabilities in the criminal justice system. These data have 

greatly informed the development of resources and the 

provision of TTA beyond the three pilot sites. 

■ Each of the pilot sites is already defining intervention plans in 

response to the audit findings, which have been crafted in close 

consultation with the Justice Management Institute (JMI).

■ Work with the sites has been successful, based on positive 

anecdotal feedback received. One professional in Duluth, 

Minnesota reported that “just doing the audit put witness 

intimidation on everyone’s radar. Everyone is paying more 

attention to it, and seeing it.”

Real Crimes in Virtual Worlds Training 

and Technical Assistance Program

The Real Crimes in Virtual Worlds Training and Technical 

Assistance Program (www.drakontas.com/training/) aims to raise 

the awareness of law enforcement and the broader criminal 

justice community to crimes occurring in or facilitated by online 

virtual worlds, videogames (such as Habbo or World of Warcraft), 

and gaming consoles (such as Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony 

PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii). The embedded communications 

and storage features of gaming systems and virtual worlds are 

generally unmonitored by the law enforcement community, and 

the purpose of this program is to enhance law enforcement’s 

investigative and response capacities.

Recent trends indicate that crimes—including online enticement 

of minors, possession and distribution of child pornography, 

identity theft, fraud, money laundering, and coordination of 

prostitution rings and gang activities—are increasingly prevalent 

in these online environments. Many members of the law 

enforcement community are unaware that criminals are now using 

these technologies and their embedded communications options 

to carry out illicit activities, and agencies charged with responding 

to these crimes often lack the proper training, tools, and 

techniques to respond effectively to reported incidents involving 

modern, Internet-connected technologies.

In FY 2012, Drakontas LLC, BJA’s TTA provider, continued to offer 

a joint in-person classroom and a web-based, distance-learning 

training curriculum with support from Drexel University’s Criminal 

Justice Department. 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 17

Program accomplishments in FY 2012 include:

■ Conducted seven 1-day in-person training sessions for nearly 

150 law enforcement officers across the country, with student 

participants demonstrating a significant increase (27 percent) in 

subject matter knowledge.

■ Conducted three presentations at national, regional, and 

statewide criminal justice conferences.

■ Authored two case studies that address the issues of crimes 

committed in virtual worlds and online gaming communities: 

one policy brief and one book chapter targeted at researchers 

and law enforcement and security professionals.

■ Provided technical assistance to an adult probation and parole 

department and developed appropriate investigative methods 

and procedures to address the use of gaming consoles by 

sexual offenders under supervision.

■ Attended a national industry conference to enhance information 

exchange between private industry and the criminal justice 

community on the use of gaming consoles and online virtual 

worlds for criminal purposes.

Anti-Animal Cruelty

BJA’s National Animal Cruelty and Fighting Initiative for the 

Prevention and Reduction of Violent Crime Prosecution Technical 

Assistance Initiative provides prosecutors, law enforcement 

officers, and advocates with the skills they need to prosecute 

and investigate animal cruelty and fighting crimes. This initiative 

focuses on the link between animal abuse and interpersonal 

violence, especially in the areas of domestic violence, child abuse, 

and elder abuse. 

BJA partners with the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys (APA) 

for this initiative. In FY 2012, APA’s goal was to provide TTA to 

the field to assist with current investigations and cases, increase 

capabilities at the local level, and educate prosecutors, judges, 

law enforcement officers, and advocates on the link between 

animal abuse and interpersonal violence. Three objectives were 

identified for this project: (1) increase the knowledge gained 

about animal cruelty by continuing to develop training and 

resources for prosecutors and allied criminal justice professionals 

and advocates; (2) develop an awareness campaign on the 

connection between interpersonal violence and animal abuse; and 

(3) design training for law enforcement to increase officer safety 

while reducing pet shootings. 

The APA web site (www.APAInc.org) features searchable 

publications and resources on prosecuting animal cruelty and 

fighting cases, including multiple publications and presentations 

on the link between interpersonal violence and animal abuse. 

The web site also includes a listserv for technical assistance, 

publishes the quarterly Lex Canis newsletters and other 

training materials, compiles state animal abuse case and statute 

summaries, promotes training opportunities, and features links 

to organizations working on animal cruelty investigation and 

prosecution efforts. 

Program accomplishments in FY 2012 include:

■ Hosted three 1-hour, CLE-certified webinars for 277 registrants 

and viewers. The training topics included High Volume Dog 

Breeders (Puppy Mills), Ahisma House—Services to DV Victims 

with Pets, and Baltimore’s Anti-Animal Abuse Campaign—

“Show Your Soft Side.” 

■ Published four issues of the Lex Canis newsletter. The topics 

included intimate partner violence, puppy mills, working with 

veterinarians, and using research in the criminal justice system.

■ Held the 3rd National Conference on Prosecuting Animal 

Cruelty Cases on October 3–5, 2012. More than 125 attendees 

registered for the 2 1⁄2 days of training. This conference included 

sessions on law enforcement safety and reducing pet shootings 

as well as on the link between animal cruelty and interpersonal 

violence.

■ Compiling, in partnership with The George Washington 

University School of Law, the state criminal statutes and cases 

related to the investigation and prosecution of animal abuse. 

Currently, 28 state summaries are posted on the APA web site’s 

State Criminal Animal Protection Laws page, and the summaries 

have been downloaded by prosecutors and investigators 

hundreds of times throughout the year. 
18 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

■ Produced with George Mason University’s Center for EvidenceBased Crime Policy a monograph, Developing an Evidence-Base 

for the Understanding and Prevention of Dog Fighting Crimes. 

This publication is available on the APA web site and was 

electronically disseminated to prosecutors and investigators 

throughout the country.

■ Maintained the Animal Welfare Listserv of more than 100 

prosecutors, investigators, veterinarians, and advocates 

working on animal abuse to provide technical assistance, allow 

all participants to communicate regarding cases or current 

issues, and provide information regarding resources available to 

investigators and prosecutors.

■ Provided technical assistance. Staff and members of the Animal 

Cruelty Advisory Council (ACAC) responded to more than 100 

requests for technical assistance. The requests related to all 

facets of the program, including investigation activities (e.g., 

search warrants), working with and training law enforcement 

and nonprofit personnel, admissible evidence and theories for 

introduction at trial, sentencing, and parole of violent offenders 

convicted of animal abuse and related crimes.

Law Enforcement Forecasting Group

The Law Enforcement Forecasting Group (LEFG) helps BJA 

anticipate emerging crime trends and identify developments 

in tactics, strategies, and technologies that might assist law 

enforcement agencies provide quality police services. Composed 

of 20 law enforcement executives and criminal justice researchers, 

LEFG members provide environmental scanning that BJA uses 

■ The APA’s Animal Welfare listserv has 

been active since the project’s inception in 

2009 and continues to add members both 

nationally and internationally. Last spring in 

Atlanta, a violent domestic abuse crime was 

perpetrated during which the victim’s dog 

was beaten to death. The crime was assigned 

to an experienced animal abuse prosecutor. 

Despite her experience, she needed advice 

and information from other jurisdictions and 

needed it quickly to prepare for court. When 

she posted the request for assistance, she 

received more than 20 offers of assistance 

within the hour. She informed the APA staff 

that because of the project’s listserv, she was 

able to proceed in the manner necessary to 

hold the offender accountable for his crimes.

■ The APA web site (www.APAInc.org) includes 

state statute and case information from 28 

states. Although some sites have state-based 

information, they do not include the cases 

that define or explain the statutes. Many 

prosecutors and investigators are not aware 

of all of the animal cruelty laws and use 

this resource to help find the appropriate 

statute or check on recent case decisions. 

On a recent case, a Pennsylvania prosecutor 

was faced with a difficult filing decision as to 

whether the facts presented to her constituted 

cruelty or neglect under the Commonwealth’s 

statutory animal cruelty scheme. Her 

colleagues recommended that she check the 

case summaries on the APA web site. Upon 

reading the statutes and cases, she found 

that she could proceed against the animal 

abuser on the charges presented to her by the 

investigating agency.

■ During the summer of 2012, APA received an 

e-mail from a prosecutor in South Africa who 

was working on a dog-fighting case. He had 

been presented with a weight-pulling defense 

and wondered if that defense was being used 

in the United States. Both APA staff and a 

member of the ACAC assisted in providing 

information about the use of this defense 

and methods to overcome the defense if 

in fact the accused is harming and abusing 

his dogs by engaging in dog fighting. The 

prosecutor explained that he was drawn to 

the APA materials, including the Developing 

an Evidence-Base for the Understanding 

and Prevention of Dog Fighting Crimes 

monograph published in FY 2012, because 

he was impressed that prosecutors, rather 

than advocacy groups, were helping other 

prosecutors on these issues.

SUCCESS

STORIES: ANTI-ANIMAL CRUELTY
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 19

to develop new demonstration programs to test concepts and 

to create TTA programs that are immediately relevant to the law 

enforcement field. 

LEFG members have identified the five top priorities for BJA 

law enforcement programs: (1) crime analysis capacity building, 

(2) gun violence, (3) information sharing, (4) human resources 

(recruiting, training, retaining), and (5) social media. 

Beyond providing guidance, the group has produced two reports: 

■ Increasing Analytic Capacity of State and Local Law 

Enforcement Agencies: Moving Beyond Data Analysis to Create 

a Vision for Change

■ Leading Our Most Important Resource: Police Personnel Issues 

in the Year 2020

FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 21

CHAPTER 2

Honoring America’s Public Safety Officers

Throughout the country, public safety officers watch over 

neighborhoods and work to make communities safer. BJA 

respects these officers’ devotion and their willingness to 

place themselves in danger to protect the nation’s citizens. BJA is 

honored to administer the following programs, which recognize 

the nation’s public safety heroes and their selfless dedication to 

their communities. 

Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program

The Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program provides 

vital death and education benefits to survivors of fallen law 

enforcement officers, firefighters, and other first responders, 

as well as disability benefits to officers catastrophically injured 

in the line of duty. PSOB is a unique partnership of DOJ; local, 

state, tribal, and federal public safety organizations; and national 

organizations. 

As of September 30, 2012, BJA’s PSOB Office received 258 new 

death claims and 89 new disability claims. In FY 2012, the PSOB 

Office determined a total of 269 death cases (from various fiscal 

years); of these 269 cases, 195 were approved and benefits paid 

to the survivors. The PSOB Office determined 63 disability cases 

in FY 2012, with 29 of the cases approved for payment. Also in FY 

2012, 262 education claims were approved for funding to spouses 

and children to enable family members to pursue their dreams of 

higher education. 

Continuing in FY 2012, the PSOB Office coordinated with the 

Concerns of Police Survivors and the National Fallen Firefighters 

Foundation to conduct proactive outreach to public safety 

agencies nationwide to increase awareness about the PSOB 

death, disability, and education programs; provide effective 

assistance when filing PSOB claims; and offer meaningful peer 

support and counseling services to survivors of America’s fallen 

officers. Visit the PSOB web site for more information: www.psob.

gov/.

Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor

Every day, public safety officers risk their lives to protect 

America’s citizens and communities. To honor that commitment, 

Congress passed the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor (MOV) 

Below are a few of the many comments received by the PSOB 

Office from survivors and claimants: 

“...we are very saddened by the loss of Jeff. I very much 

appreciate the information that you have provided and I will be 

in contact soon. It’s comforting to know that your program is 

there to support Jeff’s family and to release part of the hardship 

that will follow this tragedy. “

“I wish to thank you and your staff....and the effort you put into 

the assistance with my award package. Both my wife and three 

children express their gratitude as well.”

“David and I wanted to express how much we appreciated the 

assistance you gave with the processing of David’s application 

for assistance through DOJ. It is very rare to find someone who 

showed the care, concern, and professionalism that you give. 

Never have I experienced the quality of assistance that you...

gave. It was truly a pleasure to know there are still people 

servicing the public who care and show it. Please accept this 

small token of our appreciation for all the patience, care, and 

concern you gave every time we called. You will never know 

what a blessing we received.”
22 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

Act of 2001, which created the Public Safety Officer MOV, 

the highest national award for valor by a public safety officer. 

BJA oversees the National MOV Office, which manages the 

MOV Review Board and the award process that culminates in a 

presentation ceremony presided over by the President or the Vice 

President and the Attorney General and is attended by local and 

national media, national public safety organizations, and other 

stakeholders. 

The major tasks accomplished in FY 2012 include: holding 

two MOV Review Board meetings; continued outreach to the 

public safety community to inform them about the program 

and encourage their participation; opening the 2011–12 MOV 

application period; receiving 176 applications from 32 states 

and 2 foreign territories, leading to 6 recommendations for the 

MOV award being submitted to the Attorney General for final 

approval; and fostering continued collaboration between the 

Attorney General’s Office and the White House to schedule a 

joint presentation ceremony for the 2009–10 and 2010–11 MOV 

recipient classes. Information about the recipients is available at 

www.medalofvalor.gov. 

Law Enforcement Congressional 

Badge of Bravery Program

In 2008, Congress passed the Law Enforcement Congressional 

Badge of Bravery (CBOB) Act, creating the Federal Law 

Enforcement CBOB and the State and Local Law Enforcement 

CBOB to honor exceptional acts of bravery in the line of duty 

by federal, state, tribal, and local law enforcement officers. The 

badges are awarded annually by the Attorney General and are 

presented by the recipients’ congressional representatives. 

BJA was tasked in 2009 with establishing the CBOB Office and 

enacting the program called upon by the act. 

The major tasks accomplished in FY 2012 include: conducting 

stakeholder outreach for the program; opening the 2011 CBOB 

application period; receiving a total of 240 applications from 32 

states and 1 foreign territory; holding 2 Review Board meetings 

that led to 38 recommendations being submitted to the Attorney 

General for his approval; and collaborating with DOJ acquisition 

management staff to procure a contractor to produce the CBOB 

decoration sets. Information about the CBOB recipients is 

available at https://badgeofbravery.ncjrs.gov/. 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 23

CHAPTER 3

Supporting Innovation in Adjudication

Prosecutors, judges, and court personnel are looking for 

fresh approaches to adjudicating offenders that will lower 

recidivism rates, clear cases, and decrease court dockets. 

Crimes involving violent and nonviolent offenders require special 

efforts to ensure that these offenders are held accountable and 

that they return to the community with the help and supervision 

they need to avoid re-offending. BJA is committed to providing 

prosecutors, judges, and court personnel with the resources, 

training, and support they need to test new ideas. 

Pretrial Justice Reform

BJA’s pretrial justice reform efforts coordinate and provide 

mentoring opportunities for jurisdictions engaged in pretrial 

reform. BJA worked with its TTA provider, the Pretrial Justice 

Institute (PJI), on these efforts, which include hosting and 

facilitating state and regional education sessions; providing peerto-peer mentoring opportunities for criminal justice professionals 

engaging in pretrial justice reform; and managing and continuing 

the work of the national Pretrial Justice Working Group (PJWG) 

and its subcommittees. 

In FY 2012, PJI accomplished the following:

■ Held meetings in March and June 2012 of the three 

subcommittees formed by the PJWG: Research, 

Communications, and Criminal Justice System. These 

subcommittees seek to expand participation of stakeholder 

groups beyond those represented on the PJWG and to 

coordinate members’ pretrial justice initiatives. 

■ Provided focused education and training efforts for the 

following criminal justice system disciplines:

− Prosecutors: In February, PJI presented at the National 

District Attorneys Association Conference on how 

prosecutors can benefit from the use of empirically validated 

pretrial risk assessment tools. In October, PJI presented a 

webinar on evidence-based approaches to pretrial justice 

for APA members, during which more than 300 prosecutors 

participated.

− Defense Attorneys: PJI presented a plenary session on 

pretrial justice at the annual training conference of the Utah 

Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys. The session, 

which was attended by both public defenders and private 

defense counsel, included a discussion of the challenges 

pretrial justice reform faces in Utah and the role of the 

defense bar in overcoming those challenges. PJI presented 

a similar session to the South Carolina Public Defender 

Association. Attended by almost every public defender in 

South Carolina, the session served as an introduction to 

pretrial justice reform in a state that currently has no formal 

pretrial release program.

− Judiciary: PJI and BJA formed the National Judicial Council 

on Pretrial Justice, which met for the first time in April. 

Fifteen judges from around the country attended the meeting 

and discussed the opportunities and challenges for pretrial 

justice from their perspective. 

■ PJI and BJA published three documents providing information 

to pretrial services programs: Risk Assessment 101, Using 

Technology to Enhance Pretrial Services, and Dispelling the 

Myths: What Policymakers Need to Know About Pretrial 

Research. PJI, in partnership with the National Association of 

Counties (NACo), is drafting a guide for rural county elected 

officials on implementing pretrial services in rural areas.
24 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

■ PJI completed multicounty risk assessment studies in Colorado 

and Florida. These studies—the Colorado Pretrial Assessment 

Tool (CPAT) and Florida Pretrial Risk Assessment Instrument—

will allow all counties in those states to implement a risk 

assessment tool that has been validated for their state. Several 

counties in those states are beginning to use these instruments. 

Additionally, single-jurisdiction pretrial risk assessment studies 

were completed in Lee County, Florida; Wayne County, 

Michigan; Santa Clara County, California; and Allegheny County, 

Pennsylvania. 

■ In September, PJI, together with BJA and OVC, convened 

a Victim’s Focus Group to discuss pretrial justice from the 

perspective of victims. Discussions are underway to establish 

a Victim’s Council on Pretrial Justice to continue discussion of 

these issues.

Information about PJI and PJWG and its subcommittees can be 

found at www.pretrial.org/.

Holistic Defense

In 2010, BJA supported the launch of the Center for Holistic 

Defense (www.holisticdefense.org/), a national TTA resource 

center and a project of the Bronx Defenders, an award-winning 

public defender office in New York City. Since its inception, the 

center has established itself as a national TTA resource for public 

defender offices, individual advocates, policymakers, and other 

criminal justice stakeholders who seek information, guidance, and 

assistance in adopting a more holistic model of public defense 

representation. 

Holistic defense is a client-centered interdisciplinary model of 

public defense that combines aggressive legal advocacy with 

a broader recognition that, for most indigent people arrested 

and charged with a crime, the criminal case is only one of the 

many devastating consequences of criminal justice involvement. 

The key insight of holistic defense is that to be truly effective 

advocates for clients, defenders must broaden the scope of 

Judge Margie Enquist, District Court, 

1st Judicial District of Colorado

For years, representatives from all of 

the major stakeholders in Colorado’s 

1st Judicial District have been working 

to reexamine and improve how bail is 

administered. The district made some 

improvements; however, it did not have 

an adequate tool to determine pretrial 

risk. A BJA grant facilitated the gathering 

and analysis of information from 10 

counties in Colorado and the conversion 

of that information into an effective risk 

assessment instrument. With this grant 

assistance, Colorado decisionmakers now 

have the Colorado Pretrial Assessment 

Tool (CPAT), an empirically validated 

multijurisdictional pretrial risk assessment 

instrument that is being implemented 

in several counties. Recently, Judge 

Enquist acted as cochair of the Colorado 

Commission on Criminal & Juvenile 

Justice’s bail subcommittee, which 

examined bail administration and pretrial 

practices across Colorado. The availability 

of CPAT allowed the subcommittee to 

recommend changes in the bail statute, 

so that bail decisions focus on risk (of reoffense and failure to appear) and not on 

a monetary bond schedule. Legislation is 

anticipated to be introduced in 2013.

Walt Smith, Court Administrator, 12th 

Judicial District of Florida

In 2011, Manatee County, Florida 

participated in a multijurisdictional study, 

funded by BJA, to develop an evidencebased risk assessment tool to assist judges 

in determining the risk that arrestees might 

fail to appear for court or be rearrested 

if they are released awaiting trial. Data 

were collected from Manatee County 

and five other Florida counties, and a 

risk assessment tool was developed. The 

Manatee County judges began using this 

tool in April 2012 and have indicated their 

satisfaction with it. Without the support 

of BJA and the expertise provided by PJI, 

evidence-based decisionmaking for pretrial 

release in Manatee County would not have 

been implemented.

SUCCESS

STORIES: TTA TO ENHANCE PRETRIAL JUSTICE
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 25

their representation to not only provide criminal representation 

but also address the underlying issues that play a part in driving 

clients into the criminal justice system, including related legal 

representation (e.g., civil and family), social work support, and 

advocacy in the client community. 

Accomplishments for FY 2012 include:

■ Releasing a national request for proposals (RFP) in January 

2012 seeking applicant defender offices interested in receiving 

8 to 12 months of intensive, hands-on TTA in implementing 

holistic defense. Three successful applicants were chosen in 

March 2012: the Maryland Office of the Public Defender, the 

East Bay Community Law Center (Berkeley, California), and the 

Mecklenburg County Public Defender Office (Charlotte, North 

Carolina).

■ Delivering presentations on holistic defense at the first 

ever Symposium on Public Defense in Indian Country held 

at Gonzaga Law School in Spokane, Washington and at the 

BJA-sponsored Tribal Civil Legal Assistance and Criminal 

Indigent Defense Planning and Coordination meeting held in 

Washington, D.C.

■ Developed and produced a 30-minute documentary-style 

training film on holistic defense to be distributed nationally and 

used in conjunction with ongoing TTA efforts.

Judicial Training

BJA has developed a successful partnership with NJC and 

collaborates on training topics and scans the field for emerging 

issues. They meet quarterly to discuss priorities and determine 

how to leverage existing resources to best serve state, local, and 

tribal judges. Through NJC, BJA reaches a vast array of judges 

with new judge training and education on pretrial reform and 

innovative leadership skills. 

NJC’s accomplishments in FY 2012 include:

Mental Competence Best Practices Model Program: With 

BJA grant funding, NJC developed a best practices model for 

addressing mental competency issues in the criminal justice 

system. In January 2012, NJC launched the Mental Competency 

web site (www.mentalcompetency.org), as well as a blog and 

Facebook and Twitter accounts. Three webcasts to discuss the 

contents of the best practices model were held in July, August, 

and September. 

Innovative Leadership Skills for Leader-Manager Judges: NJC 

presented The Theory and Practice of Judicial Leadership, the 

first of two resident leadership programs contemplated under 

the BJA grant, in Reno, Nevada on April 23–26, 2012. During the 

following 6 months, NJC delivered the second resident program 

(Meeting the Leadership Challenge), developed web-based 

learning sessions, and released two white papers (one of which 

focused on pretrial reform). 

Continuum of Criminal Justice Responses to Drug-Involved 

Offenders: Vision and Consensus: NJC is partnering with JMI, PJI, 

and APPA to determine the best and most effective responses 

to drug-involved offenders at points along the criminal justice 

continuum. During the first meeting, held in January 2012, 

stakeholders began to build a consensus on the best ways to 

create a systemic process for managing drug-involved offenders 

within the criminal justice system. The second meeting, which 

was held on June 26–27, 2012, reviewed the group’s work and 

finalized the continuum and consensus report.

Tribal Justice: Collaborative Training and Technical Assistance 

Project: The National Tribal Judicial Center (www.judges.org/

ntjc/) at NJC is currently operating under two BJA grants with 

its partner, the Tribal Justice Institute at the University of North 

Dakota. The main purpose is to assist grantees of BJA’s Tribal 

Court Assistance Program (TCAP) develop, implement, and 

enhance their tribal justice systems. The partnership’s courses will 

cover core subject areas involving entry-, medium-, and advancedlevel court-related subjects. Courses currently under development 

include:

■ Trial Advocacy and Evidence for Non-Attorney Tribal 

Prosecutors.

■ Handling Domestic Violence Cases in Tribal Court.

■ The Indian Civil Rights Act: Protecting Rights in Tribal Court.
26 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

■ Pending and Declined Prosecutions in Indian Country: 

Coordinating With U.S. Attorneys.

■ California Tribal Court-State Court Symposium.

NJC also: 

■ Hosted an annual train-the-trainer session for judges. In this 

intensive skills-based course, selected individuals learn the 

theory of adult education as it applies to judges and put those 

skills into practice by making a presentation and receiving 

critical feedback.

■ Produced webcasts, including 12 sessions adapted from 

sessions presented during courses held in Reno, Nevada in 

2012.

■ With BJA, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the White 

House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), and 

Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities, held three 

symposia: “Presiding Judges Symposium: Enhancing Court 

Efficiency Through Emerging Addiction Science” and two state 

symposia on the science of addiction. 

Community Prosecution

Administered by APA, the Community Prosecution Initiative 

provides TTA for prosecutors’ offices to gain the skills they need 

to build partnerships with and define a role for the community 

in public safety. This initiative’s goal in FY 2012 was to identify 

evidence-based strategies for prosecutors to use to ensure 

public safety and increase community trust and confidence 

in the criminal justice system by implementing cost-saving 

programs that lead to a more efficient and effective justice 

system. APA accomplished this goal by establishing five new 

community prosecution initiatives around the country (Baltimore, 

Maryland; San Francisco, California; Anchorage, Alaska; Denver, 

Colorado; and Norfolk, Virginia) and assisting two offices with the 

improvement of their community prosecution strategies (Portland, 

Maine and Austin, Texas). 

Accomplishments for FY 2012 include:

■ With assistance from APA, the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s 

Office restructured its entire office under a community 

prosecution geographical zone model. The office now has 

teams of prosecutors assigned to one of three zones who 

handle all cases arising from their assigned zone. This effort 

allows prosecutors to engage the community more effectively 

while defining a role for citizens in public safety and crime 

prevention. Moreover, prosecutors build better partnerships 

with law enforcement because they work with the same policing 

precincts daily. 

■ APA conducted mentoring site visits in an effort to enhance 

the community prosecution strategies of the Portland (Maine) 

Police Department and the Travis County (Texas) District 

Attorney’s Office. New community prosecution strategies have 

flourished in these jurisdictions, including the establishment of 

the DMI Initiative. 

■ APA hosted the 7th National Community Prosecution 

Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This conference was 

a public/private partnership with Target Corporation, which 

provided conference facilities and logistical support, allowing 

APA to maximize prosecutorial training at a reduced federal 

expense. 

■ APA’s Innovations in Criminal Justice Summit: 2011 Conference 

Report was disseminated to state and local prosecutors and 

uploaded to APA’s web site, encouraging criminal justice 

practitioners to download this document and replicate the 

identified innovative programs. 

■ APA conducted an onsite mentoring visit to the San Francisco 

District Attorney’s Office to provide TTA for the establishment 

of a citywide community prosecution operation. Following the 

visit, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office deployed 10 

prosecutors to work with the community and law enforcement 

on problem-solving and crime prevention strategies.

■ APA conducted an onsite mentoring visit to the Anchorage 

City Attorney’s Office to conduct community prosecution 

training for that office’s criminal division. Following the visit, the 

Anchorage City Attorney’s Office launched plans to restructure 

according to the geographic community prosecution model. 

The transition date is set for March 1, 2013.
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 27

■ APA conducted a TTA site visit to the Denver City Attorney’s 

Office to train assistant city attorneys who will be responsible 

for establishing a community prosecution unit within the office. 

As of November 2012, two assistant city attorneys have been 

deployed to the community to address quality-of-life, code 

enforcement, and crime prevention issues. 

■ APA provided technical assistance to the Norfolk (Virginia) 

Commonwealth Attorney’s Office to launch its Community 

Collaboration Center located in the city’s Workforce 

Development Center, which provides community access to 

services such as job skills development and placement. The 

partnership with the Workforce Development Center allows the 

Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney’s Office to access additional 

onsite resources when assisting members of the community 

with problem-solving or crime prevention efforts. 

Southwest and Northern Border 

Prosecution Initiatives

The Southwest Border Prosecution Initiative (SWBPI) and the 

Northern Border Prosecution Initiative (NBPI) provide funds to 

eligible jurisdictions in the 4 Southwest border and 14 Northern 

border states for qualifying federally initiated and referred 

criminal cases. The programs reimburse jurisdictions for the 

prosecution and pretrial detention costs of cases that the 

federal government has declined and referred to the local or 

state jurisdiction. SWBPI and NBPI differ from many other BJA 

programs in that they are reimbursement programs for costs 

incurred by state and local jurisdictions rather than grants.

■ In FY 2012, 37 SWBPI payments were made for a total of more 

than $8 million, and 5 NBPI payments were made for a total 

of more than $896,000. The programs reimbursed the costs 

associated with 6,453 cases that were federally declined and 

referred to the local jurisdictions. Without this funding, the 

state and local jurisdictions would most likely have been unable 

to prosecute these federal cases.

■ In FY 2013, BJA plans to continue its close partnership with 

the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in the SWBPI and NBPI jurisdictions 

to enhance the guidance on this program. BJA will also offer 

a webinar to all jurisdictions in spring 2013 that will cover 

program requirements and guidelines, mechanisms for tracking 

and reporting supporting documentation, and the case review 

process.

Visit the SWBPI web site at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/swbpi/index.

html, and the NBPI web site at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nbpi for more 

information.

Wrongful Conviction Review Program

In FY 2009, at the direction of Congress, BJA created the 

Wrongful Conviction Review Program to provide grant funds 

to public and nonprofit entities that represent potentially 

wrongfully convicted individuals in cases of post-conviction 

claims of innocence. The goals of this initiative are to (1) provide 

high-quality and efficient representation for defendants who 

may be factually innocent and wrongfully convicted; (2) alleviate 

burdens placed on the criminal justice system through costly and 

prolonged post-conviction litigation; and (3) identify, whenever 

possible, the actual perpetrator of the crime. The program 

supports the expenditure of funds to evaluate and litigate 

claims of innocence and may be used to help defray the costs of 

forensic re-analysis, expert consultation and testimony, screening/

evaluation, and litigation services, including hiring qualified 

attorneys. Through this program, BJA made 11 awards totaling 

more than $2.2 million in FY 2012. 

In addition, BJA partnered with NIJ to provide $75,000 in support 

of IACP’s “National Summit on Wrongful Convictions.” BJA also 

awarded eight JAG awards to State Administering Agencies 

(SAA) totaling $617,000 to create a demonstration project that 

provides video recording equipment for use in taping custodial 

interrogations.

Finally, BJA continued to support the activities of the National 

Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), its current 

national TTA provider, to grantees and other entities engaged in 

wrongful conviction review and representation activities. NACDL 

accomplished the following in FY 2012:

■ Completed an indepth assessment of the FY 2009 Wrongful 

Conviction Review Program grantees. This project examined 
28 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

the impact of BJA grant funds on improving representation 

and increasing efficiency in post-conviction innocence claims. 

It looked not only at case outcomes but also at other factors 

such as the effects in offsetting costs, increasing the number of 

cases that offices are able to accept, and decreasing the length 

of the case screening process. According to the assessment’s 

results, BJA funding vastly improved grantees’ capability to 

screen, investigate, and litigate claims of actual innocence more 

efficiently and effectively.

Wrongful Conviction Review Program: Success Stories

(Note: The full accounts—and additional ones—can be found online at www.bja.gov/AR)

Brian Banks: Wrongfully Accused

In 2002, 17-year-old Brian Banks was wrongfully convicted of rape. At the time of his conviction, Banks was, by all accounts, a rising football 

star with dreams of playing in the NFL. Nearly a decade after his conviction, Banks’ accuser recanted her statements and acknowledged 

she fabricated the whole story. The California Innocence Project presented this evidence of Banks’ innocence to the Los Angeles District 

Attorney’s Office, who launched an investigation into the case. After a thorough review of the evidence, the District Attorney’s Office 

conceded that Banks was wrongfully convicted. On May 24, 2012, Judge Mark C. Kim of the Los Angeles Superior Court reversed Banks’ 

conviction.

Andre Davis: Nearly 32 Years Behind Bars—and Innocent

Andre Davis was exonerated based on a DNA test after nearly 32 years behind bars for the kidnapping, rape, and murder of a 3-year-old 

girl in Champaign County, Illinois. The DNA test also identified the apparent perpetrator of the crime, an individual who had testified 

against Davis at two trials in the early 1980s. 

The crime for which he was wrongfully convicted occurred on August 8, 1980. Shortly after 6:30 p.m., the 3-year-old victim, Brianna Stickle, 

disappeared from the front yard of her home in Rantoul, Illinois, where she lived with her mother and stepfather. Brianna was found dead 

in a utility room of a neighborhood house, and Davis was arrested the same day for the crime. At Davis’s first trial in 1981, the prosecution 

sought the death penalty, but jurors did not unanimously agree. Instead, he was sentenced to natural life in prison. That conviction was 

later reversed because a bailiff had failed to tell the judge that the jury had requested a transcript during its deliberations. At Davis’s 1983 

retrial, he again was convicted of all charges but sentenced to 80 years in prison rather than natural life. The appellate court affirmed the 

conviction in April 1984.

On February 17, 2004, Davis, represented by Jane Raley of the Center on Wrongful Convictions, filed a motion for DNA testing of the 

biological evidence in the case. The test identified two male profiles, neither of which was Davis’s. Raley filed a petition in the Champaign 

County Circuit Court to vacate Davis’s conviction based on, among other new evidence, the DNA test results. Nonetheless, Champaign 

County Circuit Court Judge Charles M. Leonhard denied the petition in February 2011, ruling that the new evidence “did not undermine 

confidence in the outcome” of the trial. 

Raley appealed, and on March 5, 2012, the Illinois Appeals Court overturned the denial of the petition and ordered a new trial based on 

the DNA test results. On July 6, the prosecution dismissed the charges, and Davis was released from Tamms Correctional Center, the 

state’s most secure prison.

Davis was the 42nd Illinois defendant exonerated by DNA since the advent of the DNA forensic testing in 1989. There were 64 Illinois 

exonerations based on evidence other than DNA in that period, bringing the total number to 106. Of those, Davis served the longest—

31 years, 10 months, and 29 days. He was 19 when arrested and 50 when released. 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 29

■ In March, presented a national training event titled Examining 

Forensic Pathology: Distinguishing Medicine from Myth 

in Kansas City, Missouri. This successful program had 168 

attendees from 37 states and the District of Columbia.

Court Reengineering

Severe budget cuts during the past several years have forced 

state courts to change how they operate. Grant assistance 

from BJA and the State Justice Institute (SJI) has enabled state 

courts, through technical assistance from the National Center 

for State Courts (NCSC), to develop long-term solutions to 

these cuts rather than implement only short-term remedies. 

These reengineering solutions have improved many state court 

processes despite decreasing resources. BJA partnered with SJI 

on its State Court Reengineering Initiative to expand these efforts 

to three additional states: Arkansas, Maine, and Georgia. 

In FY 2012, the following accomplishments were achieved:

Arkansas: NCSC assisted the Arkansas Administrative Office of 

the Courts to establish five standalone court-based programs/

dockets to reduce probation violations by drug offenders. Based 

on the Hawaii Opportunity Probation with Enforcement program, 

Arkansas’ SWIFT Courts (which stands for “swift and certain 

sanctions”) are an outgrowth of that state’s work with the Justice 

Reinvestment Initiative. NCSC has assisted the SWIFT Court 

pilot programs in developing short- and long-term performance 

measures, assessing capacity to collect data related to these 

measures, and providing onsite implementation reviews at each of 

the five sites. 

Maine: The use of technology is a key aspect of improving 

operations in the state courts. NCSC worked with the Maine 

Supreme Court and Administrative Office of the Courts to 

evaluate their technology infrastructure, operations, and goals. A 

new strategy was established, and Maine Judiciary has started to 

use technology to reduce costs and improve operations.

Georgia: Working with the Fulton County Court Improvement 

Task Force, NCSC presented and facilitated the first ever Joint 

Leadership Session of the Fulton County Superior and State 

Court Judges. This forum resulted in the adoption of a charter 

and the election of a Joint Governance Committee to plan for 

administrative efficiencies and service improvements that were 

identified in the previously released task force report.

Harvard Executive Session for State 

Court Leaders in the 21st Century

BJA, in partnership with SJI and NCSC, sponsored the Harvard 

Executive Sessions for State Court Leadership in the 21st Century. 

Hosted during six meetings over 3 years (2008–2011) at Harvard’s 

Kennedy School of Government, subject-matter experts met to 

develop and answer questions that U.S. state courts will face in 

the foreseeable future. This project sought to clarify what leaders 

of state courts can and should do to distinguish their role in our 

system of democratic governance.

In FY 2012, the following project goals were accomplished:

■ The first three papers in the Perspectives on State Court 

Leadership series were published. These papers discussed 

principles for court governance, approaches for sharing court 

leadership between state and local levels, and methods for 

courts to communicate more effectively with the public and 

the justice community. They were directly informed by the 

conversations and conclusions reached during the Executive 

Session meetings. 

■ The key ideas from the Executive Session were highlighted 

at national and state conferences focused on state court 

governance and advancement.

■ A strategy was developed to implement ideas from the 

Executive Session through three pilot projects to be carried out 

in collaboration with individual states and trial courts. 

Problem-Solving Justice Initiatives

The Center for Court Innovation (CCI) works in close partnership 

with BJA in many areas in the criminal justice system. Three 

ongoing priorities for BJA and CCI are to foster problem-solving 
30 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

innovation within the justice system, promote procedural justice, 

and encourage thoughtful risk-taking among criminal justice 

officials. 

FY 2012 accomplishments include: 

■ A New Community Court: Under the Byrne Criminal Justice 

Initiative (BCJI) and with the support of New York City Mayor 

Michael Bloomberg and New York State Chief Judge Jonathan 

Lippman, CCI has begun planning a new community court 

in Brownsville, a Brooklyn neighborhood with high rates of 

violence. While still in the planning stages, the Brownsville 

Community Justice Center has already launched a series of 

programs, including the Brownsville Anti-Violence Project 

supported by BJA under BCJI. The antiviolence initiative, which 

includes the New York City Police Department, the Brooklyn 

District Attorney’s Office, USAO, and local service providers 

and ex-offenders, convenes a monthly series of offender 

notification forums with local parolees. 

BJA Director Denise E. O’Donnell and other DOJ and local 

leaders spoke at the Brownsville Community Justice Center 

kickoff meeting.

■ Fighting Gun Violence: With support from a BJA ARRA grant, 

CCI created a gun violence-prevention program in Crown 

Heights, Brooklyn. Based on the CureViolence model from 

Chicago, Save Our Streets Crown Heights takes a public 

health approach to preventing gun crime, sending “violence 

interrupters” into the streets to halt the cycle of retaliatory 

violence before it spins out of control. Preliminary findings 

suggest that the Crown Heights initiative has reduced gun 

violence compared to adjacent police precincts in Brooklyn. 

■ National Drug Court Online Learning System: With support 

from BJA, CCI created an online training platform for drug 

court practitioners. This free resource offers lessons on a wide 

array of topics, including the psychopharmacology of addiction, 

sanctions and incentives, and cultural competency. For more 

information, see www.drugcourtonline.org.

■ Honors: In 2012, the National Council on Crime and 

Delinquency (NCCD) honored CCI with three PASS Awards, two 

of which were for products made possible from BJA grants: a 

film (Testing New Ideas) and a podcast series (New Thinking). 

The PASS Awards honor creative work that furthers public 

understanding of criminal justice, juvenile justice, child welfare, 

and adult protection issues.

Problem-Solving Justice Training and Technical 

Assistance

The Problem-Solving Justice Training and Technical Assistance 

initiative helps innovators around the country plan, implement, 

sustain, and evaluate problem-solving initiatives that link addicted 

offenders to treatment and services and improve outcomes for 

communities. In partnership with BJA, CCI provides a wide range 

of services to promote the implementation of community-based 

criminal justice reforms. 

Accomplishments in FY 2012 include:

■ Hosting nearly 550 criminal justice reformers (judges, attorneys, 

police officers, probation officials, and others) for structured 

site visits to CCI’s demonstration projects in New York. More 

than two out of three visitors said they learned new ideas that 

they wanted to test when they returned home.

■ Convening an international conference of community courts in 

Washington, D.C., which drew more than 300 attendees from 

75 jurisdictions and 7 countries. Keynote speakers included 

then Assistant U.S. Attorney General Laurie O. Robinson, 

ONDCP Director R. Gil Kerlikowske, and BJA Director Denise 

E. O’Donnell. Pre- and post-conference surveys indicated an 

average increase in knowledge of more than 30 percent. The 

Community Justice 2012 web page posts key information and 

ideas from the conference for those who could not attend.

■ Providing hands-on consulting services to dozens of innovative 

projects across the United States. This includes aiding the 

launch of new programs in Washington, D.C. (where the D.C. 

Superior Court was restructured to create six communityfocused courts, each with a dedicated judge) and Portland, 

Oregon (which opened a court in a community-based, 

supportive housing facility to serve the homeless population). 

With CCI’s help, several jurisdictions planned to apply problemsolving principles in centralized court settings (e.g., southwest 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 31

Detroit, Michigan and South Tucson, Arizona). Staff from CCI 

also worked to improve existing innovations, including helping 

community courts in South Dallas, Texas; Hartford, Connecticut; 

and Seattle, Washington to serve as mentors to other programs 

in their regions.

■ Adding nearly 30 features to the CCI web site, including 

interviews, articles, and podcasts. New publications included 

The Public Wants to Be Involved: A Roundtable Conversation 

about Community and Restorative Justice and Minding the 

Elephant: Criminal Defense in Community Courts. Traffic to 

CCI’s web site increased by 18 percent over the course of the 

year. 

Improving Courtroom Communication

In close collaboration with court system leaders in Milwaukee, 

Wisconsin (including Milwaukee Chief Judge Jeffrey Kremers, 

District Court Administrator Bruce Harvey, District Attorney John 

Chisholm, and First Assistant State Public Defender Tom Reed), 

CCI and NJC implemented a national demonstration project 

designed to test whether improved communication practices in 

the courtroom can improve perceptions of justice and compliance 

with court orders. 

In pursuit of this goal, researchers from CCI have conducted 

a combination of defendant interviews, structured courtroom 

observation, and compliance tracking to harvest pre- and posttraining data about Milwaukee defendants’ perceptions of their 

court experience as well as their compliance with court orders 

(e.g., successfully completing a term of probation, paying a fine) 

and their compliance with the law generally. This was followed 

by an intensive training for judges and other Milwaukee court 

participants that covered five modules: (1) the role of procedural 

fairness, (2) verbal communication, (3) nonverbal communication, 

(4) considering special populations, and (5) implementing 

procedural fairness. 

Researchers conducted a post-training focus group with the 

judges who attended the training to solicit guidance on how the 

curriculum could be improved going forward. A recurring theme 

was that the training helped justify practices that many judges 

already strive to implement. The pilot curriculum is available at 

CCI’s Procedural Justice page: www.courtinnovation.org/topic/

procedural-justice. The final research report will be published 

in early 2013 with a list of suggested best practices to improve 

courtroom communication. 

Trial and Error Initiative

Initiated by CCI with the support of BJA, the Trial and Error 

Initiative is a multifaceted inquiry designed to promote thoughtful 

criminal justice reform and honest self-reflection among criminal 

justice agencies. It does this by examining previous efforts to 

improve the criminal justice system that may not have achieved 

the intended results and by attempting to identify lessons learned 

and promote innovation going forward. In FY 2012, the initiative 

focused on two products:

Innovation Survey: More than 600 top-level officials (including 

chief judges, chief court administrators, district attorneys, and 

local and state police chiefs and sheriffs) from across the nation 

participated in a survey designed to highlight the state of criminal 

justice innovation in the United States. The study gathered 

quantitative data from agency leaders about the innovation 

process: Where do leaders look for new ideas? What are the 

barriers to innovation? Do agency heads have access to research? 

The survey findings will be distributed nationally in 2013. 

Qualitative Interviews: Project staff conducted interviews with a 

wide variety of criminal justice leaders, including A. Gail Prudenti, 

New York State’s Chief Administrative Judge; Alex Busansky, 

director of NCCD; Jerry McElroy, executive director of New 

York City’s Criminal Justice Agency; Paul DeWolfe, head of the 

Maryland Office of the Public Defender; Chief Justice Herb Yazzie 

of the Navajo Nation; and Vincent Schiraldi, commissioner of 

the New York City Department of Probation. These interviews 

highlight the trial and error process, helping tomorrow’s 

innovators learn from the experiences of today’s leading criminal 

justice practitioners and thinkers.

For more information and to access project publications, visit 

www.courtinnovation.org/topic/trial-and-error.

FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 33

CHAPTER 4

Advancing Information Sharing and Technology to Fight 

Crime, Counter Terrorism, and Protect the Homeland

BJA continues to successfully advance the implementation 

of criminal justice information sharing across local, state, 

and tribal agencies by remaining committed to a consensusbased, collaborative approach. The successes of BJA’s justice 

information-sharing initiatives are realized by focusing efforts 

across four key activities: 

■ Defining national policy and practices.

■ Developing technical standards and guidelines.

■ Providing training and technical assistance. 

■ Supporting targeted, issue-based implementations in the field.

These advances in information sharing are efficient and effective 

because each leverages a broad array of government investments 

made possible by BJA’s Global Justice Information Sharing 

Initiative (Global) and related TTA programs. BJA and Global’s 

unique collaboration with partners from various jurisdictions, 

disciplines, and sectors is working to foster a secure and trusted 

environment where the justice and public safety community’s 

need for timely, accurate, complete, and appropriately accessible 

information can be realized. Moreover, BJA’s Global standardsbased tools provide cost-effective solutions that promote 

evidence-based and data-driven decisionmaking. 

In FY 2012, BJA continued its support of targeted training for 

law enforcement officers, investigators, analysts, and executives, 

including terrorism awareness training in partnership with DHS 

and the Program Manager, Information Sharing Environment (PM–

ISE) to support the nation’s network of state and major urban area 

fusion centers as well as initiatives to fight electronic crime and 

promote social media.

State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training and 

the Communities Against Terrorism Programs

State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training

BJA’s State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training (SLATT) Program 

provides law enforcement personnel with specialized training on 

pre-incident information and the resources needed to combat 

terrorism and extremist criminal activities. The SLATT Program 

delivers a comprehensive set of educational programs and tools, 

both in person and via its web site (www.SLATT.org). Each course 

is delivered by certified subject-matter expert instructors and is 

specifically designed to meet the needs of the target audience—

from the street-level officer to the executive. 

Since the program’s inception in 1996, more than 123,100 law 

enforcement professionals have participated in SLATT’s onsite 

training programs. SLATT maintains strong partnerships with 

USAOs, the FBI, fusion centers, and RISS Centers, along with 

state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies. For example, in 

the years 2010–2012, SLATT collaborated with USAOs in 47 states 

to deliver 146 anti-terrorism training events that were customized 

to the needs of each audience.

Additionally, the SLATT Train-the-Trainer Program leverages the 

nation’s limited law enforcement resources by providing trainers 

with a comprehensive anti-terrorism curriculum. Participants 

receive teaching aids, video resources, and student materials to 

use in their training. Since the Train-the-Trainer Program began in 

2003, more than 2,900 trainers, including approximately 320 FBI 

representatives, have trained more than 238,800 individuals using 

this curriculum. 
34 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

Key FY 2012 SLATT accomplishments include:

■ Delivered 109 on-demand workshops to more than 10,950 law 

enforcement professionals. This is the second-largest number of 

officers trained in a year since the program’s inception.

■ Experienced a 67.3 percent increase in registration on its web 

site (www.SLATT.org).

■ Distributed more than 69,890 counter-terrorism publications, 

CD–ROMs, and DVDs to law enforcement. 

Selected 90-Day Followup Comments 

from SLATT Workshop Participants

■ “Have utilized both the online training and onsite training and have 

found both to be an indispensable form of LEO [law enforcement 

officer] instruction regarding the intelligence community and today’s 

trends. I have made it mandatory for my detectives to join SLATT as 

a resource. Look forward to all future training endeavors with SLATT.”

■ “I felt the training was very useful, and I was so impressed with 

SLATT and your instructors that I have arranged for SLATT to come 

back to Washington on behalf of the fusion center and teach a 1-day 

class. Thanks again!”

■ “I thought the Muslim culture class was excellent and very well 

taught. I could have spent a lot more time learning from our 

instructor. She was very knowledgeable and had a fantastic 

presentation.”

■ “A letter from an unknown citizen was left on one of our squad cars 

in the police parking lot. The writing contained information indicative 

of someone who aspires to sovereign citizen ideals. The CD from my 

training was shared with department personnel, and intelligence on 

a likely writer/deliverer of the letter was obtained from a neighboring 

agency, which identified a person with whom we had had and were 

currently having contact. Information was shared with patrol officers 

for future reference.”

■ “I appreciate having been alerted to the level of danger and caution 

involved when dealing with these individuals. I can recognize their 

tactics and be more prepared if I ever encounter some, rather than 

being caught off guard and confused.”

■ Met a critical need for instruction on the criminal element of the 

sovereign citizen movement. This extremely popular training 

has been delivered to 6,413 participants in 28 states.

■ Administered quantitative onsite assessments and qualitative 

surveys for in-person training with 90-day post-training followup 

via quantitative online surveys, and assessment results have 

been favorable: 

− Since January 1, 2012, assessments have been administered 

and measured for 20 workshops, and 90.3 percent of 

participants demonstrated an improvement in knowledge as 

a result of the training. 

− 482 workshop participants completed surveys 90 days after 

attending SLATT training, and 99 percent of respondents 

agreed that SLATT training increased their awareness 

of terrorism indicators. Additionally, 83 percent of the 

respondents indicated that they had shared information with 

colleagues.

Communities Against Terrorism

In FY 2012, SLATT also supported the Communities Against 

Terrorism (CAT) program, which offers law enforcement agencies 

resource tools such as flyers for distribution to engage members 

of the local community. The CAT program provides industryspecific information on suspicious activities associated with 

the planning and preparation of a terrorist attack. Industry 

practitioners know what is “normal” in their business arena (e.g., 

train and bus terminals, hobby stores, or chemical suppliers), and 

the CAT program leverages this knowledge by enhancing the 

ability of practitioners to detect activities with potential terrorism 

connection.

Key FY 2012 CAT accomplishments included:

■ Distributed more than 15,200 CD–ROMs containing program 

materials to law enforcement agencies. Program materials were 

made available on the SLATT web site; more than 1,663 files 

were downloaded from the site. 

■ Conducted comprehensive reviews of program material with 

terrorism subject matter experts, civil liberties and privacy 

experts, industry practitioners, and program staff. 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 35

Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting 

Initiative Program Management Office

Managed and staffed by BJA, the Nationwide Suspicious Activity 

Reporting (SAR) Initiative (NSI) Program Management Office 

(PMO) initiated operations in March 2010 with the challenge 

of ensuring that regardless of where in the country suspicious 

activity is reported, these potential indicators of terrorist activity 

can be analyzed and compared with other SAR information 

nationwide. 

NSI (http://nsi.ncirc.gov/) has developed a comprehensive 

program that includes community and law enforcement outreach, 

standardized processes, training, a privacy framework, and 

enabling technology—all of which are essential for successful 

implementation of the initiative. The NSI PMO has continued 

to work with key partners at the state, local, tribal, territorial, 

and federal levels of government, as well as advocacy groups, 

not only to develop and update NSI’s policies and processes 

but also to help ensure that Americans’ privacy, civil rights, and 

civil liberties are protected throughout the implementation and 

institutionalization of these processes.

NSI, through the National Network of Fusion Centers, reaches 

more than 14,000 law enforcement agencies in 47 states, the 

District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, as well 

as more than 60 federal departments and agencies. From the 

information submitted by these law enforcement agencies, there 

are now more than 23,000 SAR records accessible to fusion center 

analysts and the FBI. According to the FBI, this has resulted in the 

initiation of more than 1,000 FBI terrorism-related investigations. 

To date, NSI has trained more than 2,160 state, local, tribal, and 

federal analysts, ensuring that information shared conforms to 

NSI standards and privacy protections. 

NSI has trained approximately 250,000 line officers across the 

country on recognizing behaviors that are potential indicators of 

terrorism activity, and there are continual efforts to institutionalize 

this training. NSI has also developed SAR awareness training 

(http://nsi.ncirc.gov/training_online.aspx) for five sectors of critical 

hometown security partners: fire/emergency medical services, 

emergency management, probation/parole/corrections, public 

safety telecommunications, and private-sector security. 

Key FY 2012 NSI PMO accomplishments included:

■ Increased the number of NSI operational sites from 53 to 73. 

■ Accomplished 53 NSI site visits and delivered 17 NSI Federated 

Search technical assistance engagements.

■ Increased the number of line officers trained via the NSI Line 

Officer Training Program from 166,670 to 240,817.

■ Delivered 14 SAR Analytic Trainings to fusion center analysts 

across the country.

■ Maintained more than 23,000 SARs in the NSI Federated 

Search—an increase of more than 7,000 SARs from FY 2011. In 

addition, more than 64,000 searches of these SARs have been 

conducted—an increase of more than 36,600 searches from 

FY 2011.

■ Developed and disseminated five new sector-specific SAR 

awareness training programs complete with certificate 

capability. Since their launch in April 2012, more than 6,660 

people have taken this training online.

■ Developed the Major Events Toolkit and Fusion Liaison Officer 

Toolkit and managed broad distribution to the field. 

National Criminal Intelligence Resource Center 

The National Criminal Intelligence Resource Center (NCIRC), a 

partnership between BJA and the Institute for Intergovernmental 

Research, provides criminal justice professionals with a multitude 

of resources for law enforcement intelligence operations. NCIRC 

offers a centralized location for TTA resources, including criminal 

intelligence standards, policies, guidelines, and 28 CFR Part 23 

online training. The web site (www.ncirc.gov) has resources for 

implementing the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan, 

privacy information relating to intelligence systems, information 

on NSI, a Criminal Intelligence Training Master Calendar, 

fusion center resources, and information on new resources and 

initiatives. 

NCIRC maintains both a public and a secure web site. The public 

web site provides criminal justice professionals with access 
36 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

to numerous resources for local, state, tribal, and federal law 

enforcement intelligence operations and practices. The secured 

site—accessible through RISS Secure Intranet (RISSNETTM), the 

FBI’s Law Enforcement Online (LEO), and the Homeland Security 

Information Network–Intel—provides additional law enforcement 

and homeland security resources, including policies, techniques, 

best practices, and lessons learned; TTA opportunities; resources 

for fusion centers via the DHS/DOJ Fusion Process Technical 

Assistance Program; and contact information for intelligence 

units, fusion centers, organizations, and associations.

The NCIRC site, one of the few resources that can be accessed 

by multiple secure-but-unclassified (SBU) networks, continued to 

make additional resources available to all of its users and became 

the central access point for NSI and Global’s Criminal Intelligence 

Coordinating Council (CICC). In FY 2012, the NCIRC secure site 

received 10,837 visits, 143,330 page views, 523,040 hits, and 

22,432 downloads. The NCIRC nonsecure web site received 

151,804 visits, 1,589,911 page views, 2,439,304 hits, and 60,855 

downloads.

Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative

Global (https://it.ojp.gov/global) is BJA’s award-winning program 

for working with practitioners to advance effective and efficient 

justice information sharing. As a federal advisory committee to 

the Attorney General, Global serves as the formal vehicle for 

local, state, and tribal justice entities to provide recommendations 

to the Attorney General to promote standards-based electronic 

information sharing and interoperability throughout the justice 

and public safety communities. This group has been essential 

to promoting resources that provide interoperable business 

solutions based on proven national policy, practices, and 

technology solutions. 

Several hundred representatives from leading organizations within 

the justice community volunteered countless hours of support 

to DOJ through participation on the Global Advisory Committee 

(GAC) and Global’s four working groups—the CICC/Global 

Intelligence Working Group (GIWG); Global Standards Council 

(GSC); Global Privacy and Information Quality Working Group 

(GPIQWG); and Global Outreach Working Group (GOWG). 

In FY 2012, Global continued to support BJA’s efforts to develop 

national standards and promote information sharing in the areas 

of privacy, intelligence, infrastructure, and security. BJA produced 

many valuable products and influenced many positive outcomes 

based on the recommendations made by Global members, GAC, 

and Global working groups. Following are some key examples:

■ BJA, through the efforts of the GSC, continued to support 

development and maintenance of numerous Global informationsharing technical exchange standards, such as service 

specification packages in the areas of terrorist screening center 

encounter information, fingerprint information, inmate release 

information, and supervision conditions summary information. 

Under the direction of BJA, the GSC also developed Global 

Reference Architecture (GRA) service specification packages 

in numerous areas, including arrest warrant information, victim 

notification, gang intelligence, charging information, and 

subject contact notices. Development work was also completed 

on numerous Global Federated Identity and Privilege 

Management (GFIPM) standards.

■ BJA finalized two significant publications (An Introduction 

to Familial DNA Searching for State, Local and Tribal Justice 

Agencies: Issues for Consideration and Guide to Conducting 

Privacy Impact Assessments for State, Local, and Tribal Justice 

Entities) to help local, state, and tribal agencies protect 

individual privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights. This work 

was made possible through recommendations made by the 

GPIQWG.

■ BJA addressed a multitude of issues related to collecting, 

handling, and disseminating criminal intelligence information, 

including protecting privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties 

related to this information. Several significant publications 

resulted from these efforts, including Recommendations for 

First Amendment-Protected Events for State and Local Law 

Enforcement Agencies and Developing a Policy on the Use 

of Social Media in Intelligence and Investigative Activities: 

Guidance and Recommendations. This progress was made 

based on recommendations and support from CICC/GIWG and 

other local, state, tribal, and federal partners.
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 37

■ BJA directed the development of the Global Information 

Sharing Toolkit (GIST), which was designed to showcase the 

comprehensive set of Global recommendations and resources 

and to assist visitors to the Justice Information Sharing web site 

(https://it.ojp.gov) in locating the appropriate BJA resources for 

solving their justice information sharing issues. The GIST web 

page (https://it.ojp.gov/gist) allows users to identify customized 

lists of resources that address many of the business problems 

facing local jurisdictions.

Key FY 2012 Global accomplishments in the field included:

■ Improving reentry efforts to support safer communities and 

recidivism reduction—Correctional institutions have increased 

their capacity to share treatment and program information 

about formerly incarcerated individuals with service providers 

to enable continuity of care. 

■ Addressing prescription drug abuse across the nation—

Integration of various state prescription drug monitoring 

systems provides a national architecture, fosters 

interoperability, and reduces costs of state implementation. 

■ Statewide Information Sharing Capability—Agencies 

across the nation have recognized the importance of sharing 

justice information statewide to promote more informed 

decisionmaking about criminal cases. One example is the 

CONNECT South Dakota project, whose goal is to facilitate 

statewide information sharing among state and local law 

enforcement agencies, regardless of disparate geographic 

locations or records management systems/jail management 

systems (RMS/JMS), through the CONNECT South Dakota 

hub. To complete its goals, this project is implementing Global 

recommendations such as the GRA, GFIPM, and Global Privacy 

Policy Development Guide and Implementation Templates,

as well as the BJA-supported National Information Exchange 

Model (NIEM).

■ Interstate Compact Offender Tracking System (ICOTS)—

ICOTS is used by states to notify, accept, and exchange 

information about transferring offenders from one state to 

another. There are 300,000 ICOTS users nationwide. BJAsupported Global standards were used to develop the system, 

which allowed for the reuse of existing technology assets, 

collaboration between loosely connected organizations, 

use of open source software, significant cost savings, and 

implementation within a few months. 

■ Sex Offender Relocation and Notification Act (SORNA) 

Inter-jurisdictional Relocation Service (SIRS)—SORNA 

establishes a set of minimum standards for sex offender 

registration and notification in the United States. It aims to 

close potential gaps and loopholes that existed under prior 

law and generally strengthens the nationwide network of sex 

offender registration and notification programs. SIRS enables 

the exchange of offender and relocation information, including 

notifications, between jurisdictions and qualified agencies as 

The Indiana Data Exchange (IDEx) is a 

21-agency effort under the leadership 

of the Indiana Department of Homeland 

Security that includes local, state, and 

federal agency participation. By using 

a range of Global-supported solutions, 

including GRA, GFIPM framework, and 

NIEM, the initiative connects disparate 

justice and public safety systems’ data, 

leveraging existing investments for 

enhanced decisionmaking and increased 

public safety. Because the planning, design, 

and initial capital investment were grant 

funded, IDEx exemplifies how a state can 

use federal support to initiate a project 

resulting in immediate and long-term cost 

savings and efficiencies.

The IDEx Project webinar can be viewed 

at www.ncja.org/webinars-events/jispwebinars##idexproject. 

SUCCESS

STORIES: THE INDIANA DATA EXCHANGE PROJECT
38 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

part of the officer relocation registration process. The SORNA 

Exchange Portal was created to facilitate effective information 

sharing and serve as the mechanism by which jurisdictions’ 

sex offender registry officials securely communicate with one 

another. However, because the current exchange portal has 

limitations in terms of time, cost, and information provided, a 

standard is being developed utilizing GRA. Once completed, 

the exchange portal will be able to share sex offender 

information electronically via a system-to-system exchange with 

no manual intervention required. 

National Information Exchange Model

NIEM, which grew out of BJA’s Global Justice XML Data Model, 

was launched in 2005 to develop and deploy a national model for 

information sharing and the organizational structure to govern 

it. NIEM has been adopted by federal, state, local, and tribal 

governments across the nation, including an unprecedented 

collaboration among multiple federal agencies such as DOJ, DHS, 

and the Department of Health and Human Services. Originally 

designed using a consensus-based method funded and managed 

by BJA, NIEM is now recognized as a fundamental building block 

to enable the sharing of information across domains, disciplines, 

and jurisdictions.

NIEM brings together diverse communities that collectively 

leverage NIEM tools, processes, and technologies to increase 

efficiencies and improve decisionmaking. NIEM has been 

implemented in all 50 states and several countries. Recent NIEM 

implementations include the following:

■ The CONNECT South Dakota project is currently implementing 

NIEM to facilitate statewide information sharing among state 

and local law enforcement, regardless of geographic location or 

RMS/JMS.

■ Hawaii is currently partnering with state and local governments 

to share justice information using NIEM and GRA. The Hawaii 

Integrated Justice Information Sharing program brings together 

Hawaii’s state, county, and federal justice and non-justice 

related agencies to share justice-related information.

■ The Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) is 

working to standardize “citizen-centric” data with NIEM. VITA 

has centered its compliance strategy on migrating agencies 

toward conformance with NIEM. The move reflects the 

Commonwealth’s increased awareness of the need to reduce 

data redundancy, enforce data quality, and realize a higher 

return on investment for data assets. (See the success story 

below.)

The NIEM web site (www.niem.gov) provides users with the 

opportunity to learn about NIEM and to connect and collaborate 

with experts and others. Users also can register for events or 

training, attend online trainings and webinars, access the latest 

versions of NIEM and tools for working with NIEM, and create 

NIEM-conformant XML exchanges. Enhancements to the site 

began in FY 2012 and include technological advancement in 

stakeholder communication and other updated features. 

April 19, 2012 marked the seventh anniversary of the NIEM 

program, and the global expansion and adoption of NIEM 

continued through FY 2012. Through efforts in several domain 

areas, both Canada and Mexico are looking at adopting 

NIEM. In addition, the NIEM PMO recently sent a team to the 

Netherlands to provide NIEM technical training to more than a 

dozen participants from Europol, Eurojust, and Frontex, as well 

as representatives from countries including Bulgaria, Denmark, 

Finland, Poland, and Sweden.

Domestically, NIEM expanded through the addition of the 

following domains: NIEM Government Resource Management, 

NIEM Health, and NIEM Human Services. These new partnerships 

broaden the reach of the NIEM community to 15 domains. 

Progress also continues across NIEM’s more established domains: 

Biometrics; Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear; Cyber; 

Emergency Management; Immigration; Infrastructure Protection; 

Intelligence; International Trade; Justice; Maritime; Screening; and 

Children, Youth, and Family Services.

In July 2012, BJA led discussions with the NIEM Executive 

Steering Council (ESC) about the importance of initiating and 

supporting the next release of NIEM (version 3.0), which the ESC 

subsequently approved. BJA is managing the implementation of 

NIEM 3.0 with support from the Georgia Tech Research Institute 

(GTRI). NIEM was built to be governed by the community and to 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 39

respond to its business requirements, and NIEM 3.0 will address 

community-identified needs to date. NIEM 3.0 release activities 

will be conducted over a 13-month period, with a planned 

delivery of fall 2013. 

National Motor Vehicle Title 

Information System

Vehicle theft and cloning have too often become lucrative illegal 

activities for organized criminals, with the profits often used to 

support other violent crime. To combat automobile fraud and 

theft, BJA established and oversees the National Motor Vehicle 

Title Information System (NMVTIS) (www.vehiclehistory.gov). BJA 

implements NMVTIS in partnership with the American Association 

of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA), which operates the 

system. 

NMVTIS is an electronic system designed to assist states and 

law enforcement in deterring, investigating, and preventing title 

fraud and other vehicle-related crimes. In addition, the system is 

intended to protect consumers from fraud and unsafe vehicles 

and to keep stolen vehicles from being resold.

Designed to prevent vehicle histories from being concealed from 

consumers, NMVTIS captures into one system specific data from 

state motor vehicle titling agencies, automobile recyclers, junk 

In May 2012, Virginia’s General 

Assembly adopted language in the 

2012 Appropriation Act requiring the 

Commonwealth’s Secretary of Technology 

to work with all cabinet secretaries and their 

agencies to standardize “citizen-centric” 

data. The move reflects the legislature’s 

increased awareness of the need to reduce 

data redundancy, enforce data quality, and 

realize a higher return on investment for 

data assets.

VITA, working on behalf of Virginia’s 

Secretary and the Chief Information Officer, 

has centered its compliance strategy on 

migrating commonwealth agencies toward 

conformance with NIEM. By integrating 

NIEM into Virginia’s enterprise information 

architecture program, VITA will be able 

to enforce a common discipline, an 

established and stable set of standards, 

and a shared vocabulary to support 

semantic interoperability for person-related 

data across state government.

VITA’s NIEM integration strategy will 

also give agencies the ability to map 

data elements in legacy systems and 

commercial-off-the-shelf solutions 

toward a NIEM-conformant IEP. For new 

systems, VITA will support agencies in 

their implementation of NIEM standards 

throughout the system lifecycle. 

Compliance with adopted standards also 

will be a required element in VITA’s review 

and approval process for new projects.

This adoption of NIEM represents 

Virginia’s latest step toward enterprise 

data governance and standardization. 

The state has already made significant 

progress on interoperability in the health 

information technology domain. Based 

on guidance from its Health IT Standards 

Advisory Committee, more than 125 health 

IT standards have been adopted during the 

past year, including implementation guides, 

data exchange, vocabulary, messaging, 

and technology standards. VITA maintains 

the inventory of adopted standards in 

its searchable, web-based Enterprise 

Standards Repository.

VITA views its NIEM integration strategy as 

an opportunity to bring the other domains 

of state government up to the level of 

interoperability achieved in the health 

domain, as well as to establish a framework 

for building information exchanges across 

domains and levels of government. The 

agency has started implementing its NIEM 

strategy by mapping adopted standards for 

personal data to a NIEM-conformant IEP. 

Also, in November 2012, VITA hosted an 

onsite NIEM technical training by the IJIS 

Institute for data stewards across Virginia.

VITA recognizes that achieving 

interoperability through a NIEMconformant strategy will be an incremental 

process, and the state has been working 

from an interim plan for meeting the new 

statutory requirements. The final plan, 

which will include a cost estimate, scope, 

and schedule for NIEM conformance, will 

be ready in July 2013. 

For more information, visit the VITA 

Technology Oversight web site (www.vita.

virginia.gov).

SUCCESS

STORIES: ACHIEVING INTEROPERABILITY ACROSS VIRGINIA THROUGH NIEM
40 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

and salvage yards, and insurance carriers. It is the only publicly 

available system in the United States to which all of these parties 

are required under federal law to report on a regular basis. 

NMVTIS ensures that key information about a vehicle’s condition 

and history is available, accessible, and affordable to consumers. 

Consumers can obtain a NMVTIS Vehicle History Report to access 

critical nationwide total loss, odometer reading, brand history, 

title, and salvage information about a vehicle to make an informed 

car-buying decision. 

Key FY 2012 NMVTIS accomplishments included:

■ The level of state compliance increased; data from 88 percent 

of the nation’s departments of motor vehicles are represented 

in the system.

■ The number of salvage or total loss records received increased 

to 48 million. 

■ AAMVA maintained 99.9 percent system availability. 

■ An enforcement strategy and process were implemented to 

ensure that businesses meeting the NMVITS definitions for 

junkyards, salvage yards, and insurance carriers are reporting 

specific information to NMVTIS on a monthly basis, as required 

by the NMVTIS regulations. The enforcement strategy and 

process added more than 960,000 previously unreported 

vehicles to NMVTIS. 

■ The NMVTIS Law Enforcement Access Tool is available at no 

cost to law enforcement through RISS or the FBI’s LEO. The 

number of authorized law enforcement users of NMVTIS data 

increased to 1,600.

■ The number of consumer NMVTIS inquiries increased 

significantly. This increase can be attributed to several factors: 

the authorization of additional companies as NMVTIS data 

providers, the aggressive marketing strategies of NMVTIS 

data providers, and the passage of California state legislation 

(AB 1215) which, among other things, requires California 

automobile dealers to obtain a NMVTIS Vehicle History Report 

before offering a used vehicle for sale to a consumer.

The system is helping to protect consumers from fraud and unsafe 

vehicles, assist with the identification of cloned vehicles prior to 

title issuance, and provide increased theft and fraud investigative 

abilities for law enforcement. The Government Accountability 

Office (GAO) estimates that, when fully implemented, NMVTIS 

will save taxpayers $4 billion to $11 billion each year. 

Regional Information Sharing Systems

The RISS Program, funded through BJA, offers secure information 

sharing and communications capabilities, investigative support 

services, technical assistance, and critical deconfliction services. 

RISS’s services and programs directly support and positively 

affect our nation’s public safety mission. RISS consists of six 

regional centers and a national technology support center. The 

program serves thousands of local, state, federal, and tribal 

law enforcement and public safety agencies in all 50 states, the 

District of Columbia, U.S. territories, Australia, Canada, England, 

and New Zealand. RISS’s services and programs ultimately affect 

nearly 1 million law enforcement officers, analysts, and public 

safety personnel who have the responsibility for protecting our 

nation from crime and terrorism.

In addition, RISS provides investigative support services such 

as analytical support, equipment loans, intelligence research, 

training, specialized publications, and technical assistance. RISS 

offers law enforcement full-service delivery from the beginning 

of an investigation to the ultimate prosecution and conviction of 

criminals. Through RISS, an officer can query multiple intelligence 

databases, retrieve information from investigative systems, solicit 

assistance from research staff, utilize surveillance equipment, 

receive training, and obtain analytical products. 

RISSNET is a secure law enforcement cloud-computing platform 

that hosts and provides access to millions of pieces of data, offers 

bidirectional information sharing, connects disparate systems, 

and acts as the communications infrastructure for a number of 

critical resources and investigative tools. Currently, 86 agency 

systems are connected or pending connection to RISSNET. More 

than 350 resources are available to authorized users via RISSNET; 

the owners of these resources rely on RISSNET for its proven and 

secure infrastructure. Through RISSNET, authorized users can 

access the RISS Criminal Intelligence Databases (RISSIntel), the 

RISSGang resources, the RISS Automated Trusted Information 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 41

Exchange (RISS ATIX), and RISSafe, as well as other critical 

resources and tools. In FY 2012, more than 31.6 million records 

were available via RISSNET from all these resources combined.

RISSIntel enables members to inquire about and search for 

suspected criminal intelligence information. In FY 2012, RISSIntel 

contained more than 2.8 million intelligence records, and member 

agencies made more than 4.7 million inquiries in the RISSIntel 

databases. The RISSIntel user interface provides real-time, 

online federated search capabilities to 22 RISS partner system 

intelligence databases, including state systems and the California 

gang intelligence system (known as CalGang), and it enables 

the RISSNET user to access partner systems with a single user 

account. 

With RISSafe, RISS places officer safety as a high priority. RISSafe 

is the only comprehensive and nationwide deconfliction system 

that can be accessed by all law enforcement agencies on a 24/7, 

365-day basis. RISSafe stores and maintains data on planned law 

enforcement events—such as undercover operations—with the 

goal of identifying and alerting affected agencies of potential 

conflicts that may affect law enforcement efforts. RISSafe was 

first deployed in 2008, and the RISSafe web site (www.riss.net/

Resources/RISSafe) was launched in March 2011.

Over the last 3 years, the use of RISS services in member agency 

criminal cases resulted in 15,157 arrests and more than $284 

million in narcotics, property, and currency seizures. With available 

FY 2012 funding, RISS strived to continue this success through 

its critical services and resources, its related applications, and its 

analytical services. 

Some of RISS’s accomplishments during FY 2012 included:

■ Increased the number of RISS member agencies to 8,952 and 

authorized users to 112,830.

■ Developed 32,657 analytical products, opened 127 digital 

forensics cases, supported 620 audio/video enhancement 

requests, and provided 92,326 other analytical services. 

■ Loaned more than 4,580 pieces of specialized equipment to law 

enforcement agencies. 

■ Responded to 184,553 requests for intelligence research 

support. 

■ Sponsored or cosponsored 1,875 events that trained 53,308 

criminal justice professionals. 

■ Continued to support officer safety through RISSafe. Users 

entered 164,094 events into RISSafe, which resulted in 57,500 

identified conflicts. 

■ Supported the 23 RISSafe Watch Centers that currently 

operate. 

■ Deployed the RISSafe Mobile application that enables officers 

to use their mobile devices to enter law enforcement events 

and receive immediate notification of potential conflicts. 

■ Continued to provide law enforcement and public safety 

professionals with a diverse set of communications and 

information sharing tools through RISS ATIX. The number of 

public safety professionals accessing RISS ATIX increased to 

121,443.

■ Supported systems currently connected to RISSNET and 

connected additional systems.

■ Created numerous secure sites that are accessible via RISSNET, 

including those for the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the 

Medicaid Integrity Institute. 

■ Continued to support RISSGang, which enhances gang 

investigators’ ability to share intelligence information, research 

gang protocols, and access gang-related resources. 

■ Continued to participate in the Assured SBU Interoperability 

Initiative under the auspices of the White House and the PMISE. RISS is at the forefront in providing federated access and 

simplified sign-on capabilities. Users of the FBI’s LEO, the 

Chicago Police Department, the Pennsylvania Justice Network, 

and the federal Joint Automated Booking System utilize 

Federated Identity to access resources. 

■ Continued to support other programs such as NSI and the 

National Virtual Pointer System.
42 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

■ Continued work to expand the RISS Pawnshop Database 

nationwide. More than 3.4 million records are available in the 

database.

Electronic and High-Tech Crime

National White Collar Crime Center

During FY 2012, BJA partnered with the National White Collar 

Crime Center (NW3C) to deliver specialized training to more 

than 4,400 state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement 

officers in 39 states and 2 territories. Training courses on a 

variety of subjects were taught during the year, including “Cyber 

Crime Investigation and Forensics” (2,898 students) and financial 

crime topics such as “Mortgage Fraud and Intellectual Property 

Crime” (1,525 students). These trainings have helped increase 

the capacity of state, local, and tribal law enforcement to keep 

up with the ever-evolving complexity of economic and high-tech 

crime.

NW3C staff, operating the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), 

processed 290,907 complaints, of which 236,973 were referred 

for investigation to state and local law enforcement agencies. IC3 

analysts and NW3C Investigative Support analysis also provided 

investigative support to state and local agencies, resulting in 

many successful prosecutions.

NW3C increased its collaboration with other BJA-funded projects 

in FY 2012, maximizing the effectiveness of effort from all 

partners, including:

■ Collaboration on the mortgage fraud problem continues among 

BJA, NW3C, NDAA, NCPC, and the St. Petersburg College 

Center for Public Safety Innovation.

■ The National Association of Attorneys and NW3C continue to 

collaborate to deliver intellectual property training to state, 

local, and tribal law enforcement. 

■ NW3C partnered with the IACP Social Media Project to educate 

law enforcement about the growing importance and impact of 

social media.

Preventing and Responding to Crimes Committed 

Using Handheld Devices

In FY 2012, BJA partnered with Drakontas, Drexel University, and 

BK Forensics to develop a web-based training curriculum for law 

enforcement officers on preventing and responding to crimes 

committed using handheld devices (e.g., smart phones, tablets). 

The project team is using feedback and input collected from the 

law enforcement community to structure the curriculum and 

guide content development. The curriculum, to be released in

FY 2013, will include a comprehensive pre-/post-test to measure 

the knowledge gained by participants. 

Cross-Boundary Information-Sharing Program

BJA funded cross-boundary information-sharing programs, which 

employ emerging and established justice information-sharing 

practices, in more than 20 local or state agencies in FYs 2010 

and 2011. These funds continue to reap results for the agencies 

funded as well as other agencies. These and other agencies are 

leveraging the national technical standards and tools developed 

via other BJA Global investments and efforts that stretch limited 

funds and exercise national standards and tools to afford ongoing 

improvement and broader use. Below are descriptions of key 

projects.

CONNECT South Dakota

“South Dakota citizens are safer, South Dakota police officers 

are safer, and offenders in South Dakota’s jails are safer.” This 

is how Michael Milstead, Sheriff of Minnehaha County, South 

Dakota, described the significant impact of the CONNECT South 

Dakota project during the GAC Biannual Meeting on October 24, 

2012. South Dakota CONNECT was funded under BJA’s FY 2010 

Cross-Boundary Information Sharing Program. The purpose of 

the CONNECT South Dakota project is to integrate the formerly 

“siloed” information systems of law enforcement agencies across 

South Dakota while upholding privacy rights and civil liberties and 

allowing local agencies to retain control of their own data. The 

sheriff also emphasized that the use of Global tools has resulted 

in “tremendous” cost-savings for the state. The Connect South 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 43

Dakota solution is being shared nationwide with the expectation 

that it can be replicated at lower cost in other jurisdictions. 

Hawaii Integrated Justice Information Sharing Program

This program is leveraging Global tools to implement a federated 

search and identity management capability that will allow law 

enforcement, prosecutors, courts, and correctional facilities to 

query one another’s systems from a single, streamlined user 

interface. Having access to other agencies’ offender information 

will significantly enhance decisionmaking and save significant time 

by eliminating the need to search multiple data systems. 

Colorado Department of Public Safety, Division of 

Criminal Justice

Colorado’s project focuses on creating automated information 

exchanges among state and local agencies that work with at-risk 

juveniles and their families, so that they will have access to timely 

and reliable information about available services. It is also creating 

and testing privacy protocols related to the protection of sensitive 

juvenile and family data. The project is overseen by Colorado’s 

Division of Criminal Justice, the Colorado Children Youth 

Information Sharing Collaboration, and the Center for Network 

Development, with participation by the Colorado Departments 

of Education, Health Care Policy and Financing, Human Services, 

Public Health and Environment, Public Safety, and State Judiciary, 

and the Governor’s Office of Information Technology. 

Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and 

Criminal Justice

This program focuses on the development and implementation 

of the “Global in a Box” concept, which is an appliance consisting 

of a hardware server and software that conforms to Global 

standards and NIEM. Developed by the Nebraska Commission 

on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, it builds on the 

CONNECT Project that links criminal justice information-sharing 

portals from Nebraska, Alabama, Kansas, and Wyoming. When 

finalized, the appliance will be installed in the four participating 

states of the CONNECT Project as well as an additional state to 

be identified, and it will be available for export to other states. 

Current CONNECT Project proof-of-concept services will be 

migrated to run on the appliance and take advantage of security, 

performance, usability, and administrative enhancement created 

by this project.

Dallas County Department of Information Technology

Dallas County has evolved a successful project to share incident 

and arrest information between two of the key agencies in the 

county (the Sheriff and District Attorney’s Case Management 

System) focused on electronic booking and case filing initiatives. 

The purpose of this program is to expand coverage of this 

information-sharing initiative to 25 additional agencies in Dallas 

County. This project is facilitating information sharing among 

the information systems of these 25 agencies using NIEM and 

the Global standards. This initiative is estimated to save 18,000 

labor hours related to the booking process and 35,000 labor 

hours related to preparation and delivery of case filing packets 

to the District Attorney’s Office. A primary focus of this initiative 

is ensuring the privacy and security of the information exchanges 

being implemented. 

Iowa Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning

The purpose of this initiative is to develop National Data 

Exchange (N-DEx) compliant information exchange package (IEP) 

documents and web services to exchange incident information 

among state law enforcement and other justice agencies in real 

time. The result will be statewide implementation of N-DEx using 

the existing Criminal Justice Information System. 

County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania

The purpose of this pilot is the development of a replicable 

unified case management system serving adult probation, jail, 

prosecutors, and juvenile detention interests statewide. Offender 

information will be entered one time and then assigned to 

multiple cases, which will significantly reduce the time spent 

entering duplicative offender data. A system prototype is being 

developed and pilot-tested in three to five counties with at least 

two departments, and a robust statewide governance process is 

being implemented to oversee the project. It is estimated that 

$7 million per year will be saved if Pennsylvania can reduce 

its prison population by 1 percent by making more informed 
44 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

management decisions using higher quality data at the county 

level.

Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office

The New Jersey Passaic River Corridor comprises 83 

municipalities located in 6 Urban Area Security Initiative counties. 

Numerous major roadways traverse the region, facilitating access 

east to New York City and south to Philadelphia. This ease of 

movement, coupled with the many jurisdictional borders of 

the 83 municipalities, challenges law enforcement to prevent, 

interdict, and prosecute criminals and recidivists who exploit the 

contiguous municipalities by crossing jurisdictional boundaries 

to commit crimes. The cities of Paterson, Passaic, and Newark, 

along with the New Jersey Regional Information Operations 

Center, joined in 2009 to deploy a pilot platform and governance 

protocols to enable rapid sharing of information about crimes 

that cross jurisdictional borders, particularly the modus 

operandi and attributes of offenders. More than 100 users in 43 

jurisdictions across 3 counties, along with the New Jersey State 

Police, participate. The BJA Cross-Boundary Information Sharing 

Program supports the Passaic River Corridor Cross-Jurisdictional 

Collaboration Pilot, which successfully applies virtual collaborative 

case management capabilities to enable information exchange 

immediately after the commission of a crime. Cloud computing 

and social networking technologies enable automated discovery 

and connection of data relationships, visual messaging, link 

visualization, and association mapping. The pilot deployment 

focuses primarily on shootings, robberies, burglaries, auto theft, 

and organized retail crime. As a result of this pilot initiative, 

the Passaic River Corridor platform is being enhanced and 

is leveraging NIEM and Global tools to (1) expand the user 

community; (2) provide more robust collaboration features; (3) 

introduce querying to augment collaboration capabilities; and 

(4) integrate data from additional sources. Benefits of these 

significant enhancements include reduced case closure times; 

more precise and timely tracking, apprehending, and prosecuting 

of offenders committing cross-jurisdictional crimes; more effective 

allocation of investigative resources; enhanced predictive analysis 

to support intelligence-driven operations and provide real-time 

trend analysis; support for deconfliction efforts; and cost savings. 

National Governors Association Center for Best 

Practices

The purpose of this National Governors Association (NGA) 

initiative is to assist states in improving their ability to implement 

corrections reform by optimizing justice information—sharing 

capabilities. NGA will conduct a policy academy where states will 

develop a strategic understanding of the policy and technical 

challenges to implementing Global standards and tools, as well 

as how adopting these standards and tools will support reform 

efforts. The project objectives include convening a national faculty 

of justice information-sharing experts to help plan and carry out 

policy academy activities, an issue brief for governors and their 

staff, a three-state policy academy on corrections information 

sharing, technical assistance to policy academy states, and 

national lessons-learned briefings based on project results.

Criminal Information Sharing Alliance, Inc.

One of the primary impediments to secure electronic information 

exchange and system interoperability is identity and privilege 

management—ensuring that authorized individuals have access 

to the data sources they need regardless of where they reside 

in the enterprise. The Criminal Information Sharing Alliance 

(CISA) addressed these problems by developing, operating, 

and maintaining the CISA network (CISAnet), which joined 10 

state and several federal agencies in a secure law enforcement 

information-sharing network. In 2005, CISA joined two 

other criminal justice information-sharing organizations—the 

Pennsylvania Justice Network and RISS—to show that authorized 

users of one system could access information on another system 

without being a member of, or separately logging into, that 

system. This demonstration was the first phase of the GFIPM 

project. The project was initiated in response to a growing 

demand from the justice community that critical investigative 

information be made available across federal, state, tribal, and 

local agencies in a secure, efficient, and cost-effective manner. 

With Cross-Boundary Information Sharing Program funding 

from BJA, CISA is implementing an Identity Provider (IDP) and 

Service Provider for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 45

a Texas Department of Public Safety IDP. When both IDPs are 

implemented, 3,500 state law enforcement officers in Georgia 

and Texas will have access to other state’s case management 

information system. 

Vera Institute of Justice

The criminal justice involvement of drug users and people with 

mental health problems is a growing public health crisis that 

stretches the resources of overburdened state and county justice 

systems. In 2005, three times as many people with mental illness 

were in our nation’s prisons and jails as in psychiatric hospitals. 

As increasing numbers of people with behavioral health needs 

become involved in the justice system, it is important that 

behavioral health and justice agencies can communicate and 

coordinate care for people as they enter and leave correctional 

settings and appropriately divert people to community treatment 

alternatives. At a time when public officials are seeking ways 

to maximize the use of scarce resources, many jurisdictions 

recognize the potential for data sharing to improve service 

provision, enhance individual outcomes, and reduce duplication 

of effort. Privacy considerations are an integral part of designing 

any data-sharing initiative, but the multiple local, state, and 

federal regulations governing the release of health information 

generally (e.g., Health Insurance Portability and Accountability 

Act) and drug treatment information specifically (e.g., 42 CFR 

Part 2) are especially complex and difficult to navigate. The goal 

of the Behavioral Health and Justice Information Sharing Project 

(BHAJIS) is to increase the capacity nationwide of jurisdictions 

to share behavioral health and justice data in secure, legal, and 

ethical ways that maximize benefits to clients while reducing 

costs. This project will provide guidance on determining the 

type of data exchanges that are legally permissible under local 

regulations, outline potential ethical pitfalls, and offer assistance 

with arranging data exchanges, including examples of proven 

strategies. Specifically, BHAJIS will create a “knowledge bank” 

web site to disseminate a variety of web-based resources 

collected and created by the project team. These resources 

and tools will address a variety of topics, making the project 

accessible and instructive to jurisdictions at various stages of 

developing information-sharing initiatives and with different levels 

of capacity and technical expertise.

San Diego Association of Governments

San Diego’s Automated Regional Justice Information System, 

Arizona’s AZLink, the San Diego and Arizona Fusion Centers, 

and justice agencies in New Mexico and Texas are collaborating 

to expand interstate offender information sharing along the 

southwest border via handheld devices. This initiative, called the 

South West Offender Real-time Notification (SWORN) program, 

will focus on sharing corrections, probation and parole, law 

enforcement, and homeland security data across jurisdictional and 

agency boundaries. Specifically, SWORN will provide real-time 

field access to data, alerts, and photographs not currently shared, 

including identifying images, probation information, and inmate 

release conditions from the Arizona Department of Corrections, 

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, San 

Diego County Probation, federal probation, Superior Court of 

California, Maricopa County Jail, and immigration and customs 

enforcement to southwestern agencies.

The ongoing violence among Mexican drug trafficking 

organizations and Mexican law enforcement agencies with ties to 

the drug trade have increased violence along both sides of the 

U.S./Mexican border. Compounding the direct effects of the drug 

conflict is the increase in gang violence. In addition, the California 

Supreme Court made a recent decision to release more than 

100,000 inmates to mitigate prison overcrowding. This decision is 

likely to result in movement of released inmates to neighboring 

states. Since 57 percent of ex-offenders return to prison within 

2 years, the offenses they commit before re-incarceration result 

in danger to the public and an inestimable impact in the lives 

of their victims. In many jurisdictions, notification of releases 

from corrections to law enforcement is cumbersome and not 

communicated to the frontline officers. Reports of these releases 

have minimal information and no photographs or detailed 

demographic data, and they are still sometimes mailed or 

faxed to the agency of the jurisdiction where the ex-offender is 

going. Enabling officers and investigators to positively identify 

individuals in the field and, in particular, to be aware of exoffender status and probation and parole conditions are critical to 

ensuring the safety and effectiveness of law enforcement and the 

safety of the public. 
46 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

Public and Private Partnerships

The value of BJA’s Global information-sharing standards is directly 

proportional to the level of adoption and use of those standards 

by commercial product and service providers. Understanding 

that private industry plays a critical role in realizing the promise 

of the Global standards (e.g., reduced cost, improved scalability, 

and responsible information sharing across the justice and public 

safety enterprise), BJA continues to advance collaboration 

between the public and private sectors through its partnership 

with the Integrated Justice Information System (IJIS) Institute. 

In FY 2012, the IJIS Institute launched its Springboard Initiative 

(SBI) in partnership with BJA and the PM–ISE. SBI is a Global 

standards-based interoperability program designed to expand 

and mature the adoption of such standards by providing a 

national venue for system testing and reference implementations 

and by enabling more informed agency procurement selections 

through compliance testing and product certifications. After initial 

launch (which involved establishing the Springboard Governance 

Council, concept of operations, and physical infrastructure), 

SBI implemented standards testing and certification for the 

Prescription Monitoring Information Exchange (PMIX). This testing 

proved critical to ensuring the interoperability of competing 

PMIX hubs that would have otherwise resulted in disparate and 

incompatible intrastate systems. BJA can now limit funding 

to only those solutions that enable full national prescription 

monitoring and management. Such standards-based technical 

solutions minimize customized local development and maximize 

agility and scalability, helping justice and public safety agencies 

appropriately focus their limited resources.

To further demonstrate the power of bringing together private 

and public professionals, BJA, in partnership with the IJIS Institute 

and Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, 

collaborated with private suppliers and diverse justice and public 

safety professionals to develop national requirements for a unified 

law enforcement, fire, and EMS (UCAD) system. The UCAD 

Functional Requirements (UCAD FR) help local and state agencies 

better define and communicate their system requirements, 

while helping CAD providers become standards-conformant. 

The UCAD FR provides a detailed, comprehensive, and unified 

set of more than 130 functional requirements for police, fire, 

and EMS CAD systems and provides information on future 

issues for CAD systems, such as Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-

1-1) and Broadband/LTE (Long-Term Evolution). The UCAD FR 

provides a starting point for emergency response agencies when 

developing CAD requests for proposals, which levels the playing 

field when selecting new CAD solutions and promotes system 

interoperability (e.g., CAD-to-CAD). 

BJA also continued to partner with the IJIS Institute on the Gang 

Intelligence Information Sharing project. Working with several 

system providers, this standards-based project is piloting the 

exchange of gang intelligence information between multiple 

legacy systems and local agencies in Florida, Indiana, and 

Texas. This work leverages prior collaborations to build national 

technical standards that define the content and technical 

infrastructure for sharing gang data, which will save effort with 

each implementation and enable later integration and inclusion 

of additional legacy systems and new agencies. This architecture 

takes advantage of assets and investments made in other BJA 

programs (such as the NSI shared space server) and will support a 

federated search across locally controlled databases.

In FY 2012, BJA partnered with the IJIS Institute, SEARCH, and 

APPA to deploy a standards-based information sharing capability 

to support reentry programs in Rhode Island, Maryland, and 

Hampden County, Massachusetts. Hampden County Sheriff’s 

Department, law enforcement and public safety partners, 

and independent human and social service providers in the 

community are working together to strengthen the quality 

and comprehensive support of offender reentry to provide for 

continuity of care, improved public safety, and reduced recidivism. 

This work was accomplished with minimal investment and 

provides for additional expansion through the use and reuse of 

the Global Standards Package. Participating community service 

providers are required to complete a pre-implementation survey 

online and another survey 6 months after implementation to 

quantify results and assess outcomes.
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 47

With assistance from BJA, the IJIS Institute and its members 

helped the Montana Department of Corrections develop and 

deploy standards and a new technical approach to separating 

the collection and disbursement of corrections data and the 

resulting victim notification. The subsequent state implementation 

was cost-effective and locally controlled. Moreover, this Victim 

Information & Notification Everyday (also known as VINE) proof of 

concept is paving the way for other service providers to enter this 

once monopolized provider space.

TTA related to information sharing remain the strongest examples 

of how BJA and the IJIS Institute engage private industry to 

support and inform state, local, and tribal agencies’ efforts to 

improve criminal justice policies and practices and enhance public 

safety. In FY 2012, the IJIS Institute and its members’ successful 

TTA activities included:

■ Completed five onsite TA engagements in law enforcement 

agencies around the nation.

■ Completed six onsite TA engagements in state fusion centers 

and began planning efforts for work in three more.

■ Trained more than 600 law enforcement and justice personnel 

on NIEM and the development and implementation of national 

reference standards. The training was highly rated by the 

participants. 

■ Continued support for the National Information Sharing 

Standards Helpdesk and Standards Clearinghouse and 

Knowledge Base, which involved addressing 312 help desk 

inquiries, publishing 97 knowledge base articles, and publishing 

7 new reference standards.

FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 49

CHAPTER 5

Supporting Corrections and Reentry

Supervising offenders in the community and preparing them 

to return to their neighborhoods are critical to protecting 

public safety. An effective approach is the use of reentry 

programs, which provide a broad range of services for offenders 

while ensuring their accountability. BJA supports numerous 

reentry initiatives that focus on partnering with correctional, 

law enforcement, and social service agencies, as well as faithbased and community organizations. In addition, BJA supports 

programs that work to reduce recidivism, promote coordinated 

efforts among reentry stakeholders, reduce corrections and 

related criminal justice spending, promote information sharing, 

and reimburse jurisdictions for expenses incurred when they 

incarcerate undocumented criminal aliens. 

Second Chance Act Programs

The Second Chance Act of 2007 (SCA) provides a comprehensive 

response to the increasing number of incarcerated adults 

and juveniles who are released from prison, jail, and juvenile 

residential facilities and are returning to communities. Currently, 

more than 2.3 million individuals are serving time in federal and 

state prisons, and millions of people cycle through tribal and local 

jails every year. Ninety-five percent of all offenders incarcerated 

today will eventually be released and will return to communities. 

The SCA helps to ensure that the transition individuals make from 

prison, jail, or juvenile residential facilities to the community is 

successful and promotes public safety, and it provides funding to 

eligible states, units of local governments, federally recognized 

tribes, and nonprofit organizations for adult and juvenile 

programs. 

Administered by OJP through BJA, OJJDP, and NIJ, SCA 

programs focus on reducing recidivism, incorporating research 

evidence-based strategies, providing reentry services in both 

pre- and post-release settings, and evaluating the effectiveness 

and impact of reentry programs. These activities focus on adult 

offenders with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health 

disorders; family-based substance abuse treatment; adult and 

juvenile demonstration (planning and implementation) projects; 

state, local, and tribal reentry courts; adult mentoring programs; 

technology careers training projects for incarcerated adults 

and juveniles; and the evaluation of adult and juvenile reentry 

demonstration projects. 

In FY 2012, BJA made 85 awards totaling approximately $48 

million (see the table below) that included the following: new 

competitive site-based awards; supplemental continuation awards 

for special projects and for sites participating in NIJ evaluations; 

and a new competitive award for the National Reentry Resource 

Center (NRRC). 

BJA also made awards for two new SCA programs: the Adult 

Offender Comprehensive Statewide Recidivism Reduction 

Demonstration Program and the Smart Probation: Reducing 

Prison Populations, Saving Money, and Creating Safer 

Communities Program. Under the Adult Statewide Recidivism 

Reduction Program, BJA made seven awards totaling $6.1 million 

that will provide resources to state departments of corrections to 

reduce the historical baseline recidivism rate through planning, 

capacity building, and implementation of effective and evidencebased interventions. The Smart Probation Program (nine awards 

totaling $3.7 million) will provide resources to states, units of local 

government, and federally recognized Indian tribes to develop 

evidence-based probation practices that effectively address 

offenders’ needs and reduce recidivism. 
50 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

Since the SCA was enacted into law, more than $270 million 

has been appropriated for SCA programming and OJP offices 

have awarded more than 440 competitive awards to support 

state, local, and tribal reentry programs for adult and juvenile 

populations; research and evaluation; and substantial support 

of the NRRC. This funding has resulted in TTA services being 

delivered to hundreds of justice practitioners and policymakers to 

guide and improve local reentry efforts. 

Some examples of the progress reported by SCA grantees 

include the following:

■ From December 2009 through June 2011, the Adult 

Demonstration and Adult Mentoring Programs admitted a total 

of 15,911 participants, and from July 2011 to June 2012, these 

programs admitted a total of 23,187 participants. 

■ To date, under the Adult Mentoring programs, 5,316 mentors 

have been successfully trained.

■ Under the Adult Demonstration Program, 4,083 participants 

have received employment services, 65 percent have received 

some form of employment, and 20 percent were employed for 

more than 6 months. 

These collaborative efforts furthered DOJ’s commitment 

to providing services and programs to help facilitate the 

reintegration of individuals as they return home and ensure their 

transitions from prisons or jails are safe and successful. 

National Reentry Resource Center

In FY 2009, BJA competitively awarded a cooperative agreement 

to the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center to 

launch the NRRC (www.nationalreentryresourcecenter.org), a firstof-its-kind technical assistance center dedicated to advancing the 

reentry field through the transfer and dissemination of knowledge 

that promotes the application of evidence-based best practices. 

Established by the SCA, the NRRC serves as the TTA provider for 

OJP’s SCA site-based grantees. The NRRC also provides distance 

learning, TTA, and other reentry resources to the field, including 

states, tribes, territories, local governments, service providers, 

nonprofit organizations, corrections institutions, and individuals 

returning home. 

The NRRC’s objectives are to (1) provide a one-stop, interactive 

source of current, user-friendly reentry information; (2) identify, 

document, and promote evidence-based practices; (3) deliver 

individualized, targeted technical assistance to SCA grantees; and 

(4) advance the reentry field through training, distance learning, 

and knowledge development. 

SECOND CHANCE ACT PROGRAMS AWARDS AMOUNT

Adult Demonstration: Planning and 

Implementation Projects (SCA Section 101) 19 $6,213,948

Family-Based Substance Abuse Treatment 

(SCA Section 113) 5 $1,499,172

Technology Career Training Projects for 

Incarcerated Adults and Juveniles (SCA 

Section 115) 

5 $2,677,588

Adults with Co-Occurring Substance Abuse & 

Metal Health Disorders (SCA Section 201) 9 $5,320,710

Adult Mentoring Grants to Nonprofit 

Organizations (SCA Section 211) 10 $2,916,046

Supplemental Awards for NIJ Evaluation: 

State, Local, and Tribal Reentry Courts 

Program

8 $3,141,993

Supplemental Awards for NIJ Evaluation: 

Adult Demonstration Sites (SCA Section 101) 9 $9,404,000

Supplemental Awards/Special Projects: Adult 

Demonstration Projects (SCA Section 101) 3 $1,665,000

Adult Offender Comprehensive Statewide 

Recidivism Reduction Demonstration 

Program (SCA Section 101) (New Program)

7 $6,142,775

Smart Probation: Reducing Prison 

Populations, Saving Money, and Creating 

Safer Communities (New Program)

9 $3,675,366

National Reentry Resource Center (SCA 

Section 101) 1 $4,997,895

TOTALS 85 $47,654,493
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 51

BJA recompeted the NRRC in FY 2012, and the CSG Justice 

Center was awarded $5 million to administer the NRRC. 

Among the resources available from the NRRC to date are the 

following: 

■ Web site. Among other resources, the NRRC web site (www.

nationalreentryresourcecenter.org) features a searchable library 

that contains more than 1,100 publications related to reentry, 

including BJA-sponsored reports. In FY 2012, the NRRC web 

site received approximately 820,000 total page viewings and 

147,000 unique visitors. 

■ Online Newsletters. In FY 2012, the NRRC distributed nine 

issues of an e-newsletter that highlights important news, 

events, research, and funding opportunities related to reentry. 

Each newsletter reached approximately 14,000 subscribers. 

■ Webinars. In FY 2012, the NRRC conducted 27 webinars that 

collectively reached more than 7,500 participants. Webinars 

provide researcher and practitioner perspectives on important 

reentry issues. Recordings of past webinars are available on the 

NRRC web site. 

■ What Works in Reentry Clearinghouse. In May 2012, the 

NRRC, in partnership with the Urban Institute, launched the 

What Works in Reentry Clearinghouse (http://whatworks.

csgjusticecenter.org/), which provides a user-friendly, webbased, one-stop shop for practitioners and service providers 

seeking guidance on evidence-based reentry interventions. 

Since May 2012, nearly 5,000 unique visitors have visited the 

Clearinghouse.

Second Chance Act (SCA) grantees are 

using principles of effective practice, 

honed by research over recent decades, 

to develop collaborative reentry projects 

that target recidivism. Two examples are 

the Virginia Department of Corrections 

(DOC) and Kennebec County, Maine. 

These grantees are using validated risk and 

need assessment instruments to develop 

treatment and reentry plans that address 

their most pressing criminogenic needs.

The Virginia DOC received an FY 2010 SCA 

Family-Based Substance Abuse Treatment 

grant that focused on mothers with minor 

children who were returning from state 

prison to three rural counties in southwest 

Virginia. Participants completed a parenting 

program in their institution that focused on 

enhancing and practicing parenting skills 

and participated in video visitation when 

their children and family members were 

unable to travel to the facility in person. 

Client advocates, who are also certified 

addiction counselors, supported women 

and their families as they prepared for 

reentry and for at least 6 months following 

release. The Virginia DOC also held 

community forums in the three targeted 

counties to gather feedback directly from 

community and family members about 

improving the reentry process.

Kennebec County, Maine received an FY 

2010 SCA Adult Demonstration grant to 

launch the Kennebec Regional Reentry 

Project (KeRRP) to provide transition 

planning involving an integrated system 

of risk assessment, health care, case 

management, medication assistance, 

and comprehensive community-based 

wraparound services to men and women 

returning from local jails. Participants were 

assigned to reentry specialists who were 

responsible for working with a community 

mental health care provider to develop 

individualized transition plans. Individuals 

identified as being at a higher risk of 

recidivism were enrolled into a 5-week 

intensive institution-based treatment 

and skill-building program that enhances 

co-occurring substance abuse/mental 

health treatment by integrating traumainformed and risk-reduction interventions. 

Participants also received case 

management and transition support for up 

to 6 months following release. Based on the 

success of this project, Kennebec County 

received a FY 2012 SCA grant to expand 

KeRRP to provide integrated treatment 

services to a larger population of higher-risk 

individuals with co-occurring mental health 

and substance abuse treatment needs.

SUCCESS

STORIES: SECOND CHANCE SUCCESS STORIES
52 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

■ Second Chance Act Conference. In May 2012, the NRRC hosted 

the third national SCA Conference, attended by approximately 

700 representatives of SCA grantees and other federal grant 

programs related to reentry. The event provided reentry 

practitioners an unparalleled opportunity to network with other 

grantees and learn about integrating evidence-based practices 

into their grant-funded projects. Materials from the conference, 

including video of all plenaries and select workshops, are 

available on the NRRC web site. 

■ State Leaders’ National Forum on Reentry and Recidivism. In 

December 2011, the CSG Justice Center, in partnership with 

BJA, the Association of State Correctional Administrators, the 

Public Welfare Foundation, and the Pew Center on the States, 

convened a national forum on reentry and recidivism reduction. 

It involved leaders from a number of states and key federal 

officials interested in using the principles of effective prisoner 

reentry to make identifiable reductions in recidivism. Materials 

from the forum, including videos, are available on the NRRC 

web site. 

■ Ongoing Collaboration To Advance the Reentry Field. In

FY 2012, the CSG Justice Center convened expert panels that 

guided the development of documents that provide practical 

advice on integrating effective reentry practices in the fields 

of behavioral health, employment, and juvenile justice. One 

of these publications—Adults with Behavioral Health Needs 

under Correctional Supervision: A Shared Framework for 

Reducing Recidivism and Promoting Recovery—was released in 

September 2012 and is available online (http://csgjusticecenter.

org/mental-health/publications/behavioral-health-framework/). 

A framework for integrating effective reentry and employment 

practices will be released in FY 2013, and a framework for 

juvenile reentry and recidivism reduction is in development. 

Justice Reinvestment Initiative

In the past 20 years, state and local spending on corrections 

has grown at a rate faster than nearly any other budget item. 

Yet despite increasing corrections expenditures, recidivism 

rates remain high, with half of all persons released from prison 

returning within 3 years. Furthermore, every state has high-risk 

JUSTICE REINVESTMENT INITIATIVE 

(JRI) ACTIVE SITES AS OF NOVEMBER 20, 2012

STATES (17 TOTAL)

Arkansas New Hampshire

Delaware North Carolina

Georgia Ohio

Hawaii Oklahoma

Kansas Oregon

Kentucky Pennsylvania

Louisiana South Carolina

Missouri South Dakota

New Hampshire West Virginia

COUNTIES/LOCALITIES (18 TOTAL)

Alachua County, Florida Lane County, Oregon

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

Charlottesville and Albemarle 

County, Virginia Milwaukee County, Wisconsin

Delaware County, Ohio New York City, New York

 Denver City and County, Colorado San Francisco City 

and County, California

Eau Claire County, Wisconsin Santa Cruz County, California

Grant County, Indiana Travis County, Texas

Johnson County, Kansas Yamhill County, Oregon

King County, Washington Yolo County, California

JRI - TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE (TA) PROVIDERS

State-Level Jurisdictions Local-Level Jurisdictions

Pew Center of the States (Pew) Community Resources for Justice: 

Crime & Justice Institute (CJI)

Council of State Governments 

Justice Center (CSG)

Center for Effective Public Policy 

(CEPP)

Vera Institute of Justice (Vera)

communities, to which most formerly incarcerated individuals 

return, placing significant burdens on local jurisdictions that are 

already experiencing financial hardship. 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 53

“Justice reinvestment” represents a response to these 

challenges; it is a data-driven approach to reducing spending 

on corrections and reinvesting identified savings in evidencebased strategies designed to increase public safety and hold 

offenders accountable. States and localities engaging in justice 

reinvestment collect and analyze data on the drivers of criminal 

justice populations and costs, identify and implement changes 

that address costs and achieve better outcomes, and measure 

both the fiscal and public safety impacts of those changes.

Launched in October 2010, the Justice Reinvestment Initiative 

(JRI) is supported by BJA in coordination with the Pew Center 

on the States (Pew), an independent nonprofit organization. 

JUSTICE REINVESTMENT ACTIVE SITES

AS OF NOVEMBER 2012

Phase 1 State Phase 2 State Phase 1 Locality Phase 2 Locality

LEGEND

Santa Cruz County

Denver City 

and County Alachua County

Mecklenburg County

Charlottesville and 

Albemarle County

New York City

Allegheny

County

Eu Claire

County

Milwaukee

County

Grant

County

Yamhill County

San Francisco

City and County

Lane County

Yolo County

King County

Johnson

County

Delaware

County

Travis

County

Before launching JRI, BJA and Pew separately supported 

justice reinvestment and similar approaches to corrections 

and sentencing issues. With JRI in place, BJA and Pew have 

developed a process for more closely aligning their efforts that 

enables participating states to receive support through one or 

both organizations. Although the funding and program efforts of 

BJA and Pew remain independent, the organizations are closely 

coordinating efforts to better leverage resources in support of 

jurisdictions. 

BJA’s JRI grantees include five competitive awards to nonprofit 

organizations in three subject areas: Program Oversight, 

Coordination, and Outcome Assessment (the Urban Institute); 
54 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

State-Level Justice Reinvestment Program Implementation (CSG 

and the Vera Institute of Justice); and Local and Tribal Justice 

Reinvestment Program Implementation (the Center for Effective 

Public Policy and the Crime and Justice Institute). These grantees 

provide technical assistance and financial support to states, 

counties, cities, and tribal authorities that would like to engage in 

JRI as either a Phase I or Phase II site:

■ Phase I Sites: These sites receive intensive, onsite technical 

assistance to start the justice reinvestment process, which 

involves engaging leaders and key stakeholders, conducting a 

comprehensive analysis of criminal justice data, and identifying 

strategies to reduce costs and increase public safety. 

■ Phase II Sites: These sites receive targeted technical 

assistance and are eligible for “seed” funding to support the 

implementation of justice reinvestment strategies. Sites that 

apply for Phase II must have already completed all of the steps 

associated with Phase I. 

Currently, 35 jurisdictions (17 states and 18 local jurisdictions) 

participate in JRI (see the table). Since 2010, more than $24 

million has been appropriated for JRI. In FY 2012 alone, several 

states (e.g., Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and 

Pennsylvania) have passed landmark legislation and policies that 

are projected to save money on incarceration while maintaining—

or improving—public safety. In FY 2012, BJA awarded $5,235,049 

On October 25, 2012, Pennsylvania 

Governor Tom Corbett, joined by state 

leaders from across the political spectrum, 

signed and enacted comprehensive 

legislation designed to increase public 

safety, redirect funds from corrections 

to communities, and save Pennsylvania 

taxpayers millions of dollars. The resulting 

legislation (Senate Bill 100 and House 

Bill 135) contains a justice reinvestment 

framework that reinvests a portion of 

savings to be generated as a result of more 

effective corrections and parole policies. 

Once implemented, funds generated from 

these savings in the state prison system will 

be redirected back to local communities to 

be used for law enforcement, probation, 

parole, crime victim services, expanding the 

use of risk assessment, and other activities. 

It is estimated that Pennsylvania’s taxpayers 

will see cumulative savings of up to $253 

million over the next 5 years due to key 

system enhancements.

SUCCESS

STORIES: PENNSYLVANIA ENACTS JRI LEGISLATION

in supplemental funding to the CSG Justice Center and the Vera 

Institute of Justice to provide additional technical assistance and 

state pass-through funding to continue to support JRI state-level 

efforts. 

Research-Based Smarter Sentencing 

to Reduce Recidivism

In FY 2011, JMI received supplemental BJA funding to administer 

the Research-Based Smarter Sentencing to Reduce Recidivism 

initiative, a TTA program that helps state and local criminal justice 

systems incorporate evidence-based research and practices into 

their sentencing decisions. The movement toward researchbased practices in probation, parole, and the judiciary has yielded 

significant results that demonstrate effective strategies for 

addressing offender needs and reducing the risk of re-offense. 

Unfortunately, much of the research is in academic texts or 

professional journals, which many justice practitioners may be 

unlikely to review regularly. Practitioners also may be uncertain of 

how to translate the research into practice. JMI’s initiative fosters 

research-based smarter sentencing at the state and local levels by 

making this research accessible to justice professionals. 

To address the public safety challenges posed by offenders 

returning to communities from jail or prison, criminal justice 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 55

policymakers and practitioners in many jurisdictions are working 

to enhance offender reentry efforts and reduce recidivism 

by establishing multidisciplinary teams to inform sentencing 

decisions. The premise of this collaborative approach—which 

involves prosecutors, judges, public defenders, and community 

corrections—is that sentencing based on strategies that 

demonstrate effectiveness in addressing offender needs will 

facilitate offender rehabilitation and reentry. This multidisciplinary 

strategy enables justice system officials to share knowledge and 

work collaboratively to achieve mutual goals. 

In FY 2012, JMI conducted regional training events in Philadelphia 

(Pennsylvania), Charlotte (North Carolina), and Portland (Oregon) 

that included multidisciplinary teams from the following 

jurisdictions:

■ Portland, Oregon Workshop: Multnomah County, Oregon; 

Harris County, Texas; Clinton County, Iowa; Coconino County, 

Arizona; and Hennepin County, Minnesota.

■ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Workshop: Eau Claire, Wisconsin; 

Lubbock, Texas; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Salt Lake City, Utah; 

and Spokane, Washington.

■ Charlotte, North Carolina Workshop: Cook County, Illinois; 

Johnson County, Kansas; Mecklenberg County, North Carolina; 

Pinellas County, Florida; and Sacramento, California.

Corrections Information Sharing Program

The efforts of criminal justice system practitioners to promote 

public safety depend on their ability to share offender information 

across agency and discipline boundaries. This is particularly true 

in the context of offender reentry. BJA’s Corrections Information 

Sharing Program leverages technology to enhance information 

sharing among the stakeholders—corrections and community 

corrections staff, community-based service providers, law 

enforcement officers, and others—who share responsibility for 

managing the transition of offenders from jail or prison back to 

the community in states and local jurisdictions across the nation. 

To address the public safety challenges posed by offenders 

returning to communities from jail or prison, criminal justice 

policymakers and practitioners in many jurisdictions are 

working to enhance offender reentry by building cross-system 

partnerships and improving their offender information sharing 

capabilities. These efforts help to ensure that these stakeholders 

have access to offender information that supports proactive, 

informed decisionmaking about offender management. 

In FY 2010, BJA selected three agencies to serve as pilot sites: 

Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, 

Rhode Island Department of Corrections (DOC), and Hampden 

County Sheriff’s Department (Massachusetts). In FYs 2011 and 

2012, these three pilot sites received BJA technical assistance 

from a support team that included a combination of offender 

management, reentry, and technical subject-matter experts from 

APPA, Association of State Correctional Administrators, SEARCH, 

and the IJIS Institute. 

Key program accomplishments in FY 2012 included working 

with the project pilot sites to measure the business benefits of 

the technical solutions being implemented. In Rhode Island, for 

example, the technical solution will enable information sharing 

between the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families 

(DCYF) and the state DOC. DOC will use official juvenile criminal 

history information from DCYF to complete the Level of Service 

Inventory—Revised (LSI–R) assessment tool at prison intake. (DOC 

previously relied on offenders’ self-reported juvenile criminal 

histories in administering the LSI–R.) To measure the impact and 

benefit of this justice information-sharing enhancement, an effort 

is underway in Rhode Island to analyze the LSI–R scores of a 

sample of offenders by comparing scores using self-report data 

with those using DCYF’s official data.

In addition, in FY 2012, BJA and its partners initiated the 

development of a corrections/reentry privacy policy template. 

The pilot sites and other jurisdictions nationwide will use this 

resource to guide efforts to implement policies, practices, and 

technology solutions to uphold the privacy requirements for 

offenders in the context of reentry efforts.
56 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

Implementing the Prison Rape Elimination Act

The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA) was enacted to 

address the sexual abuse of prisoners in federal, state, local, and 

tribal correctional facilities, including prisons, jails, police lockup, 

and other confinement facilities. PREA requires the Attorney 

General to promulgate regulations that adopt national standards 

for the detection, prevention, reduction, and punishment 

of prison rape. PREA established the National Prison Rape 

Elimination Commission (NPREC) to conduct a comprehensive 

legal and factual study of the impacts of prison rape in the United 

States and to recommend national standards to the Attorney 

General and Secretary of Health and Human Services. NPREC 

recommended four sets of national standards for eliminating 

prison rape and other forms of sexual abuse—one for each of the 

following four confinement settings: (1) adult prisons and jails, 

(2) juvenile facilities, (3) community corrections facilities, and (4) 

lockups (i.e., temporary holding facilities). On June 20, 2012, DOJ 

released the Final Rule: National Standards To Prevent, Detect, 

and Respond to Prison Rape. This landmark rule sets national 

PREA standards for the four categories of facilities. 

Resource Center for the Elimination of Prison Rape

Funded through a FY 2010 competitive award to NCCD, the 

National PREA Resource Center (PRC) was established to provide 

TTA and other resources to help the field better identify and 

disseminate best and promising practices regarding PREA; assist 

correctional agencies in implementing the Attorney General’s 

national PREA standards; and further the overall goal of PREA 

of establishing zero-tolerance for sexual assault and staff sexual 

misconduct in confinement cultures. 

The PRC represents a collaborative partnership with a wide 

array of national stakeholder organizations representing federal, 

state, local, and tribal corrections, including adult prisons and 

jails, juvenile detention, community corrections, tribal facilities, 

lockups, and victim advocacy groups. In addition, federal partner 

agencies—including BJA, OJJDP, the Bureau of Justice Statistics 

(BJS), OVC, the Office on Violence Against Women, and the 

National Institute of Corrections (NIC)—will collaborate to ensure 

that adult and juvenile PREA efforts are supported and that victim 

services are incorporated into comprehensive responses. 

The PRC has collectively received award totals of approximately 

$18 million, which includes the initial FY 2010 award and 

supplemental funding. In FY 2012, the PRC’s accomplishments 

included:

■ Launched the official PRC web site (www.prearesourcecenter.

org) in concert with the finalization of the national PREA 

standards. 

■ Expanded its partnership collaboration to include correctional 

associations, victim advocacy groups, and consultants that will 

provide more extensive TTA services to the field.

■ Completed various webinars, national presentations, and 

outreach to the field. 

■ Convened two national-level meetings for adult and juvenile 

PREA state coordinators.

■ Provided TTA support for BJA’s PREA site-based demonstration 

grantees. 

Future activities will include: the development of an application 

process for auditors to request DOJ certification; development 

and beta-testing of a PREA audit tool; development and 

deliverance of PREA auditor training; provision of various 

webinars and regional training events; and continued TTA support 

to BJA’s PREA site-based grantees. 

In addition, the PRC will provide funds for local PREA efforts 

through direct subgrantee demonstration project awards to city, 

county, or tribal agencies that operate jails, lockups, juvenile 

detention facilities, and community confinement facilities. The 

intent of this new subgrantee program administered by the 

PRC will be to provide resources to these agencies to meet the 

requirements of the national PREA standards. These awards will 

be distributed among agencies of all sizes, including those that 

operate small (fewer than 100 beds) or medium (fewer than 500 

beds) facilities.

PREA Demonstration Projects

Originally released in FY 2011, BJA’s Demonstration Projects to 

Establish “Zero Tolerance” Cultures for Sexual Assault in Local 

Adult and Juvenile Correctional Facilities Program provides 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 57

funding to state governments for demonstration projects within 

state, local, and tribal adult and juvenile confinement settings, 

including jails and juvenile detention facilities, law enforcement 

lockups and other temporary holding facilities, and tribal 

detention facilities. Applicants must successfully communicate 

a comprehensive approach to preventing, detecting, and 

responding to the incidence of sexual abuse and clearly prioritize 

unaddressed gaps, either programmatically or through policy and 

procedures, in relation to implementation of the national PREA 

standards. Design elements of a comprehensive response may 

include the following: policy and practice review and revision; 

preventive infrastructure and technology enhancements; offender 

education; victim support services; leadership and cultural 

examination; data collection; staffing support; and evaluation. 

Comprehensive demonstration projects, when feasible, should 

focus on systemic changes as opposed to discrete changes in 

single facilities or operational practices.

To date, BJA has administered 31 awards totaling $13,242,415 

to eligible state governments for demonstration projects within 

state, local, and tribal adult and juvenile confinement settings, 

including jails and juvenile detention facilities, law enforcement 

lockups and other temporary holding facilities, and tribal 

detention facilities. In FY 2012, an additional 13 grant awards 

($3,963,217) were made to state-level correctional agencies to 

assist these jurisdictions in preparing to achieve compliance with 

the national PREA standards that were released in May 2012. The 

PRC also continues to provide TTA to site-based grantees and the 

field to assist with the national PREA standards. 

National Parole Resource Center

Approximately 200 individuals nationwide serve as members 

of state paroling authorities, with the responsibility of making 

judgments about the timing and setting conditions of release for 

approximately 125,000 offenders annually. These decisionmakers 

also set conditions of release for another approximately 300,000 

offenders released on mandatory parole; oversee compliance 

with conditions and make decisions when conditions are violated 

on post-release supervision; and are responsible for the return 

of several hundred thousand offenders to prison as a result of 

parole revocations. Until recently, there was no resource that 

state paroling authorities could draw upon to access information, 

guidance, and support on best practices or evidence emerging 

from the research that would strengthen their work and make it 

more effective.

Created in 2010 with funding support from BJA, the National 

Parole Resource Center (NPRC) is a partnership of the Center 

for Effective Public Policy (CEPP) and the Association of Paroling 

Authorities International (APAI). Operated in collaboration 

with BJA and NIC, the NPRC aims to address these gaps and 

communicate the lessons emerging from research on recidivism 

reduction by tailoring that information into targeted TTA and 

information resources for this key group of criminal justice 

decisionmakers. The NPRC maintains links with a growing 

network of organizations that provide information and guidance 

on substantive topics and related resources. The mission of the 

resource center is to serve as:

■ A source of information and TTA for paroling authorities and 

the supervision agencies that they oversee and with whom they 

collaborate. 

■ A forum and source of support that will enable parole 

leadership to continue to define the evolving role of parole 

in a criminal justice system seeking to carry out its statutory 

mandates, including community protection and the wise use of 

public resources. 

■ A portal to other resources for parole, beyond those directly 

provided by NPRC, by establishing collaborative partnerships 

with other public and private entities seeking to assist paroling 

authorities and agencies. 

To date, the NPRC has completed the following activities:

■ Created and maintained the NPRC web site, www.

nationalparoleresourcecenter.org, which provides a unique 

portal for information, resources, literature, events, and links to 

other web sites of interest to parole leaders. 

■ Completed intensive technical assistance work with four 

competitively selected National Parole Learning Sites 

(Connecticut, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota) to 

support the implementation of sound, evidence-based practices 
58 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

for parole, which have been documented and are available on 

the NPRC web site.

■ Provided short-term, onsite, jurisdiction-specific technical 

assistance to a number of state parole boards. 

■ Developed and delivered in two states a “continuity 

curriculum” designed to respond to the challenges facing 

paroling authorities that are working to assimilate new 

members, providing those new members with the information 

and resources necessary to do their jobs most effectively and 

offering the entire board an opportunity to revisit their role as a 

policymaking team. 

■ Developed and delivered in two states a curriculum specifically 

addressing collaboration between paroling authorities and their 

partners that are responsible for correctional institutions and 

parole supervision. 

■ Developed and delivered a training session on strategic 

planning in an era of evidence-based practice that involved 

members from 16 paroling authorities. 

■ Convened conference-based training sessions every year at the 

APAI annual meeting on a variety of issues related to parole 

decisionmaking for parole boards and staff. 

■ Completed and used as training materials (with funding from 

project partner NIC) a five-document series titled “Parole 

Essentials: Practical Guides for Parole Leaders”:

− Core Competencies: A Resource for Parole Board Chairs, 

Members, and Executive Staff

− Evidence-Based Policy, Practice, and Decisionmaking: 

Implications for Paroling Authorities

− Strategic Planning and Management for Results

− Special Challenges Facing Parole

− The Future of Parole as a Key Partner in Assuring Public 

Safety

■ Completed a technical assistance self-assessment toolkit 

designed to help paroling authorities conduct a gaps analysis of 

their current policies and practices and determine their priority 

TTA needs.

■ Developed a webcast that addresses the ways in which the 

parole interview can be used as an effective tool and as 

an opportunity to enhance the motivation of offenders to 

rehabilitate. 

In FY 2012, the NPRC received supplemental funding to continue 

current activities and for additional work, including providing 

strategic planning technical assistance to parole boards and 

developing specialized information resources on sex offenders, 

women offenders, and individuals with mental health challenges.

State Criminal Alien Assistance Program

BJA’s State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) provides 

federal payments to states and localities that incurred costs for 

correctional officer salaries as a consequence of incarcerating 

undocumented criminal aliens who have at least one felony or 

two misdemeanor convictions for violations of state or local law 

for which they were incarcerated for at least 4 consecutive days 

during the reporting period. BJA works with DHS to verify the 

inmate records submitted by states and localities, and with BJS to 

refine the data received from DHS. 

In FY 2012, BJA received program funding totaling approximately 

$214 million for SCAAP and made 898 SCAAP payments to 

various states and localities. This is critical funding to jurisdictions 

that depend on SCAAP dollars to meet their corrections needs 

such as enhancing their ability to effectively manage their inmate 

populations and enabling them to maintain or create jobs in 

jurisdictions that might have otherwise removed officer positions 

due to budget cuts. 

Discover Corrections

BJA is continuing to address workforce development issues in 

corrections by providing funding support to APPA for the initial 

development, implementation, and continued management of the 

Discover Corrections web site (www.discovercorrections.com). 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 59

The web site was officially launched at the APPA Winter Training 

Institute in February 2012 and has been continuously promoted 

through social media and at various correctional conferences 

and events. The web site and project are a collaborative 

effort overseen by a core project team of major corrections 

stakeholders, including BJA, APPA, the American Correctional 

Association, the American Jail Association, and the Center for 

Innovative Public Policies. The web site focuses on promoting 

corrections as a profession and presenting the correctional field 

in a positive and comprehensive manner. In addition, the web 

site provides detailed information about the field and specific job 

opportunities that can serve as a resource for anyone seeking a 

better understanding of this dynamic profession.

As the premier national web site dedicated to promoting 

corrections careers, Discover Corrections establishes a central 

location with valuable information for both employers and 

jobseekers. DiscoverCorrections.com enables employers in 

corrections to:

■ Reach a local and national audience of informed, interested, 

and qualified candidates.

■ Present potential candidates with detailed information about 

their agency.

■ Post jobs to the Discover Corrections jobs board.

■ Search resumes of registered jobseekers.

■ Do it all for free.

Discover Corrections also provides a valuable career tool to 

students and experienced professionals seeking information 

about entry-level and advanced careers in corrections and 

identifies job opportunities available for current correctional 

employees. DiscoverCorrections.com enables potential 

jobseekers to:

■ Identify key advantages to a career in corrections.

■ Present an accurate and up-to-date description about the role 

and functions of various aspects of corrections (community 

corrections, jails and detention, prisons and institutions, and 

more). 

■ Describe the wide range of jobs and career choices for 

potential employees (traditional and nontraditional jobs in the 

corrections field).

■ Summarize the general requirements needed by applicants to 

join the profession.

■ Highlight professionals who work in the field.

■ Search open jobs on the site’s full-featured, corrections-specific 

job board. 

National Resource Center on 

Justice-Involved Women

According to research, women are one of the fastest growing 

populations entering the criminal justice system. Although they 

make up only about 17 percent of the total criminal justiceinvolved population, the implications of women’s experiences in 

jail, prison, or community supervision are far reaching, affecting 

their children, family members, and neighborhoods. 

In response to these issues, BJA, in partnership with NIC, 

established the National Resource Center on Justice-Involved 

Women (NRCJIW), to address the unique and complex needs 

of adult women involved in the criminal justice system. NRCJIW 

is administered by CEPP through a BJA FY 2010 Field-Initiated 

Program competitive award of nearly $750,000, and serves as a 

resource for policymakers and practitioners who work with adult 

women involved in the criminal justice system. BJA’s partnership 

with NIC ensures a coordinated approach to delivering muchneeded products and services to the field specific to justiceinvolved women.

CEPPS’s administration of NRCJIW includes collaborating with 

a variety of individuals and organizations that have been at the 

forefront of conducting research, developing tools, and training 

professionals about gender-informed, evidence-based practices 

with women offenders. In addition to BJA and NIC, these partners 

include CORE Associates; Orbis Partners; the Substance Abuse 

and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) National 

Center for Trauma-Informed Care; the Moss Group; University of 
60 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

Cincinnati, School of Criminal Justice; and the Women’s Prison 

Association. 

NRCJIW provides guidance and support to criminal justice 

professionals and promotes evidence-based, gender-responsive 

policies and practices to reduce the number of, and improve the 

outcomes for, women involved in the criminal justice system. 

Specifically, the goals of NRCJIW include:

■ Promoting the safety of the public, justice-involved women, and 

the professionals who work with them.

■ Synthesizing and disseminating evidence-based and genderresponsive research and knowledge.

■ Promoting the implementation of innovative, evidence-based, 

and gender-responsive approaches that build on women’s 

strengths and address their risks and needs. 

■ Promoting gender-informed policy and management practices 

that have systemic impacts and improve outcomes. 

■ Highlighting critical issues confronting this population.

■ Building a community of professionals to encourage the 

exchange of ideas and information and advancing genderinformed practices nationally.

To date, NRCJIW has provided a variety and depth of resources 

to the field that include the following:

■ Provided TTA to 12 jurisdictions in 11 states (Colorado, Illinois, 

Indiana, Montana, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, 

South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) that included 19 

instances of technical assistance.

■ Reached more than 1,300 individuals nationally through 

webinars.

■ Worked closely with NIC to ensure the most appropriate 

response to TTA requests. NRCJIW received and referred 

to NIC seven instances of technical assistance in five states 

(Colorado, Delaware, Michigan, Missouri, and Washington).

■ Responded to more than 60 information requests in 14 states 

(California, Connecticut, Washington D.C., Kansas, Kentucky, 

Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, 

Texas, Virginia, Vermont, and Wisconsin).

■ Conducted presentations and workshops at national 

conferences for approximately 800 participants at 12 national 

events.

■ Provided information such as a bi-monthly e-newsletter sent 

to a current listserv of 1,673 members consisting of individuals 

from community corrections, courts, prisons and jails, sheriff’s 

offices, pretrial organizations, nonprofit and community-based 

service organizations, other state/local government agencies, 

federal agencies, universities, and national professional 

associations throughout the country.

■ Provided profiles of five innovators on the NRCJIW web site 

(www.cjinvolvedwomen.org):

− Center for Gender and Justice and Dr. Stephanie Covington, 

Co-Director

− Women on the Rise Telling Her Story (WORTH) program, New 

York, NY and Tina Reynolds, CEO

− College and Community Fellowship program, Brooklyn, NY 

and Vivian Nixon, CEO

− Drew House, Brooklyn, NY and Charles Hynes, Kings County 

District Attorney, Co-Founder

− State of Connecticut Judicial Branch, Connecticut Court 

Support Services Division and Erika Nowakowski, Adult 

Programs and Services Unit
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 61

CHAPTER 6

Breaking the Cycles of Mental Health, 

Substance Abuse, and Crime

BJA oversees initiatives to assist communities in planning, 

implementing, and enhancing criminal justice system 

diversion and intervention for offenders with substance 

abuse, mental health, and co-occurring disorders. BJA supports 

cross-system collaboration and partnerships among the criminal 

justice system and substance abuse and mental health agencies 

through grants, TTA, and policy development to help them 

address situations where substance abuse and mental illness 

are the root or a contributing cause of criminal behavior. BJA 

provides this support in contexts such as first encounters with 

law enforcement, adjudication, incarceration, and reentry. 

BJA also helps communities track prescriptions for controlled 

substances to prevent fraud and abuse, and assist children who 

are endangered by drug manufacturing, sales, and abuse. 

Justice and Mental Health Partnerships

The purpose of the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration 

Program (JMHCP) is to increase public safety and public health 

by supporting innovative cross-system collaborations between 

criminal justice and mental health professionals to improve access 

to effective treatment for justice-involved individuals with mental 

illnesses or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse 

disorders. The JMHCP grant program enables eligible applicants 

from state, local, and tribal jurisdictions to plan, implement, or 

expand a collaborative initiative between criminal justice and 

mental health agencies. 

JMHCP: 

■ Encourages early intervention for individuals who are involved 

with both justice and behavioral health systems. 

■ Maximizes diversion opportunities for nonviolent, justiceinvolved individuals with mental illnesses or co-occurring mental 

health and substance abuse disorders. 

■ Promotes training for justice and treatment professionals. 

■ Facilitates communication, collaboration, and the coordinated 

delivery of support services among justice professionals, 

treatment and related service providers, and governmental 

partners.

To support both JMHCP grantees and non-grantees, BJA 

provides intensive, hands-on TTA. In FY 2012, BJA provided 

more than $1.5 million to the CSG Justice Center for two TTA 

programs: the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Training 

and Technical Assistance Program and the Justice and Mental 

Health Collaboration State-Based Capacity Building Program.

In FY 2012, the CSG Justice Center, as BJA’s JMHCP TTA 

provider, accomplished the following:

■ Conducted 16 site visits with FY 2011 JMHCP grantees and 1 

site visit with a FY 2010 JMHCP grantee.

■ Developed 10 webinars on topics related to justice and 

mental health issues, including targeted behavioral health 

care responses to individuals under correctional supervision, 

evidence-based practices in tribal communities, gender-based 

programming, co-occurring disorders in court-based programs, 

innovative law enforcement strategies, collaborative strategies, 

and more.

■ In FY 2011, six law enforcement agencies were identified as 

Learning Sites (Los Angeles, California; University of Florida; 

Portland, Maine; Houston, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; and 
62 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

Madison, Wisconsin); Learning Sites foster peer-to-peer learning 

and enable other law enforcement agencies to share expertise 

on how to improve responses to people with mental illnesses 

in their jurisdictions. In FY 2012, the 6 sites answered more 

than 350 inquiries and provided technical assistance (via either 

phone, e-mail, or onsite visit) on topics including information 

sharing, training, program design, policy/procedure, and 

sustainability. Additionally, these 6 sites hosted 68 site visits 

from peers around the country.

■ In FY 2012, the five Mental Health Court Learning Sites 

(Akron, Ohio; Bonneville, Idaho; Bronx, New York; Dougherty, 

Georgia; and Washoe, Nevada) continued to provide insight 

and guidance to other jurisdictions interested in starting or 

expanding a criminal justice/mental health collaboration. 

The 5 sites responded to approximately 50 requests for 

technical assistance from practitioners on topics that 

included collaborative planning, program design, policies and 

procedures, and sustainability. The sites responded to requests 

via phone call and/or e-mail, and hosted 15 site visits from 

peers seeking technical assistance in starting or expanding their 

own programs.

■ Hosted an orientation event for FY 2011 JMHCP grantees. 

The event was well attended: 120 practitioners attended the 

grantee orientation, which included workshops addressing 

planning, best practices, mental health programming for youth, 

mental health treatment, court-based initiatives, and more. 

During the orientation, grantees were provided with in-person 

technical assistance to help them initiate grant plans, identify 

key questions, and form networks to support their ongoing 

work. 

Preventing Prescription Drug Abuse

The nonmedical use of controlled substances is a serious public 

health concern and one that continues to grow. Prescription 

drug abuse poses a unique challenge, requiring a balance 

between the need for prevention, education, and enforcement 

and the need for legitimate access to controlled substances. The 

Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program focuses 

on providing assistance to states that want to plan, establish, 

or enhance a prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP). 

Program objectives include building a data-collection and analysis 

system, enhancing the ability of existing programs to analyze 

and use collected data, facilitating the exchange of collected 

prescription data between states, and assessing the efficiency 

and effectiveness of the programs funded under this initiative. 

Specific activities include grant funding, support for collaborations 

between state and local jurisdictions, and TTA in the areas of 

performance measurement, accountability, and capacity building 

to both competitively awarded states and states that are planning 

to establish a PDMP.

BJA made 12 awards to states to implement or enhance a 

PDMP. In addition, BJA awarded two cooperative agreements to 

Brandeis University to continue to provide the field with TTA and 

best practice guidance through the National PDMP TTA Center 

(TTAC) and the PDMP Center of Excellence at the Schneider 

Institutes for Health Policy. Through these TTA providers, BJA 

continued to provide intensive, hands-on technical assistance to 

the 12 FY 2011 grantees. 

The TTAC provided guidance and assistance to several states 

planning, implementing, or enhancing their PDMPs (including 

New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Missouri) and hosted several 

national meetings and two regional meetings: the West Regional 

Meeting and the South Regional Meeting. Interstate data 

exchange was a priority during FY 2012, and the TTAC facilitated 

the completion of the PMIX architecture for interstate data 

sharing (see chapter 4 for more information on PMIX). During the 

reporting period, the TTAC responded to requests for assistance 

from more than 350 state, federal, and other stakeholders.

The PDMP Center of Excellence staff provided testimony for 

congressional committees on prescription drug abuse and the 

role of PDMPs in helping to address abuse and diversion and 

promote appropriate prescribing; collaborated with states on 

data analyses and evaluation initiatives, including demonstrating 

novel applications of PDMP data; analyzed data on grantees’ 

performance metrics; and advised PDMPs on issues related to 

legislation, startup, operations, and funding. 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 63

Drug Courts

BJA’s Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program (ADCDGP) 

provides training, financial assistance, and related program 

guidance and leadership to communities interested in establishing 

and enhancing drug courts. Through ADCDGP, communities 

can leverage the coercive power of the criminal justice system 

to reduce recidivism and substance abuse among nonviolent 

offenders and increase the likelihood of successful rehabilitation 

through early, continuous, and intensive judicially supervised 

treatment, mandatory drug testing, appropriate sanctions, and 

other rehabilitative services. Through the FY 2012 ADCDGP 

solicitation, BJA awarded 50 grants totaling more than $15 

million.

In FY 2012, one of the priorities for ADCDGP was to build the 

capacity of existing drug courts to increase participation rates 

among appropriate target populations and to combine court and 

treatment resources. To that end, BJA partnered with SAMHSA’s 

Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) to issue a joint 

solicitation to enhance the court services, coordination, and 

substance abuse treatment capacity of adult drug courts. One 

advantage of this initiative is that it allows applicants to compete 

for access to both criminal justice and substance abuse treatment 

funds with one application. Under this solicitation, BJA awarded 

10 grants totaling more than $2.8 million.

ADCDGP priorities also included meeting the needs of special 

populations—in particular, returning veterans. In partnership with 

SAMHSA and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), BJA 

recommends that drug courts, mental health courts, and other 

problem-solving courts aggregate their veteran participants so 

that the full services of the VA may be used. Since 2009, BJA 

has recognized that an increasing number of returning service 

members with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health 

issues were becoming involved in the criminal justice system. 

In response to this problem, BJA continues to provide services 

for courts wishing to implement a program under the Drug 

Court Planning Initiative—which trains teams on starting new 

drug courts—that focuses specifically on training for Veterans’ 

Treatment Courts (VTC). Currently, more than 99 VTC hybrid 

drug and mental health courts use the drug court model to serve 

veterans struggling with addiction, serious mental illness, or cooccurring disorders, including serious undertreated ailments like 

post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries, both 

of which may put people at greater risk of drug abuse, domestic 

violence, and other criminality. 

BJA continued its formal partnership with OJJDP, the National 

Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and CSAT via a 

memorandum of understanding (MOU). This MOU provides a 

framework for these federal agencies to plan, coordinate, and 

share the design and implementation of interagency efforts 

that will improve the response to people with substance abuse 

disorders who are involved or at risk of involvement with the 

criminal and juvenile justice systems. Another strong federal 

partner is ONDCP, which continues to support this problemsolving court approach as part of its National Drug Control 

Strategy. To gauge the needs of and provide responsive TTA 

to the drug court field, BJA continues to work with its national 

partners, including the National Association of Drug Court 

Professionals (NADCP), American University, CCI, NCSC, 

the Tribal Law and Policy Institute (TLPI), and the National 

Development and Research Institute. 

Second Chance Act Substance 

Abuse Treatment Programs

The SCA provides a comprehensive response to the increasing 

number of incarcerated adults and juveniles who are released 

from prison, jail, and juvenile residential facilities and returning 

to communities. Within the context of this initiative, “reentry” is 

not envisioned as a specific program, but rather it is a process 

that begins when the offender is first incarcerated and ends 

with his or her successful community reintegration, evidenced 

by lack of recidivism. This process should provide the offender 

with appropriate evidence-based services—including addressing 

individual criminogenic needs—based on a reentry plan that relies 

on a risk/needs assessment that reflects the risk of recidivism for 

that offender. (See Chapter 5 for more information about BJA’s 

SCA activities.)
64 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

BJA administers two SCA programs that focus specifically on 

substance abuse treatment: the Family-Based Adult Offender 

Substance Abuse Treatment (Family-Based) Program and the 

Adult Offenders with Co-Occurring Reentry Substance Abuse and 

Mental Health Disorders (Co-Occurring Disorders) Program.

Family-Based Program: Section 113 of the SCA authorizes grants 

to states, units of local government, and Indian tribes to improve 

the provision of substance abuse treatment in prison and jail and 

after reentry for inmates who have minor children. It also includes 

outreach to families and the provision of treatment and other 

services to children and other family members of participant 

inmates. This program identifies eligible applications to plan, 

implement, or expand such treatment programs. In FY 2012, BJA 

made five awards to eligible applicants under the Family-Based 

Program, for a total of approximately $1.5 million.

Co-Occurring Disorders Program: Section 201 of the SCA 

authorizes grants to states, units of local government, and Indian 

tribes to improve the provision of drug treatment to offenders 

in prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities during incarceration and 

through the completion of parole or other court supervision after 

release into the community. The goal of Section 201 is to provide 

support to eligible applicants for developing and implementing 

comprehensive and collaborative strategies that address the 

challenges posed by reentry to maintaining public safety and 

reducing recidivism. In FY 2012, BJA made nine awards to eligible 

The San Francisco Sheriff’s Department 

received a FY 2010 Second Chance Act 

Family-Based Prisoner Substance Abuse 

Treatment award to serve 145 sentenced 

probationers incarcerated in the county 

jail who had a history of substance abuse 

and are parents to minor children. Under 

this project, the No Violence Alliance–One 

Family Reentry Initiative uses a familybased treatment model that provides a 

coordinated, comprehensive response 

to address the needs of offenders, their 

children, and other family members and 

caregivers. The Sheriff’s Department 

provided assessments, treatment services, 

and reentry case planning to participants 

while they were incarcerated, followed 

by 6 months of community-based case 

management and supportive services. As a 

result of the grant, the Sheriff’s Department 

strengthened the services they provided to 

the parent and family as a whole—including 

through the use of the “Parenting Inside 

Out” program—and created child-friendly 

visitation space for contact visits with 

parents.

SUCCESS

STORIES: SAN FRANCISCO SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT (CALIFORNIA)

applicants under the Co-Occurring Substance Abuse Program, for 

a total of approximately $5.3 million.

Residential Substance Abuse Treatment 

for State Prisoners Program

Created by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act 

of 1994, the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State 

Prisoners (RSAT) Program enhances the capacity of states and 

units of local government to provide incarcerated inmates with 

residential substance abuse treatment, incorporate this treatment 

into their reentry planning, and deliver community-based 

treatment and other broad-based aftercare services.

RSAT funds support three types of correctional programs: 

1. Residential programs are required to (1) operate for at least 

6 months and no more than12 months; (2) provide residential 

treatment facilities set apart from the general correctional 

population; (3) focus on the substance abuse problems of the 

inmate and develop the inmate’s cognitive, behavioral, social, 

vocational, and other skills to resist drug use and criminal 

behavior; and (4) require drug and alcohol testing for program 

participants. 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 65

Gaston County, North Carolina received 

a FY 2010 Second Chance Act grant to 

provide co-occurring disorder treatment 

and reentry services to 100 indigent men 

from the West Gastonia area incarcerated 

in the Gaston County Jail. The Gaston 

County Sheriff’s Department partnered with 

Alternative Community Penalties Program, 

Inc., to bring integrated substance abuse 

and mental disorder treatment services 

to Gaston County Jail inmates. This 

project’s comprehensive services focused 

on individually tailored programming 

facilitated by a multidisciplinary team, 

including post-release planning (which 

focused on housing, employment, and 

treatment) and case management that 

coordinated care for each participant for 

18 months. As a result of the grant, Gaston 

County now screens for criminogenic 

risks and needs, and incorporates the 

results into programming decisions. 

It has also strengthened its reentry 

approach through the use of several key 

evidence-based practices, including a 

standardized curriculum for the treatment 

of co-occurring disorders, cognitivebehavioral interventions, and motivational 

interviewing. Overall, this Second Chance 

Act award provided an important boost to 

the county’s first program to provide jailbased reentry services, which did not exist 

prior to 2006.

SUCCESS

STORIES: GASTON COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA

2. Jail-based programs must (1) last at least 3 months, and (2) 

focus on the substance abuse problems of the inmate and 

develop the inmate’s cognitive, behavioral, social, vocational, 

and other skills to resist drug use and criminal behavior. If 

possible, jail-based programs must separate the treatment 

population from the general correctional population, and 

program design should be based on practices scientifically 

demonstrated to be effective.

3. Aftercare services must involve coordination between the 

correctional treatment program and other social service and 

rehabilitation programs, such as education and job training, 

parole supervision, halfway houses, and self-help and peer 

group programs.

In FY 2012, BJA awarded RSAT formula grants totaling more than 

$8.5 million to 55 states and U.S. territories. 

BJA continued to provide an array of TTA to the RSAT community. 

The RSAT TTA National Resource Center faculty visited a dozen 

states across the country to provide direct and hands-on TTA, 

enhance and improve RSAT programming, and provide evidencebased treatment for inmates suffering substance use disorders. 

In December 2012, RSAT TTA assisted the Hawaii DOC to plan 

and implement a dramatic expansion of its RSAT programming. 

With assistance from the RSAT TTA National Resource Center, the 

Hawaii DOC will triple the number of inmates who will receive 

treatment for substance abuse by the start of 2013. RSAT TTA 

faculty reviewed Hawaii’s state policies and procedures, toured 

the state’s two prison facilities, and met with the Hawaii DOC 

RSAT staff to assist them successfully navigate this impressive 

expansion. 

BJA is also improving the RSAT program through the creation 

of a BJA RSAT Learning Community and monthly webinars. 

The BJA RSAT Learning Community is a web site that provides 

the latest evidence-based curricula and training, including its 

first eLearning course to the RSAT community. The web site’s 

goal is to ensure that all RSAT programs are up to date on the 

latest evidence-based treatment for adult and juvenile inmates 

suffering from substance use disorders. The monthly RSAT 

webinars provide to the RSAT community the latest in evidencebased programming for the treatment of inmates suffering from 

substance use disorders. In 2012, these webinars kept 1,389 

RSAT counselors up to date and helped them maintain their 

professional accreditations, which is often difficult for RSAT 

counselors working in isolated prisons and jails scattered across 

the United States and its territories. In addition, the RSAT TTA 

faculty awarded 962 certificates of attendance to correctional 
66 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

officers and administrators who participated in the webinars. On 

average, an estimated 300 RSAT staff participate in the monthly 

presentations. The webinars enhanced professionalism on the job 

and fulfilled institutional training requirements.

Improving Outcomes for Children 

Exposed to Substance Abuse

The National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children (National 

DEC), a BJA grantee, works to improve outcomes for children 

living with adults who manufacture, sell, possess, or use illicit 

drugs, or who abuse other substances. These children are an 

underserved population, and National DEC raises awareness 

about the risks they face; provides TTA in developing partnerships 

between law enforcement and other professionals; and works 

to institutionalize a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to 

breaking the cycle of abuse and neglect.

With BJA support, National DEC has created a national 

infrastructure that includes a network of 24 affiliated state DEC 

alliances and more than 100 volunteer DEC experts who work to 

develop and implement effective problem-solving techniques and 

promising practices. National DEC provides leadership, strategic 

planning, and TTA to its alliances and network members and hosts 

an online resource center (www.nationaldec.org) that features 

a searchable library of hundreds of research reports, articles, 

training presentations, and protocols. 

Program accomplishments for FY 2012 included:

■ Pilot-tested the draft Drug Endangered Children 

Multidisciplinary Training using 8 experienced DEC trainers who 

conducted 21 pilots of the Multidisciplinary DEC Training with 

1,327 practitioners in 6 states. The training addresses the needs 

of law enforcement, child welfare, and prosecutors who work 

with drug-endangered children and is currently undergoing final 

modifications for BJA review and approval.

■ Hosted monthly webinars, DEC Connect monthly calls, semiannual face-to-face DEC Leaders meetings, and a national 

conference; provided hands-on trainings and presentations; and 

developed state DEC alliances.
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 67

CHAPTER 7

Addressing Crime and Justice for American 

Indians and Alaska Natives

BJA works with tribes to provide leadership, management, 

TTA, and services in grant administration and policy 

development. The tribal programs administered by BJA 

help these communities prevent and control crime, violence, and 

substance abuse. These programs also improve the functioning 

of criminal justice systems in tribal nations and in collaboration 

with neighboring state, tribal, and local jurisdictions. Key areas of 

focus included continued enhancement of coordinated services 

through the Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS) and 

related TTA, as well as focus on implementation of the Tribal Law 

Order Act (TLOA), including the Tribal Justice Plan priorities such 

as developing Alternatives to Incarceration, enhancing planning 

tribal justice systems and physical infrastructure to be more 

sustainable and responsive to needs, and enhancing strategies to 

higher risk tribal members, including reentry from detention. 

Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation

In FY 2012, DOJ continued its CTAS initiative, which enables 

tribes to submit a single application for all DOJ tribal 

government-specific competitive solicitations. This approach 

provides federally recognized tribes and tribal consortia the 

opportunity to develop a comprehensive approach to public 

safety and victimization by responding to multiple “purpose 

areas.” BJA funds projects in three CTAS purpose areas: 

■ Comprehensive strategic planning for tribal justice systems to 

improve public safety and community wellness.

■ Develop and enhance the operation of tribal justice systems 

and prevent and reduce alcohol- and substance abuse-related 

crimes.

■ Plan, renovate, or construct correctional and/or correctional 

alternative facilities.

In FY 2012, 249 tribes submitted applications, and more than 

200 DOJ grant awards were approved for funding, totaling 

more than $101 million. (TTA resources are described below in 

the Intergovernmental Collaboration and Tribal Justice System 

Capacity Building sections.)

Develop and Enhance the Operation of Tribal Justice 

Systems and Prevent and Reduce Alcohol and 

Substance Abuse-Related Crimes

CTAS Purpose Area #3: Justice Systems and Alcohol and 

Substance Abuse combines TCAP and Indian Alcohol and 

Substance Abuse Program (IASAP) funds and TTA to provide 

tribes with flexibility in addressing their needs in these areas. 

TCAP provides funding and TTA to federally recognized tribal 

governments to develop, implement, and enhance court services 

and programs that meet the needs of tribal communities. IASAP 

helps tribal governments plan, implement, or enhance culturally 

appropriate strategies for addressing crime related to alcohol and 

substance abuse. In FY 2012, BJA expanded this purpose area to 

allow tribes to apply for funding to purchase electronic alcohol/

offender monitoring devices and related equipment. 

In FY 2012, BJA awarded 17 TCAP and 16 IASAP site-based 

grants totaling more than $16.1 million, 1 TCAP TTA award for 

$1.2 million, and 1 IASAP TTA award for $782,000 under CTAS 

Purpose Area #3. 

BJA funding enabled the University of North Dakota’s Tribal 

Judicial Institute to conduct 28 TCAP training events for more 

than 1,640 individuals. TCAP funding also supported 16 onsite 
68 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

TTA visits to tribes and more than 106 scholarships that enabled 

BJA grantees and non-grantees to attend national TTA events. 

BJA funding also enabled the National Tribal Judicial Center 

(NTJC) at NJC to conduct 22 TCAP training events for 439 

individuals, plus provide financial assistance in the form of travel/

lodging/per diem for BJA grantees and non-grantees to attend 

these events; provide financial assistance to 56 judges and court 

personnel to attend NTJC courses that are tuition based; and 

offer financial assistance to 360 judges and court personnel to 

attend grant-funded courses or events.

In addition, Fox Valley Technical College’s (FVTC) National 

Criminal Justice Training Center (NCJTC) trained more than 

1,000 individuals through 16 training programs, including 

regional trainings, national conferences, and academy sessions. 

NCJTC responded to 30 IASAP TTA requests (including site 

visits, extensive phone and email consultations, program-specific 

trainings and presentations, and grant management training/

assistance). NCJTC provided 214 scholarships for tribal personnel 

to attend local, regional, and national program-specific training 

events. Staff conducted two field assessments, which resulted in 

two publications (one for alcohol/substance abuse program needs 

and one for CTAS improvements).

Plan, Renovate, or Construct Correctional and/or 

Correctional Alternative Facilities

Through CTAS Purpose Area #4: Correctional Systems and 

Correctional Alternatives on Tribal Lands (CSCATL) Program—

formerly the Correctional Facilities on Tribal Lands Program—

BJA provides site-based grants and funding for TTA projects to 

assist tribes with adult and juvenile detention and rehabilitative 

efforts. BJA expanded the scope of Purpose Area #4 to include 

the construction of transitional living facilities (halfway houses) 

and made specific outreach to tribes who are interested in or 

have transitional housing to share information on offender reentry 

resources. 

In FY 2012, BJA awarded seven site-based grants—totaling nearly 

$8.4 million—for renovation and construction of correctional and 

alternative correctional facilities, which included funding a project 

to renovate a women’s transitional living facility. Additionally, BJA 

awarded supplemental funding to the National Indian Justice 

Center (NIJC) to provide TTA to CSCATL grant recipients and 

tribes that do not currently have a grant with BJA.

As part of the work plan for the CTAS Purpose Area #4 TTA 

Program, NIJ, in partnership with EKM&P, conducted the Planning 

of New Institutions (PONI) for Tribal Communities for grant 

recipients on May 14–18, 2012 in Chandler, Arizona. Twenty-six 

participants representing 11 grantee tribal communities attended 

this workshop. The PONI training, developed by EKM&P, 

included dynamic hands-on exercises that walked the participants 

through common planning, design, and staffing challenges in 

the development of facilities. The success of this training has led 

to the development of an online resource that may be used in 

concert with the PONI training staff to provide one-on-one or 

webinar-based training for future planning grantees. 

BJA also extended a logistical and support services contract 

with Alpha Corporation, who works with CSCATL grantees to 

ensure that projects are using cost and schedule strategies 

efficiently to achieve project goals. Alpha, in partnership with 

the Justice Solutions Group (JSG) and NIJC, works with grantees 

to ensure: (1) tribal projects are being constructed or renovated 

in accordance with applicable correctional facility standards, 

with emphasis on ensuring that tribal juvenile facilities adhere to 

the four core requirements of the Juvenile Justice Delinquency 

Prevention Act; (2) grantees who received American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act funding are adhering to the act’s requirements; 

and (3) grantees are adhering to National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA) requirements. In FY 2012, Alpha provided logistical 

and support services to 40 CSCATL projects in 17 states, totaling 

$228 million in grant awards. Alpha completed 35 site visits and 

provided detailed site visit reports on project scope, design, 

construction schedule, and budget status as well as an indepth 

analysis of the grantee’s ability to fulfill project goals. Alpha also 

assisted six grantees in obtaining NEPA clearance.

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act-Funded Projects

A total of 20 tribes received FY 2009 BJA grants for the 

construction and/or renovation of justice facilities in Indian 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 69

Country under American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). 

In FY 2012, BJA in partnership with JSG and Alpha Corporation 

continued to assist ARRA grant recipients with project 

implementation and completion.

Nine grantees began construction during FY 2012: Confederated 

Salish & Kootenai (Montana); Colorado River Indian Tribes 

(Colorado); Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes (Montana); 

Native Village of Kwinhagak (Alaska); Navajo Nation–Kayenta 

(Arizona); Navajo Nation Tuba City (Arizona); Nisqually Tribe 

(Washington); Puyallup Tribe (Washington); and Eastern Band of 

Cherokee Indians (North Carolina).

Four projects completed construction: Pascua Yaqui Tribe 

(Arizona) (July 2012); Rosebud Sioux Tribe (South Dakota) 

(September 2012); Yakama Nation (Washington) (March 2012); 

and Chippewa Cree Tribe (Montana) (June 2012). Grand opening 

ceremonies for the new facilities were held by the Yakama Nation 

(May 2012) and the Chippewa Cree Tribe (May 2012). In addition, 

four facilities were activated during this time period: Yakama; 

Yankton Sioux Tribe (South Dakota); Chippewa Cree Tribe; and 

Pascua Yaqui Tribe. 

During FY 2012, JSG provided facility activation workshops and 

onsite technical assistance to all of the tribes listed above to assist 

with transitional issues.

Tribal Civil and Criminal Legal 

Assistance Program

The Tribal Civil and Criminal Legal Assistance (TCCLA) Program 

provides grants, policy leadership, and TTA to support federally 

recognized tribal nations in enhancing their tribal justice systems 

and improving access to those systems. The grants are targeted 

to nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) tax status and serve to 

strengthen the representation of indigent defendants in criminal 

cases and indigent respondents in civil causes of action under the 

jurisdiction of Indian tribes. These services also target tribes that 

meet the federal poverty guidelines. A third category funds TTA 

that supports the development and enhancement of tribal justice 

systems. 

In FY 2012, BJA made four TCCLA Program grants totaling 

$2,286,218: two awards in Category 1, Civil Legal Assistance for 

$912,659; one award in Category 2, Criminal Legal Assistance for 

$875,000; and one award in Category 3, TTA for $500,000.

The National American Indian Court Judges Association, through 

its National Tribal Justice Resource Center (NTJRC), serves as 

the TCCLA Program TTA provider to current grantees (civil and 

criminal) and those tribal organizations seeking either to become 

TCCLA grantees or to provide civil legal assistance or public 

defender services to their communities. Launched in 2012, 12 

program announcements were sent out to more than 7,900 

individuals and organizations. In addition to providing technical 

assistance, the NTJRC staff responded to more than 50 telephone 

and e-mail requests for information or referrals, including referrals 

to other TTA providers, e-mailing of publications (such as bench 

books and manuals), and the provision of contact information. 

NTJRC developed a web site, www.naicja.org/training/ntjrc, that 

serves as an information center for TCCLA grantees and other 

tribal justice stakeholders. In addition, NTJRC developed an 

e-publication on resources and information to tribal communities 

seeking to apply for TCCLA funding. 

BJA and NTJRC hosted the inaugural meeting of the TCCLA 

Program with more than 30 participants from TCCLA Program 

grantee organizations, Indian tribes, and criminal justice 

practitioners from throughout the nation to discuss civil legal 

assistance and criminal indigent defense in the courts of Indian 

tribes and the research and resources needed to support them.

Training and Technical Assistance

In FY 2012, BJA accomplished the development of products, 

services, tools, and opportunities to assist tribal nations build 

tribal justice system capacity, support tribal-state collaboration 

initiatives, and engage in information sharing. In addition to the 

descriptions and web sites listed throughout this chapter, other 

initiatives are highlighted below.
70 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts

In FY 2012 BJA sponsored training for 10 tribes through the 

Tribal Healing to Wellness Court Planning Initiative, including 

funding for one tribe to implement a Tribal Healing to Wellness 

Court. The Planning Initiative gathers all court team members 

together offsite for 1 week of training on team member roles 

and responsibilities, incentives and sanctions, and policies and 

procedures, and readies teams to implement new tribal drug 

court programs within 6 months of the training.

TLPI and the NADCP’s National Drug Court Institute (NDCI) 

coordinated resources to provide TTA for these efforts. TLPI 

performed 10 onsite TTA visits to review the implementation 

of Tribal Adult Wellness Court program policies, services, and 

operations; conducted three national trainings, three statewide 

trainings, and one webinar; provided online access to TLPI 

publications; and maintained the Healing to Wellness Court web 

site. NDCI performed one 5-day training for 10 Tribal Healing 

to Wellness Court planning teams at the Fort McDowell Tribe in 

Arizona; maintained the Tribal Healing to Wellness Court database 

(available at www.ndcrc.org), including a map of operational Tribal 

Healing to Wellness Courts and other drug courts; and continued 

to conduct a Tribal Healing to Wellness Court symposium and a 

training track at the NADCP annual conference. 

Tribal Probation Academy

Through the Tribal Justice System Capacity Building solicitation 

TTA Program, BJA supports the Tribal Probation Academy 

(TPA), conducted through a partnership between the American 

Probation and Parole Association and Fox Valley Technical 

College (FVTC). TPA provides up-to-date information to new and 

experienced probation officers serving in tribal communities and 

teaches them the skills they need for effective case management, 

officer safety, and career development. With BJA funding, 

FVTC’s NCJTC trained more than 164 individuals through two 

4-week Tribal Probation Academies. NCJTC provided conference 

presentations specific to tribal probation, community corrections, 

and reentry at 5 national training conferences and provided 34 

scholarships to attend additional local, regional, and national 

probation-specific training events. 

Tribal Justice System Capacity Building

BJA has explored how its funds can be used to support TLOA 

implementation, if desired by a tribe, including TTA. In response, 

BJA released a solicitation with multiple purpose areas in 

FY 2012 to identify and select technical assistance partners to 

build capacity among tribal justice system infrastructure and 

practitioners. The FY 2012 awards will augment BJA’s robust 

portfolio of TTA partnerships to provide assistance on issues 

including increasing alternatives to incarceration; probation 

and programs related to substance abuse and crime; planning, 

renovating, and building tribal justice facilities; support for 

implementing enhanced sentencing authority; and supporting 

intergovernmental collaboration with federal, state, and local 

justice systems. 

Tribal Justice Information Sharing System

The Tribal Justice Information Sharing System (TJISS) was 

developed and is administered by the University of Arkansas 

Criminal Justice Institute, National Center for Rural Law 

Enforcement. The program is designed to provide TTA 

resources to tribal law enforcement and tribal criminal justice 

practitioners nationwide. A 2-day hands-on course titled “Crime 

Data Collection and Reporting” instructs tribal criminal justice 

practitioners how to collect and report crime data to the FBI’s 

Uniform Crime Reporting Program and National Incident-Based 

Reporting System; how reporting benefits the tribe; classifying 

crime data; preparing for the reporting process; and the different 

methods available to the tribes in reporting crime data. A 

blended learning approach incorporates instructor-led classroom 

lecture with hands-on lab exercises by use of a mobile computer 

training lab. The exercises depict actual reporting forms and 

processes. In FY 2012, TJISS staff delivered 8 courses at tribal 

locations throughout the country and trained 129 criminal justice 

practitioners. 

In addition, technical assistance is available online from the 

TJISS project web site (www.tjiss.net) or via a toll-free help 

desk. Resources available include a “Crime Data Collection and 

Reporting” video tutorial and an electronic manual that serve 

as guides to assist tribes in collecting and reporting their crime 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 71

data; law enforcement model policies and procedures; sample 

job descriptions; work schedules; mutual aid agreements; and 

a mentoring service for newly appointed chiefs of police or 

public safety directors. A tribal share listserv is available to all 

tribal criminal justice practitioners. This tool serves to facilitate 

information sharing between the various tribes and across 

jurisdictional boundaries and disciplines. 

A Tribal Justice Information Sharing TTA online survey collects 

information from tribal criminal justice practitioners regarding 

their TTA needs that will enhance their tribe’s justice informationsharing capabilities. A total of 265 tribal criminal justice 

practitioners, representing 86 tribes, have completed the survey. 

During FY 2012, TJISS project staff completed 691 technical 

assistance requests and disseminated 2,563 publications. 

Other Tribal Initiatives

In FY 2012, BJA staff led and offered subject-matter expertise to 

listening sessions with tribal leaders as well as implementation 

of tribal law and order-related activities, designed to support 

development of strategies and investments to reduce crime and 

enhance safety, support tribal justice system capacity building 

and planning, and coordinate resources and programs across the 

federal government. 

Tribal Justice Plan Implementation

BJA—in partnership with the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau 

of Indian Affairs (BIA)—coordinated outreach among federal 

agencies, Indian Country, and Native American communities to 

implement recommendations and action steps within the Long 

Term Plan to Build and Enhance Tribal Justice Systems (Tribal 

Justice Plan). The Tribal Justice Plan is a long-term detention, 

alternatives to incarceration, and offender reentry plan for 

American Indian adults and juveniles. BJA is working with other 

federal agencies to implement the recommendations and action 

steps to enhance alternatives to incarceration, explore strategies 

to enhance the provision of federal services and resources to 

support tribal justice systems infrastructure, and manage high-risk 

tribal offenders, especially during reentry. 

Outcomes achieved to date include enhanced provision of 

funding and TTA from BJA for alternatives to incarceration 

including tribal probation, risk assessment, and healing to 

wellness; assessing and planning tribal justice system needs 

and strategies; and expanding construction funding and TTA 

to support tribal justice facilities other than detention including 

multipurpose justice centers, transitional housing, and treatment 

facilities. 

In FY 2012, BJA, in partnership with BIA and OJJDP, hosted 

a pair of webinars on the TJP and implementation progress. 

In addition to webinars, a listening session that discussed TJP 

implementation progress was held at the 15th Tribal Justice, 

Safety and Wellness Session in Tulsa, Oklahoma in October 2012. 

Lastly, three sets of focus groups were held in the fall of 2012 

on the major TJP priorities in conjunction with Indian Country 

events in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Prior Lake, Minnesota; and Green Bay, 

Wisconsin. These focus groups provided a forum to update tribes 

on current activities and gathered further comments from tribes 

on the implementation plan. Indian Country and Native American 

communities affirmed primary themes that were identified during 

the planning phase. 

Intergovernmental Collaboration

TLOA directs the Attorney General to provide technical assistance 

on strategies to promote intergovernmental collaboration 

and relationships among state, tribal, and local partners 

that effectively combat crime in Indian Country and nearby 

communities. To offer assistance in these efforts, BJA continues 

to work with other federal partners and TTA partners such as 

the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the National 

Criminal Justice Association (NCJA), the Center for Court 

Innovation, and the Tribal Law and Policy Institute (TLPI). 

In FY 2012, through BJA funding, NCAI and NCJA continued 

the Tribal–State Collaboration and Justice Capacity Building 

Project. This effort involves creating and compiling material for 

a core curriculum that will train tribal and state justice officials in 

Public Law 280 (known as PL280) and non-PL280 jurisdictions to 

enhance collaboration between state and tribal justice systems. 

The project will also offer access to an online, interactive toolkit 

with examples of promising practices and practical applications. 
72 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

To accomplish these activities, a pilot initiative with two sites—

Minnesota and North Dakota and tribes therein—was initiated. 

NCJA and NCAI will conclude the pilot by convening the tribal 

and state justice officials who participated to review pilot 

activities, identify areas of success, and establish criteria for future 

intergovernmental cooperative efforts between tribes and states. 

The 2-day November 2012 tribal-state North Dakota meeting 

included more than 60 participants, with 4 Indian tribes 

attending, along with state government participants. Those 

in attendance were eager to learn more about findings of the 

Indian Law and Order Commission and felony sentencing under 

TLOA. Key issues identified by tribal-state teams were lack of 

resources (e.g., personnel, equipment) and treatment to address 

increasing violence and the presence of substance abuse in tribal 

communities. Strategies were identified that included building 

and maintaining tribal-state relations, utilizing offender risk and 

needs assessments, reviving traditional methods of justice, and 

communicating between disciplines and national law enforcement 

databases, such as the National Criminal Information Center. Next 

steps include identifying points of contact between tribes and 

sharing information and promising practices. 

Additionally, through TLPI, BJA developed two publications: 

Promising Strategies: Public Law 280 and Promising Strategies: 

Tribal-State Court Relations. Both publications focus on: 

(1) encouraging intertribal coordination, cooperation, 

and collaboration; (2) capacity building for alternatives to 

incarceration; and (3) providing toolkits to assist those wishing to 

replicate the various promising strategies. These publications are 

featured on the Walking on Common Ground web site.

In FY 2012, the web site Walking on Common Ground (www.

WalkingOnCommonGround.org) was launched and highlights 

tribal-state court collaboration, promising practices, and resource 

toolkits to assist those wishing to replicate these practices. Other 

resources include web addresses for federally recognized tribes 

and counties in the United States, tribal-federal collaborations, 

and tribal-state legislative committees. In addition, information is 

included on alternatives to incarceration in tribal justice systems 

as they relate to capacity building and evidence-based practices. 

Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Interdepartmental 

Coordinating Committee

In FY 2012, BJA was represented on the Indian Alcohol and 

Substance Abuse Interdepartmental Coordinating Committee 

(IASA Committee), which provides final guidance, direction, 

and coordination to the appropriate federal efforts in assisting 

tribes to implement Tribal Action Plans as they relate to alcohol 

and substance abuse prevention and treatment. The IASA 

Committee coordinates federal resources and programs to assist 

tribal communities in achieving their goals in the prevention, 

intervention, and treatment of alcohol and substance abuse 

among tribal members. Other members of the IASA Committee 

include representatives from SAMHSA, OJP, BIA, Bureau of Indian 

Education, and Indian Health Services.
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 73

CHAPTER 8

Empowering Communities and Building Capacity

I

n FY 2012, BJA led a number of activities to enhance the 

capacity of community residents, organizations, partners, and 

criminal justice leaders to effectively collaborate in identifying 

and effectively responding to crime issues. These strategies also 

enhanced the capacity to deter crime and to enhance perceptions 

of community safety and trust with criminal justice staff and 

policymakers. In addition, BJA collaborated with the research 

community, policymakers, and criminal justice practitioners to 

enhance use of data and research in developing and managing 

crime responses and investments and to generate new evidence 

to assist the field. Finally, BJA led new efforts to increase 

efficiencies and effectiveness in the provision of TTA. 

Building Neighborhood Capacity Program

In FY 2011, BJA expanded the Building Neighborhood Capacity 

Program, supported integration of evidence into program 

development, enhanced knowledge management, coordinated 

services to strategically deliver TTA to the field, and supported 

and facilitated policymaker collaboration.

The Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (NRI) is a White Houseled federal partnership that supports the transformation of 

distressed neighborhoods into neighborhoods of opportunity that 

provide the resources and environments that children, youth, and 

adults need to thrive. This initiative is a partnership among five 

federal agencies—the U.S. Departments of Justice, Education, 

Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, 

and Treasury—as they work to organize federal resources and 

develop policies that more effectively support neighborhood 

transformation efforts. NRI is founded on the belief that desired 

change can best be achieved by addressing interrelated issues 

in education, employment, financial security, housing, economic 

development, physical and behavioral health, and community 

and household safety. The initiative operates under a shared 

theory of change: a coordinated effort to increase the quality of 

a neighborhood’s assets, sustained by local leadership over an 

extended period, will improve resident well-being and community 

quality of life. 

BJA’s BNCP is a key component of NRI. BNCP is designed to 

help low-income neighborhoods build the infrastructure and 

resources needed to ensure that families experience better 

results in education, employment, safety, housing, and more 

and to illustrate how communities around the country can 

build capacity to transform distressed neighborhoods into 

neighborhoods of opportunity. Funded through an interagency 

agreement among the Departments of Justice, Education, and 

Housing and Urban Development, BCJI provides intensive TTA 

to faith-based, nonprofit, and community organizations over a 

period of at least 30 months to help these neighborhoods design 

and begin pursuing results-driven, sustainable revitalization plans. 

In late 2012, the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) was 

competitively selected to provide TTA to these neighborhoods 

and to establish an online resource center for anyone interested in 

sustainable revitalization. 

In 2012, BJA worked with the federal management team and 

CSSP to develop a framework and training materials to implement 

the BNCP effort, support the creation of a resource center, and 

conduct an intensive selection process for the sites. This included 

historical analyses of data on community distress, application 

review, and site visits. In July, eight neighborhoods were selected 

within the four chosen cities to receive targeted technical 

assistance to develop capacity around the essential elements of 
74 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

healthy neighborhoods. The neighborhoods are Flint, Michigan’s 

Ward 1 and Ward 3 neighborhoods; Memphis, Tennessee’s 

Binghamton and Frayser neighborhoods; Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s 

Amani and Metcalfe Park neighborhoods; and Fresno, California’s 

El Dorado and Southwest neighborhoods. During the second half 

of 2012, CSSP worked with the federal management team and 

sites to assess capacity, recruit and hire staff at the community 

and citywide levels, and host a kickoff orientation for these site 

coordinators. 

BCJI 2012 GRANTEES

San Bernadine,

California

Charleston,

West Virigina

Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania

Brooklyn,

New York

Dayton,

Ohio

Milwaukee,

Wisconsin

Portland, Oregon

Seattle, Washington

Austin, Texas

Detroit,

Michigan

San Antonio,

Texas

Buffalo,

New York

Lowell,

Massachusetts

Baltimore,

Maryland

Omaha,

Nebraska

Policymaker Collaboration

Building Sustainable Capacity to Engage in Strategic 

Planning

The National Criminal Justice Association, with support from 

BJA, provided TTA in strategic planning to State Administering 

Agencies (SAAs) in 20 states, 2 territories, and the District of 

Columbia. TTA services have been tailored to the needs, planning 

scopes, and timelines established by SAAs. 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 75

As a result of this TTA, SAAs are spending a greater portion of 

their JAG Program funds on data collection and analysis. SAAs 

across the country are devoting significant staff resources to 

reaching out more broadly than ever before to their stakeholder 

communities for input and development of a statewide strategic 

plan. The strategic plans are becoming more sophisticated in their 

use of data to inform what works to prevent and reduce crime. 

To an increasing degree, SAAs are requiring their subgrantees to 

gather and conduct more analysis on their priority crime initiatives 

and to submit applications for funding of projects that are proven 

to work, are seeking to replicate evidence-based practices from 

other jurisdictions, or will include the analysis of data to measure 

outcomes. 

FY 2012 project highlights include:

■ In Oklahoma, the project team worked with the District 

Attorneys Council to expand their traditional strategic planning 

efforts from a single-day open meeting to a more data-driven 

stakeholder-informed planning process. NCJA worked with the 

SAA to gather relevant state data and develop two surveys to 

help build consensus around the state’s greatest criminal justice 

needs and priorities. After analyzing these results, the SAA 

successfully developed a statewide strategic plan. 

■ In Tennessee, the state legislature passed a bill requiring that 

juvenile justice funds be used for evidence-based programs. 

The Tennessee Office of Criminal Justice Programs (OCJP) 

conducted a statewide conference, with assistance from NCJA, 

to educate their stakeholder communities and subgrantees 

on evidence-based programs and their implementation at the 

local level. In addition, this meeting was used to help integrate 

the work of the office’s Targeted Community Crime Reduction 

Project into their larger planning strategy. In preparation for 

the conference, the SAA held regional focus groups for local 

practitioners. Information from these focus groups will be 

used for the office’s next annual strategic planning effort. With 

planning grants, the SAA is also funding several pilot projects 

in which subgrantees are required to collect and use data to 

inform their strategic planning. Also, the subgrantees must use 

only evidence-based programs and practices to address the 

data-identified justice issues. 

■ The project team also worked with the Tennessee SAA to 

collect data at the state and national level and convene a group 

of drug court professionals to share effective and innovative 

policies and practices. NCJA facilitated a moderated strategic 

planning session with judges, advisory board members, 

prosecutors, defenders, and members of the Tennessee 

Association of Drug Court Professionals to help establish 

priorities for the state’s dedicated drug court funding. The 

resulting report was published on the OCJP web site for use by 

the drug court stakeholder community in Tennessee.

In FY 2012, NCJA and BJA produced the publication SAA 

Strategic Planning: Stakeholder Engagement Strategies. The 

first in a series of assessments that describes how SAAs engage 

in strategic planning, this document examines stakeholder 

identification, outreach, and the most commonly used 

engagement strategies. The assessment shows that planning 

efforts by SAAs have varied greatly in size, planning period, 

and system inclusivity; many of these variations have to do with 

planning scope, SAA statutory authority, and planning capacity. In 

addition, this report provides information on data integration and 

strategic planning consensus-building strategies. 

In FY 2012, NCJA received supplemental funding of $650,000 to 

continue the project for 2 more years. 

Criminal Justice Coordinating Council Network

With funding from BJA, the Justice Management Institute, the 

Pretrial Justice Institute, and the National Association of Counties 

created the National Criminal Justice Coordinating Council 

(CJCC) Network to enable regular information sharing and to 

help disseminate promising practices. The goal of the National 

CJCC Network is to strengthen the ability of local policymakers 

to improve local level criminal justice planning and policy 

development, which will benefit all disciplines in the criminal 

justice system. The network is composed of leaders and top-level 

staff from 12 of the most-advanced CJCCs across the country that 

have major roles in shaping decisions regarding criminal justice to: 

■ Provide a forum for CJCC leaders/senior staff to discuss 

common issues and opportunities for addressing them.
76 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

■ Facilitate a learning exchange on promising and evidence-based 

policy and practices.

■ Develop materials that will aid CJCCs across the country in their 

policymaking and will assist other jurisdictions in developing 

effective CJCCs of their own. 

Through a series of webinars and publications, the National CJCC 

Network has reached hundreds of local justice practitioners, 

policymakers, and members of local CJCCs. Listed below is a 

summary of the major network accomplishments and deliverables 

for FY 2012:

■ Publications for policymakers and practitioners: Improving 

Criminal Justice System Planning and Operations: Challenges 

for Local Governments and Criminal Justice Coordinating 

Councils; Fostering and Sustaining Criminal Justice System 

Reform: The Role of Criminal Justice Coordinating Councils 

(to be released in 2013); the CJCC Mini-Guide Series, which 

was disseminated electronically through the National CJCC 

Network Listserv; and CJCC County Profiles, also disseminated 

through the listserv and via newsletter.

■ Educational webinars: “Enhancing Criminal Justice Practice 

with a Criminal Justice Coordinating Council” (127 registrants) 

and “Diagnosing Your Criminal Justice System: Identifying 

Approaches, Issues, and Priorities” (280 registrants).

■ Information exchange and peer-to-peer learning webinars 

for network members: topics include Effective Juvenile Justice 

Strategies; Performance Measures for CJCCs; Racial Disparities 

in the Criminal Justice System; a two-part series on Diagnosing 

Your System and the Use of Data; and Strategic Planning.

■ Information dissemination through social media, listservs, 

and shared cloud servers: 145 jurisdictions signed up for 

the network listserv; created the National CJCC Network 

Facebook page to share upcoming training opportunities, grant 

opportunities, new publications/reports, and network news; 

and established an online Google portal for network members 

to post requests for information, update documents, hold 

online “chats,” and share calendar information about upcoming 

events.

Governors’ Criminal Justice Policy Advisors Project

The National Governors Association (NGA) Center assists 

governors and their criminal justice and public safety advisors 

in meeting criminal justice policy priorities by applying lessons 

from current research and practice to promote evidence-based 

policies. For the last 10 years, the NGA Center has supported 

a network of governors’ criminal justice policy advisors with the 

goal of improving how criminal justice policy decisions are made 

within states by providing a nexus between research and policy. 

NGA works with these advisors and provides a trusted and 

confidential forum for them to learn about current research and 

practice. This network is the only venue specifically designed to 

provide governors’ criminal justice advisors a place to learn about 

emerging research and to discuss with their peers its implications 

for state criminal justice policy. Building on a training for new 

criminal justice advisors hosted in 2012, NJC hosted a range of 

technical assistance to states. 

In FY 2012, the NGA Center provided technical assistance to 

15 states, including Alaska, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, 

Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North 

Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Assistance 

included:

■ NGA Center staff worked with Maryland’s Office of Crime 

Control and Prevention to plan and organize the Mid-Atlantic 

Regional Information Sharing Summit, held on June 25, 2012 

in Baltimore, Maryland and attended by public safety leaders 

from four states and the District of Columbia. During the 

meeting, senior state officials discussed sharing data to better 

monitor violent offenders when they move across state lines; 

networking and expanding license plate recognition technology 

to link state systems; mechanisms to share information in real 

time between criminal justice and public safety officials in the 

various states to facilitate criminal investigations and crime 

prevention; “next generation” Fusion Centers and greater 

integration of federal, state, and local agencies in collecting, 

monitoring, and sharing data; and coordinating and unifying 

scrap metal, pawn, and secondhand property databases 

to regulate and enforce secondhand property transactions 

throughout the region. 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 77

■ To assist the New York Governor’s Office in identifying how 

governors’ offices are organized in states with high-functioning 

criminal justice systems, the NGA Center made confidential 

inquiries to governors’ offices identified as having highfunctioning criminal justice systems, consulted experts in 

criminal justice policy, conducted independent research, and 

prepared a detailed memo summarizing its findings.

■ At the request of the Iowa Governor’s Office, NGA coordinated 

and hosted a conference call for governor’s offices in Iowa, 

Minnesota, and Wisconsin to learn about one another’s efforts 

to track pseudoephedrine sales and to discuss potential 

opportunities for interstate collaboration in sharing information 

related to pseudoephedrine sales with the goal of reducing the 

production and distribution of methamphetamine. Included 

on the call were governors’ criminal justice policy advisors, 

representatives of state drug enforcement agencies, and other 

executive officials.

■ The Illinois Governor’s Office asked the NGA Center to provide 

assistance regarding cost-effective corrections vocational/

education, mental health, and drug treatment programs that 

reduce recidivism. NGA Center staff provided their publication 

titled State Efforts in Sentencing and Corrections Reform and 

additional resources related to the specific areas of interest. 

NGA Center staff also provided contact information for several 

subject-matter experts for followup assistance. 

NGA also hosted conference calls for all governors’ criminal 

justice policy advisors to provide them an opportunity to connect 

with their peers from across the country, learn from researchers 

and experts about best practices related to public safety and 

criminal justice policy, and receive program and funding updates 

from BJA. One such call featured a presentation on the Pew 

Public Safety Performance Project’s report, “Time Served: The 

High Cost, Low Return of Longer Prison Terms.” 

In addition, in August 2012, BJA and NGA hosted a national 

webcast for governors’ offices and state policymakers on policies 

and strategies that states can adopt to provide inmate health care 

in more cost-effective ways. The webcast provided an overview 

of the primary drivers of health care costs and recommended 

policies and strategies states can adopt to reduce those costs. 

Within the first 3 months of airing, the webcast was viewed 2,900 

times.

Integrating Evidence

BJA is finalizing a plan to more systemically integrate and 

translate research knowledge and methods, as well as data, into 

its everyday processes and procedures. This plan is based on 

innovative approaches that BJA has piloted, especially in the 

areas of drug courts, reentry, community corrections, and smart 

policing. In these areas BJA staff have reviewed, summarized, and 

translated the research for the field. They have also identified the 

key model components and included these requirements, along 

with the translated research, in funding solicitations. For example, 

the FY 2012 Second Chance Act Adult Offender Reentry Program 

for Planning and Demonstration Projects grant announcement 

included an appendix titled “What You Need to Know to Ensure 

Your Program is Built on Principles of Effective Practice.” This 

appendix included six research-supported principles of evidencebased correctional practice that are widely accepted as strategies 

to reduce future criminal behavior and provided brief descriptions 

of the importance of putting each principle into practice. In 

addition, BJA is working with staff from the OJP Assistant 

Attorney General’s Evidence Integration Initiative Team and from 

NIJ to examine the research and evidence in criminal justice and 

incorporate these findings into the BJA decisionmaking process. 

BJA staff is also in critical leadership roles on the OJP Institutional 

Review Board, the CrimeSolutions.gov working group, and OJP 

Science Advisory Board BJA Subcommittee, connecting the needs 

of practitioners through translation, ethical research, and building 

capacity through enhanced collaborations between practitioners 

and researchers. 

Generating New Knowledge

In an effort to produce new knowledge in the areas of probation 

and post-release community supervision, BJA, in partnership with 

NIJ, is involved in two Demonstration Field Experiments (DFE). 

DFEs allow BJA and NIJ to bring the rigor of science to program 
78 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

implementation, including the use of randomized controlled 

experiments, tracking and coaching for program fidelity, and 

strength in data collection and analysis. The TTA partner and the 

independent evaluator are key partners in the process. 

In 2012, BJA and NIJ began the implementation of the probation 

DFE that is replicating the Hawaii Opportunity Probation 

with Enforcement probation model, a program in Hawaii 

that is showing strong evidence of success. During 2012, this 

implementation, dubbed the Honest Opportunity Probation with 

Enforcement (HOPE) DFE, was begun in four sites: Clackamas 

County, Oregon; Essex County, Massachusetts; Saline County, 

Arkansas; and Tarrant County, Texas. 

The second DFE, the post-release community supervision model, 

is an extension of BJA’s SCA reentry initiatives. BJA is currently 

working with NIC to develop four innovative training modules for 

the SCA DFE sites. BJA also funded a study that examined the 

prevalence of mental illness among women in jails as well as the 

pathways to jail for women with and without mental illnesses. 

Hawaii HOPE DFE

BJA and NIJ teamed up to replicate the Hawaii Opportunity 

Probation with Enforcement program. NIJ is funding the 

evaluation of the BJA demonstration sites. The four sites selected 

for this DFE are located in the Northwest, the Northeast, and 

two in the Southwest. This DFE is rigorously testing whether the 

HOPE probation model can promote the successful completion 

of probation for high-risk probationers. DFE sites are being 

asked to examine risk assessment scores, criminal histories, and 

prior behavior on probation to determine which probationers 

are at high risk for failing probation through drug use, missed 

appointments, and/or reoffending. After the pool of high-risk 

probationers has been determined, they are being randomized 

into one of the following groups: (1) HOPE probation or (2) 

probation as usual. Research coordinators onsite facilitate 

the randomization process and collect data throughout the 

experiment. There are also Project Coordinators located onsite 

to monitor implementation fidelity. The evaluation team will 

also follow up with offenders for 12 months after they leave the 

program. 

In FY 2012, $232,873 was provided to TTA partner, Pepperdine 

University, and $3.16 million was provided for the site-based 

awards. 

Second Chance Act DFE

BJA released a solicitation to fund three demonstration sites to 

test a crime desistance-based reentry model. This project will be 

a collaborative effort among BJA, NIJ, and the National Institute 

of Corrections (NIC). BJA will fund the demonstration sites, NIJ 

has funded the evaluation, and NIC will develop and deliver the 

training and facilitate the technical assistance and coaching to 

the sites. BJA, NIJ, and NIC are supporting this multisite DFE in 

an effort to significantly expand the body of evidence associated 

with improving the outcomes for offenders reentering the 

community. This DFE will combine a multisite demonstration of a 

reentry model with rigorous experimental evaluation in an applied 

setting. Both the parole officers and the parolee participants will 

be randomized into treatment and control groups.

BJA is currently working with NIC and their partners to develop 

a set of curricula focused on improving the interactions between 

the parole officer and the parolee and improving the outcomes 

of parolees. The desistance framework will be the underpinning 

for these curricula, which will include modules for Effective 

Core Correctional Practices, Integrated Case Management & 

Supervision, and Motivational Therapy. The NIC “Thinking for a 

Change” 3.0 curricula will also be incorporated into the training 

for offenders. 

To generate new knowledge about effective solutions for working 

with offenders in the community and to enhance practice, 

this DFE will be focused on examining the community-based 

components of a comprehensive reentry strategy. This DFE will 

also examine how post-release interactions, programs, services, 

and activities impact parolees. The results from this DFE are 

expected to enhance the knowledge base for working with 

post-release offenders in the community. Final site selection is 

expected to take place in spring 2013. 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 79

Women’s Pathways to Jail

Jail administrators have reported that the presence of women 

with mental illness is an increasing problem in local jails, with 

many of the same female inmates cycling in and out of jails 

repeatedly. Consequences include jail overcrowding, increased 

pharmacological costs, and stress for correctional personnel who 

may be ill-equipped to address mental illness. Unfortunately, few 

studies have examined the prevalence of serious mental illness 

among women in jails. This project examined the prevalence 

of mental illness among women in jails and pathways to jail for 

women with and without mental illness. The sample included 491 

women in both urban and rural jails from 4 geographical regions 

of the United States: the Southwest, Mid-Atlantic, Northwest, and 

Deep South. The study found that:

■ Trauma and mental health were associated with onset of crime.

■ Many women in jail met the criteria for serious mental illness 

(SMI), post-traumatic stress disorder, and/or substance use 

disorders in the past 12 months, and 25 percent reported 

severe functional impairment in the past year.

■ Half of the women received substance use treatment or mental 

health treatment prior to incarceration.

■ Most of the women in jail experienced multiple types of 

adversity and interpersonal violence in their lives.

■ Women with SMI were more likely to have run away, 

experienced trauma, be repeat offenders, and have an earlier 

onset of substance use.

The information from this study can help criminal justice 

professionals develop strategies to address and respond to 

these issues. This information can also help the field enhance 

mental health screening at jails as well as gender-responsive 

programming for primary prevention, rehabilitation, and reentry 

back into the community. 

BJA posted the final report to its web site and requested that 

other criminal justice agencies link to the report on their web 

sites. A BJA Policy Brief that summarizes the report also was 

developed and released in March 2013. 

Tools for the Field

Risk-Needs-Responsivity Simulation Tool

BJA partners with George Mason University (GMU) and the 

University of Massachusetts-Lowell to develop a Risk-NeedsResponsivity (RNR) simulation tool to help federal, state, and local 

jurisdictions define the types and nature of correctional options 

available in their jurisdictions. The tool will help these agencies 

and nonprofit organizations use the risk-need-responsivity 

approach. The tool has three goals. In “Assess Your Jurisdiction,” 

the goal is to define the type and nature of correctional options 

available in their jurisdictions. “Assess Your Program” will allow 

practitioners to assess the programs they already provide, based 

on intensity of liberty restrictions, treatment offered, content, 

implementation, and quality. Finally, “Assess an Individual” will 

allow practitioners to assess an individual’s program needs based 

on risk and criminogenic needs. The user will enter the individual’s 

risk level and several criminogenic needs he/she has, and the tool 

will then recommend programming for that individual. This tool 

will use a compiled database to assess reductions in recidivism, 

and it will provide the ability to be customized to the local 

jurisdiction or program. 

GMU has finalized the tool, available at www.gmuace.org/

research_rnr.html, and is currently in the pilot phase with a few 

jurisdictions. GMU also completed the background documents 

for the tool, which describe the underlying assumptions, the 

research base, and how the tool reaches its projections and 

recommendations. 

Skills for Offender Assessment and Responsivity in 

New Goals

GMU’s Skills for Offender Assessment and Responsivity in New 

Goals (SOARING-2) will create a suite of web-based tools that 

can facilitate the development of knowledge and skills to sustain 

evidence-based practices (EBPs), with the goal of providing tools 

that supplement traditional correctional and judicial academies. 

SOARING-2 is designed to provide in-office skill development for 

the individual staff and agencies to facilitate the sustainability of 

EBPs and to provide innovative tools to assist staff in managing 

offender outcomes. 
80 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

The purpose of the project is to increase knowledge—

(1) declarative knowledge (“what,” meaning of terms), (2) 

procedural knowledge (“how”), and (3) strategic knowledge 

(when to apply the technique)—for professionals in a manner 

that involves cognitive, interpersonal, and psychomotor skills 

or tasks, and then to evaluate its impact on outcomes in select 

probation settings. In May 2012, GMU selected the following sites 

to pilot the training: New York, New York; City and County of San 

Francisco, California; Los Angeles, California; Orange County, 

California; Montgomery County, Pennsylvania; Allegheny County, 

Pennsylvania; and Ames, Iowa. This training will be made available 

in FY 2013 and can be accessed at http://soaring2.gmuace.org. 

Cost-Benefit Knowledge Bank for Criminal Justice

Few jurisdictions know what return on investment they are getting 

for their criminal justice system expenditures. Assumptions are 

made about the financial and substantive effects of policy and 

program choices without much solid information on the real 

costs or benefits incurred. Yet this information is highly relevant 

to the decisions policymakers and practitioners need to make, 

particularly in the current challenging fiscal climate. To address 

this gap, BJA has funded the Vera Institute of Justice to build 

and support a national knowledge bank for cost-benefit analysis 

in criminal justice. The Cost-Benefit Knowledge Bank for Criminal 

Justice (CBKB) is helping practitioners and policymakers better 

understand the economic pros and cons associated with criminal 

justice investments. These resources and activities will also help 

support policymakers and practitioners in building their capacity 

to promote, use, and interpret cost-benefit analysis in criminal 

justice settings, with the ultimate goal of helping them to identify 

interventions that are both effective and affordable for their 

jurisdictions and allocate resources accordingly. 

CBKB staff are currently working with six sites to help them build 

their cost-benefit analysis capacity. During FY 2012, the CBKB 

staff produced a number of webinars, maintained and updated a 

cost-benefit analysis (CBA) blog, and developed information to 

help the field monetize benefits. All of this information is available 

at http://cbkb.org. The CBKB team has also been working to 

provide CBA technical assistance to four jurisdictions: Allegheny, 

Pennsylvania (focused on day reporting centers and diversion 

services); Denver, Colorado (jail and reentry programming); Kent, 

Washington (intelligence-led policing and automated license plate 

readers); and York County, Pennsylvania (DUI treatment court). 

Training and Technical Assistance Coordination

Established in 2008, the BJA National Training and Technical 

Assistance Center (NTTAC) facilitates the delivery of high-quality, 

strategically focused TTA to achieve safe communities nationwide. 

Promoting the mission of BJA, NTTAC coordinates the provision 

of rapid, expert, and data-driven TTA that supports practitioners 

in the effort to reduce crime, recidivism, and unnecessary 

confinement in state, local, and tribal communities. 

The mission of BJA’s NTTAC, www.bjatraining.org, is to 

provide guidance to grantees and nongrantee criminal justice 

professionals to replicate model programs and approaches; 

increase knowledge and use of best practices, emerging 

technologies, and proven strategies; and assist agencies 

and jurisdictions in identifying operations and program 

needs. The TTA services provided through NTTAC cover the 

broad set of BJA’s program areas to address the needs of 

criminal justice practitioners and agencies, elected officials, 

and community organizations. The services offered include 

assistance in implementing evidence-based programs, curriculum 

development, data analysis, onsite and distance learning training, 

peer-to-peer visits, responding to research and information 

requests, and strategic planning assistance. 

During FY 2012, the following accomplishments were achieved:

■ Established Call Center: Established a 24-hour service-level 

agreement for responding to callers’ inquiries; addressed 

more than 552 help desk requests (359 e-mails and 193 phone) 

related to BJA Training and Technical Assistance Reporting 

System and NTTAC services.

■ Developed a Consultant Management Process: Confirmed 

necessary consultant qualifications, drafted and finalized a 

prescreening form and an online application for consultants, 

and streamlined the payment process. 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 81

■ Standardized and Implemented TTA Processes: Developed 

a TTA application and a TTA assessment form. Analyzed RFP 

development, release, and submission processes; provided a 

focal point for TTA requests and addressed needs from the 

field; reduced the effort required to meet requestor needs 

through standardized processes.

■ Created RFP Process: Designed a process for RFP 

development, release, and submission. RFPs are now sent 

to expert providers for select engagements, encouraging 

competition, and best-fit matching of requestors and providers.

The information below summarizes the TTA requests in FY 2012:

TTA BY TOPIC AREA

0

5

10

15

20

Adjudication

Capacity Building

Corrections

Counter-terrorism

Justice Information Sharing

Law Enforcement

Mental Health

Crime Prevention

Substance Abuse

Tribal Justice

0 0

■ The NTTAC team submitted 55 TTA requests to BJA for 

consideration. NTTAC closed 34 requests (received, processed, 

and/or delivered); 21 TTA requests were carried over into 

FY 2013.

■ 47 of the 55 TTA requests received and sent to BJA were 

categorized as “Comprehensive” or “Intensive” requests. 

Comprehensive requests entail standardized TTA services and 

materials that are delivered via onsite workshop or through 

virtual meetings such as conference calls and webinars; 

Intensive requests entail delivery of rigorous, customized 

solutions through direct, onsite support that addresses the 

specific needs of recipients, including workshops, guidance, or 

facilitation.

■ TTA services were requested by 29 states and the District of 

Columbia, with 17 states submitting one request each. The 

District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New York, and Texas 

submitted the highest volume of requests.

■ The types of organizations that submitted requests varied, but 

the vast majority of requests came from local government.

TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS

Private Sector

3

Local Government

26

State Government

3

Nonprofit Organization

7

University

1

Local Agency

4

Correctional Institution

1

Tribal Government

2

State Agency

8

FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 83

CHAPTER 9

Performance Measurement

Performance measurement is a research technique and tool 

used to help BJA meet the requirements of the Government 

Performance and Results Act Modernization Act (GPRA 

Modernization Act; Public Law 111-352), which was signed 

into law in 2011. The act requires federal agencies to report 

performance data more frequently and to link strategic planning 

to performance goals. BJA’s commitment to achieving the goals 

of the GPRA Modernization Act is outlined in the FY 2013–2018 

Strategic Plan, which was unveiled in November 2012. 

BJA believes that effective program management starts with 

meaningful performance measures designed to easily collect 

individual grantee performance data, along with a system to 

analyze this data to inform program management decisions. In FY 

2012, BJA continued to invest in the Performance Measurement 

Tool (PMT), www.bjaperformancetools.org/, for its grantees to 

report results. BJA uses a comprehensive analysis process to 

produce performance reports on grantee data. With the help 

of TTA partners, BJA analyzes data and targets strategies that 

address issues identified from the data. These analyses are 

compiled in a series of performance reports published by BJA, 

fostering transparency about the use of taxpayer funds. 

BJA uses performance measures to assess grantee progress 

toward program goals and objectives as well as for an 

accountability tool. Program performance measures are 

indicators, statistics, or metrics used to gauge program 

performance, conveying the extent to which each program’s 

purpose or goals are being met. BJA uses performance measures 

for setting program priorities; allocating resources; adopting new 

program approaches or changing processes; sharing these with 

appropriate stakeholders; and setting expectations for grantees 

and mentoring them. 

FY 2012 Accomplishments

In FY 2012, BJA added new performance measures in the PMT 

for the Tribal Criminal and Civil Legal Assistance Program. BJA 

worked with stakeholders, practitioners, and GAO to refine 

performance measures for certain programs whose data were 

already being collected to ensure relevancy, consistency, and 

accuracy. Performance measures were revised for the following 

programs in FY 2012: 

■ Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program.

■ Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program.

■ Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program.

■ Second Chance Act Program.

■ Adult Drug Court Program.

■ Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.

Based on recommendations from GAO’s Adult Drug Court Grant 

Program review (GAO 12-53), BJA worked toward improving its 

performance management process by using the recommendations 

in GAO’s Managing for Results: Enhancing Agency Use of 

Performance Information Management Decision Making (GAO 05-

927, September 9, 2005). 

BJA also worked with analysts in FY 2012 to interpret grantee 

data that were used in written reports, data requests and data 

memos, research and evaluation, and GrantStat. The GrantStat 

process allows BJA to take a closer look not only at grantees but 

also at overall program success. Using these data, BJA is also 

better able to direct TTA.
84 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

Performance Measure Development

Literature Review and Logic Model Development

In FY 2012, BJA implemented the performance measure 

development process. This ensures that performance measures 

reflect current research while still allowing for substantial 

stakeholder input. Developing new performance measures starts 

with a review of the program solicitation, as it outlines purpose 

areas and allowable activities within the program and serves as a 

guide for identifying outcomes. It is then important to develop a 

broader understanding of the program and the scientific literature 

on which it is based. The scientific literature helps to identify 

key program design features, processes, and outcomes. All of 

this information is then laid out in a logic model that ultimately 

informs the “problem statement,” goals of the program, inputs 

and outputs, activities, and program outcomes. The use of a 

logic model helps to identify the steps that must be taken (and 

measured) to achieve certain outcomes. 

For example, in FY 2012, BJA started developing a 

comprehensive set of measures for the Tribal Court Assistance 

Program and the Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention 

Program. BJA recognizes how important it is to develop measures 

that are meaningful and sensitive to tribal issues. Before the 

measures were drafted and while the logic model was being 

created, analysts reviewed the pertinent scientific literature. 

They consulted a wide range of papers, including Fahey, King, 

and Kane’s Crime and Justice in Indian Country: A Summary of 

Talking Circle Findings and the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010, 

a 2011 report from the Crime and Justice Institute at Community 

Resources for Justice in Boston. The literature review helped 

identify issues and matters pertinent to tribal courts, such as the 

complexities of establishing a tribal court in Indian Country and 

addressing related jurisdictional issues. 

In this process, BJA realized it was also essential to engage the 

TTA providers to help inform the process from a local perspective. 

These TTA providers generally have intimate knowledge of 

and experience with local tribal grantees and their programs. 

Feedback from TTA providers informed the development of the 

logic model and draft performance measures, ensuring these new 

measures are meaningful and responsive to tribal issues. 

Pilot Period Review and Revisions

From time to time, BJA revises performance measures to better 

reflect grant activity, reflect new knowledge and research, and 

respond to the needs of legislators, the academic community, and 

other stakeholders. This was the case in FY 2012 for PDMP and 

the SCA Program.

The performance measures for the PDMP were updated 

in FY 2012 to reflect changes in the way researchers use 

the performance measurement data reported by grantees. 

Researchers told BJA that the timeframes for some of the 

measures BJA collects are not consistent with other research 

in the field, and BJA responded by adjusting the reporting 

guidelines. This included providing training and technical support 

to grantees during the change and to researchers in making them 

aware of the new information. Grantees began reporting on the 

new measures in January 2013. 

The revision of performance measures for SCA Programs was 

a multistep process that started with identifying problematic 

measures and developing revised measures with guidance from 

relevant stakeholders, such as TTA providers. Once a revised 

set of draft measures was developed, BJA staff and other 

stakeholders vetted the new instrument so that analysts could 

receive their feedback and suggested changes. The final step 

was a vetting process with grantees to gather more feedback 

and explain the data collection process to ensure accurate data 

collection. Feedback from these vetting sessions was included 

in the revised measures, which were returned to BJA staff for 

final approval. The vetting process included a webinar with 

196 grantees participating in the vetting process, representing 

33 percent of all SCA organizations. In addition, 39 grantees 

attended in-person vetting workshops at the SCA Conference in 

May 2012.

Once the revised measures were made available in the PMT, 

grantees entered a pilot data entry period of two FY 2012 
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 85

quarters. The pilot period data were used to ensure that data 

entered by grantees are valid and reliable, and that grantees have 

a chance to become familiar with the reporting requirements, 

system, and process. In the final step, analysts conduct data 

validations and reliability assurances to verify that the measures 

are accurate. This process includes a review of the new data to 

validate and, if necessary, edit the questions or better define what 

each measure is asking; and to establish additional validation 

checks and rules in the system. 

Oversight and Accountability

In FY 2012, GAO conducted performance measurement reviews 

of the ADGDGP (GAO 12-53) and the ARRA JAG Program 

(GAO 11-87). For the drug court program, GAO made one 

recommendation for executive action: that BJA “document key 

methods used to guide future revisions of its adult drug-court 

program performance measures.” This recommendation included 

a plan for assessing measures after grantees report on them and 

a documented rationale for when measures are refined. BJA took 

action to respond to these findings and successfully closed out 

the GAO review.

For the ARRA JAG program, GAO made two recommendations 

for executive action. First, GAO recommended that BJA 

“consider, as appropriate, key attributes of successful 

performance measurements systems, such as clarity, reliability, 

linkage, objectivity, and measurable targets.” In response, BJA 

received feedback from more than 100 state and local grantees 

to assist with developing relevant performance measures. 

The process included telephone interviews with grantees, a 

focus group, and meetings with stakeholders. Analysts and 

staff conferred with experts in performance measurement and 

evaluation of formula grant programs, made presentations to 

constituent groups, and vetted the measures with grantees. 

For ARRA JAG, GAO also recommended that BJA develop a 

mechanism to validate the integrity of performance data. In 

response, BJA implemented system-level validation rules in the 

PMT that help verify and identify inconsistent responses at the 

data entry level.

Selected Programs and PMT Data Profiles

Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program

The ADCDGP is intended to build and/or expand drug court 

capacity at the state, local, and tribal levels to reduce crime and 

substance abuse among high-risk, high-need offenders. Some 

of the key components that serve as guidelines for drug court 

operations include early intervention and intensive treatment, 

close judicial supervision, mandatory and random drug and 

alcohol testing, community supervision, appropriate incentives 

and sanctions, and recovery support services. 

As of July–September 2012, 1,148 drug courts were operating 

and reporting data into the PMT. The ADCDGP had an overall 

graduation rate of 47 percent in FY 2012, coming within 1 

percentage point of achieving its goal of 48 percent (Figure 

1). However, in the last two quarters of FY 2012, the target 

graduation rate was achieved. In total, 5,316 drug court 

participants graduated from their programs. BJA is striving to 

ensure drug courts are institutionalizing the use of validated 

risk and needs assessment instruments. In FY 2012, 14,106 

assessments of participants were completed, which revealed that 

more than half (52 percent) were high-risk, high-need offenders. 

Randomized drug and alcohol testing is an important component 

of the drug court program. In FY 2012, more than 66,000 drug 

and alcohol tests were administered, and only approximately 17 

percent revealed illegal substance use. 

The drug court program has also noted a number of successes 

represented in the qualitative data collection portion of the PMT. 

As seen in Case Study 1, these results show evidence of grantee 

efforts and funding impact.

Second Chance Act Adult Offender Reentry 

Demonstration Program

As part of BJA’s evidence-based initiative, the SCA Adult 

Offender Reentry Demonstration Program collects performance 

measures on a number of key areas, such as program capacity; 

new admissions; percentage of high-, moderate-, and low-risk 
86 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

offenders; employment outcomes; and program completion. 

Through measuring program performance in this way, BJA can 

identify program success, offer evidence to inform the program, 

and prepare information and findings to share with the criminal 

justice field. 

The reentry program had a number of successes in FY 2012. The 

overall completion rates were 83 percent for pre-release and 

47 percent for post-release programs. The reentry program has 

also been successfully serving target populations. This program 

was intended to focus on moderate- to high-risk offenders 

convicted as adults. Figure 2 indicates that over the last three 

reporting periods, 89 percent of the enrollees on average who 

were assessed using a valid risk and needs assessment instrument 

were found to be either moderate or high risk. This indicates the 

enrolled population is as intended. 

The reentry program has also had a number of successes reported 

by the grantees in the qualitative data collection portion of the 

PMT. As seen in Case Study 2, these results show the specific 

effects of the programs at the street level and offer evidence of 

grantee efforts.

FIGURE 1. ADULT DRUG COURT GRADUATION RATE

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Oct. - Dec. 2011 Jan. - March 2012 Apr. - June 2012 July - Sept. 2012

Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance 

Grant Program

The JAG Program is the leading source of federal justice funding 

to state and local jurisdictions. The program provides states, 

tribes, and local governments with critical funding necessary to 

support a range of program areas. 

BJA’s review of performance data submitted by JAG grantees 

revealed a need to revise the measures, to reduce the burden 

placed on grantees to collect large amounts of data, and to 

foster clarity of understanding among all grant recipients. The 

ultimate goal of the revision process was to produce measures 

that accurately convey the value of JAG grants and improve the 

overall quality of programs.

Over the past 2 years, BJA has been revising the performance 

measures for the JAG Program in response to the GAO report 

Recovery Act: Department of Justice Could Better Assess Justice 

Assistance Grant Program Impact (GAO-11-87). To address the 

report findings, BJA developed a process to understand the 

concerns of grantees and to better respond to stakeholders. 

This required a new set of measures to meet BJA’s reporting 

needs to internal and external stakeholders. The measures 

were also developed to give grantees the opportunity to better 

FIGURE 2. PARTICIPANT RISK ASSESSMENT SCORE

0

20

40

60

80

100

Oct. - Dec. 2011

(N-45)

Jan. - March 2012

(N=46)

Apr. - June 2012

(N=46)

Low Risk Moderate Risk High Risk
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 87

Case Study 1: Adult Drug Court

Recently our drug court was selected as a host site for the All 

Rise America National Motorcycle Relay for Recovery. Given 

the national attention the relay was garnering and the historical 

nature of such an event, the team decided this would be a 

great time to reach out to the community to solicit support 

for our drug court program. Numerous civic organizations and 

community leaders were contacted and invited to attend a 

local motorcycle rally as well as a drug court session followed 

by a graduation ceremony. A number of local business and civic 

organizations agreed to provide a location for the rally, as well 

as food and beverages for those in attendance. In discussing 

motives for the rally with different agencies, we were able to 

obtain sponsorship for the event as well as educate those we 

spoke to about the benefits of drug court. Each agency was 

informed as to the importance of its future support and how 

it will facilitate the ongoing success of drug courts within the 

community. Those who attended the motorcycle rally got to 

see firsthand the benefits of drug court, when past graduates 

told their stories as to how drug court made a difference in 

their lives. Past graduates were also made available to answer 

individual questions from all who attended. Given the positive 

response to the rally, it appears the team’s goals of building 

community partnerships and raising awareness about the 

benefits of drug court were met. The following day, an open 

drug court session was held with local media covering the 

event. Again, numerous civic organizations and community 

leaders were in attendance and able to experience drug 

court proceedings. They were able to see how each individual 

participant was held accountable for negative behavior as well 

as rewarded for positive efforts. Given the attendance and 

media coverage at each event, it would appear the court was 

successful in educating the community and gathering support 

for the drug court.

describe how they used JAG funding and what their programs 

accomplished during the reporting period. 

Under the new measures, grantees report their data according 

to the seven purpose areas listed below. Their reporting gives 

detailed data on the amount of funding spent on each purpose 

area and the activities conducted in each (Figure 3). JAG grantees 

began to collect data on the new JAG performance measures in 

April 2012 and submitted their first data report in June 2012. The 

following is a list of the seven program areas and the types of 

data collected with the new measures: 

■ Law enforcement activities include creating or fostering law 

enforcement programs, hiring or maintaining police officers, 

investing in equipment or technology, conducting or attending 

law enforcement–related training, funding multijurisdictional 

task forces, and reporting data on seizures. 

■ Prosecution and courts as well as defense and indigent 

defense activities include hiring personnel (i.e., court clerks, 

investigators, prosecutors, and public defenders), paying 

overtime, investing in equipment or technology, and training 

personnel. 

■ Prevention and education include activities such as crime 

prevention programs or campaigns and/or publication and 

dissemination of educational materials. 

■ Corrections and community corrections include correctional 

activities and initiatives such as reentry programs that fund 

services ranging from educational and vocational training to 

employment and housing placement. 

■ Drug treatment and enforcement include drug treatment 

(inpatient or outpatient) as well as clinical assessment, 

detoxification, counseling, and aftercare. Drug enforcement 

activities include task forces and seizures.

■ Planning, evaluation, and technology improvement includes 

activities such as planning and conducting evaluations and 

making technology improvements. 

■ Crime victim and witness protection activities include 

providing legal, medical, counseling, advocacy, or educational 

services to crime victims and/or witnesses. Training is an 

important component of these services, including training 

individuals and distributing training materials appropriate for 

crime victims and/or witnesses.

In addition to the new questions, the PMT questionnaires now 

include a narrative section for grantees to provide details of their 

accomplishments during the reporting period (Case Study 3). 
88 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

Case Study 2: Second Chance Act Reentry

Our local experience suggests that reentry programs funded 

by the Second Chance Act are well placed to initiate and 

guide justice system reform efforts, similar to those underway 

throughout the country. Effective reentry strategies achieve 

better public safety outcomes, address victim concerns, and 

better manage limited resources, making reentry an ideal 

starting point for systemic reform. Staff and partners have 

taken the lead in distributing research summaries, articulated 

service delivery models, trained stakeholders to implement and 

interpret risk and needs assessment, evaluated and prioritized 

services linked to common criminogenic need, identified 

policies and practices that support successful reentry, and 

promoted community awareness and support for evidencebased corrections practice. Although the BJA funding ends this 

fiscal year, the project has served as an invaluable pilot. The 

project has given us a considerable lead compared with other 

counties in California in being prepared to implement effective, 

evidence-based practices to manage offender reentry. Our 

services, partnerships, practices, and staffing will be sustained 

within the new framework, focused on a broader target 

population.

Accomplishments include any additional information or program 

accomplishments grantees want to share with BJA, including 

benefits or changes observed as a result of their JAG-funded 

activities.

Research and Data Analysis

Program Performance Reports

In FY 2012, BJA expanded reporting of grantee performance 

information by adopting a new format for reports. Responding 

to feedback from BJA staff, grantees, and the general public, 

BJA unveiled new Program Performance Reports that reflect 

input from these audiences. Designed to be short and flexible, 

these reports include information on the status of up to six key 

performance variables that give an overall performance picture 

across all grantees. These reports are used by BJA staff to 

identify issues in grantee performance or reporting, distributed to 

grantees to allow for peer-to-peer performance comparisons, and 

are posted on the BJA web site. Sample Program Performance 

Reports can be found on BJA’s SCA Program web page.

Annual Reports

Annual reports provide an overall picture of grantee and program 

performance in a fiscal year. This gives BJA and the public a 

strategic view of grant activity and allows for adjustment in 

grantee strategy and overall program management. Selected 

annual reports are posted on BJA’s web site. In FY 2012, BJA 

produced a special report on JAG Drug Task Force performance 

measures that detailed the activity and findings of a special 

task force. The task force was convened to gather information 

from grantees and stakeholders on the JAG Drug Task Force 

performance measures. The goals were to improve the findings by 

analyzing the data that grantees report, and to reduce the level of 

effort required of grantees to report this information. This report 

can be found at www.bja.gov/Publications/JAGDrugPerfReport.

pdf.

FIGURE 3. TOTAL AMOUNT OF JAG FUNDING 

ALLOCATED BY PURPOSE AREA (PERCENT)

Drug Treatment

and Enforcement

5%

Law Enforcement

62%

Prevention and Education

6%

Prosecution and Courts

10%

Breaking the Cycles of Mental Health,

Substance Abuse, and Crime

8%

Crime Victim and 

Witness Protection

1% Corrections and 

Community Corrections

6%
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 89

Closeout Reports

As noted previously, BJA revises performance measures to 

better reflect grant activity or respond to the needs of BJA staff, 

legislators, the academic community, and other stakeholders. 

When measures are revised, BJA often produces a closeout 

report of the existing measures in preparation for rollout of the 

new measures. Whenever possible, these reports are posted on 

BJA’s web site. For example, the closeout report for the previous 

JAG measures can be found at www.bja.gov/Publications/

JAG0312CloseoutReport.pdf; the closeout report for the 

measures used for the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration 

Program through FY 2011 is available at www.bja.gov/Programs/

JMHCP2011CloseoutReport.pdf.

Validity and Reliability Report

When new measures are developed, BJA produces a Validity and 

Reliability report, which details the measurement and analysis 

properties of the new measures. The results of the analysis are 

used to revise the measures before they are finalized and used 

in future reporting periods. The Drug Courts Quality Assurance 

Plan, for example, can be accessed at www.bja.gov/Publications/

ADC_PM_QAP.pdf.

Special Reports

BJA also produces a variety of special reports to meet specific 

needs of the criminal justice field, including three created in FY 

2012:

■ Mortgage Fraud Fact Sheet: www.bja.gov/Publications/

MortgageFraudFS.pdf

■ Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program: www.bja.gov/

Programs/PSOB/PSOBmeasures.pdf

■ Edward Byrne Memorial JAG Grants Program Survey Results 

2012: www.bja.gov/Programs/JAG/JAGSurveyResultsSummary.

pdf 

GrantStat

During FY 2012, BJA replicated and expanded its GrantStat 

process, which is used to continuously analyze and monitor 

grant and program performance. GrantStat is based on the 

anticrime strategy CompStat, which law enforcement agencies 

across the country use to help reduce crime through systematic 

data collection, crime analysis, and heightened accountability. 

GrantStat helps BJA staff assess program performance to 

determine the health of a cohort of grantees, address the needs 

of individual grantees, and identify promising practices that can 

be studied further and shared with others.

In FY 2012, BJA revisited the programs reviewed in FY 2011 (the 

Adult Drug Court Program, the Correctional Facilities on Tribal 

Land program, and the SCA Reentry Demonstration program) 

and expanded the process to include SAVIN and SPI. During 

the GrantStat review process, BJA identified opportunities to 

improve grantee performance by targeting technical assistance 

to specific grantees. The process facilitated information exchange 

between BJA staff and TTA providers, resulting in identification of 

program-wide issues and trends that were previously unavailable. 

In addition to program management changes, BJA has changed 

some internal processes as a result of GrantStat. These include 

adding information to solicitations to help applicants design 

and propose projects that use evidence-based techniques, and 

revising program performance measures to address information 

needs identified during GrantStat. 

Case Study 3: Justice Assistance Grant Program 

During the reporting period, the police department hired a 

court operations specialist. The specialist provides ongoing 

staff support for the city’s Early Resolution Court and performs 

other court-related duties, such as working with GunStat and 

the Criminal Citation Programs. The specialist also assists the 

police with warrant projects, tracks individuals who fail to appear 

at their court cases, and conducts case disposition research as 

needed.
90 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

Training and Technical Assistance

In FY 2012, the PMT Help Desk fielded and responded to 6,402 

technical assistance requests from BJA grantees and conducted 

48 formal and informal (webinar) training events. A total of 3,091 

BJA grantees and federal staff attended at least one training 

event. Figure 4 presents a breakdown of technical assistance 

requests by grant program and type for each quarter in FY 2012.

FIGURE 4. PMT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE BY 

PROGRAM TYPE

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Oct - Dec 2011 Jan - Mar 2012 Apr - Jun 2012 Jul - Sep 2012

Tribal Programs 39 104 38 79

SCA Programs 212 154 80 129

RSAT 22 42 20 35

Drug Court 

Programs

77 120 46 51

Other ARRA 

Programs

41 35 18 32

Byrne JAG 1085 835 583 750

Other Programs 91 111 67 86

Unspecified 20 34 8 26

Total 2016 1738 1074 1574
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 91

Acronyms and Abbreviations

A

AAMVA American Association of Motor Vehicle 

Administrators

ACAC Animal Cruelty Advisory Council

ADCDGP Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program

ALERRT Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response 

Training

APA Association of Prosecuting Attorneys

APAI Association of Paroling Authorities International

APPA American Probation and Parole Association

ARRA American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

ASCA Association of State Correctional Administrators

B

BCJI Byrne Criminal Justice Initiative

BIA Bureau of Indian Affairs

BJA Bureau of Justice Assistance

BJS Bureau of Justice Statistics

BNCP Building Neighborhood Capacity Program

BVP Bulletproof Vest Partnership

C

C.F.R. Code of Federal Regulations

CAD Computer Aided Dispatch

CAT Communities Against Terrorism

CBA Cost-benefit analysis

CBKB Cost-Benefit Knowledge Bank for Criminal Justice

CBOB Congressional Badge of Bravery

CCI Center for Court Innovation

CEPP Center for Effective Public Policy

CICC Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council

CIO Chief Information Officer

CISA Criminal Information Sharing Alliance

CJCC National Criminal Justice Coordinating Council

COPS Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

CPAT Colorado Pretrial Assessment Tool

CPSI Center for Public Safety Innovation (St. Petersburg 

College)

CROP-DE Common Regional Operating Picture – Data 

Exchanges

CSAT Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (SAMHSA) 

CSC Celebrate Safe Communities

CSCATL Correctional Systems and Correctional Alternatives 

on Tribal Lands

CSG Council of State Governments

CSSP Center for the Study of Social Policy

CTAS Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation
92 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

D

DCYF Department of Children, Youth, and Families 

(Rhode Island)

DEC Drug endangered children

DFE Demonstration Field Experiments

DHS U.S. Department of Homeland Security

DMI Drug market intervention

DOC Department of Corrections

DOJ U.S. Department of Justice

DPS Texas Department of Public Safety

E

ESC Executive Steering Council

F

FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation

FVTC Fox Valley Technical College

FY Fiscal year

G

GAC Global Advisory Committee

GAO U.S. Government Accountability Office

GFIPM Global Federated Identity and Privilege 

Management

GIST Global Information Sharing Toolkit

GIWG Global Intelligence Working Group

Global Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative

GMU George Mason University

GOWG Global Outreach Working Group

GPIQWG Global Privacy and Information Quality Working 

Group

GPRA Government Performance and Results Act 

GRA Global Reference Architecture

GSC Global Standards Council

H

HOPE Honest Opportunity Probation with Enforcement

I

IACP International Association of Chiefs of Police

IASAP Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program

IC3 Internet Crime Complaint Center

ICOTS Interstate Compact Offender Tracking System

IDEx Indiana Data Exchange

IDP Identity Provider

IEP Information exchange package 

IIR Institute for Intergovernmental Research

IJIS Institute Integrated Justice Information System Institute

IP Intellectual property

IPNO Innocence Project – New Orleans

IT Information technology

IWI Initiative on Witness Intimidation

J

JAG Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistant Grant

JMHCP Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program

JMI Justice Management Institute

JRI Justice Reinvestment Initiative
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 93

JSG Justice Solutions Group

K

KeRRP Kennebec Regional Reentry Project

L

LEFG Law Enforcement Forecasting Group

LEO Law Enforcement Online

LSI-R Level of Service Inventory—Revised

M

MOU Memorandum of understanding

MOV Medal of Valor

MSU Michigan State University

N

NAAG National Association of Attorneys General

NAC National Advocacy Center

NACDL National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

NACo National Association of Counties

NADCP National Association of Drug Court Professionals

NBPI Northern Border Prosecution Initiative

NC SAVAN North Carolina Statewide Automated Victim 

Assistance and Notification

NCAI National Congress of American Indians

NCCD National Council on Crime and Delinquency

NCIRC National Criminal Intelligence Resource Center

NCJA National Criminal Justice Association

NCJTC National Criminal Justice Training Center

NCPC National Crime Prevention Council

NCSC National Center for State Courts

NDAA National District Attorney’s Association 

NDCI National Drug Court Institute

N-DEx National Data Exchange

NEPA National Environmental Policy Act

NFA National Forensic Academy

NGA National Governors Association

NGC National Gang Center

NIC National Institute of Corrections

NIEM National Information Exchange Model

NIJ National Institute of Justice

NIJC National Indian Justice Center

NJC National Judicial College

NMVTIS National Motor Vehicle Title Information System

NPRC National Parole Resource Center

NPREC National Prison Rape Elimination Commission

NRCJIW National Resource Center on Justice-Involved 

Women

NRI Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative

NRRC National Reentry Resource Center

NSA National Sheriffs’ Association

NSI Nationwide SAR Initiative

NTJC National Tribal Judicial Center

NTJRC National Tribal Justice Resource Center

NTTAC BJA National Training and Technical Assistance 

Center
94 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

NW3C National White Collar Crime Center

NYPD New York Police Department

O

OCJP Office of Criminal Justice Programs (Tennessee)

OJJDP Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

Prevention

OJP Office of Justice Programs

ONDCP Office of National Drug Control Policy

OVC Office for Victims of Crime

P

PDMP Prescription Drug Monitoring Program

Pew Pew Center on the States

PJI Pretrial Justice Institute

PJWG Pretrial Justice Working Group

PLI Project Lifesaver, Inc.

PM-ISE Program Manager for the Information Sharing 

Environment

PMIX Prescription Monitoring Information Exchange

PMO Program Management Office

PMT Performance Measurement Tool

PONI Planning of New Institutions

PRC National PREA Resource Center

PREA Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003

PSA Public service announcement

PSN Project Safe Neighborhoods

PSOB Public Safety Officers’ Benefits

Q

R

RFP Requests for proposals

RISS Regional Information Sharing Systems

RISS ATIX RISS Automated Trusted Information Exchange

RISSafe RISS Officer Safety Event Deconfliction System

RISSGang RISS National Gang Program

RISSIntel RISS Criminal Intelligence Databases

RISSNET Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) 

Secure Intranet

RMS/JMS Records management system/jail management 

system

RNR Risk-Needs-Responsivity

ROI Reducing Officer Injuries

RPOC Research Partner Orientation Course (PSN)

RSAT Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State 

Prisoners

S

SAA State Administering Agencies

SAMHSA Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 

Administration

SAR Suspicious Activity Reporting

SAVIN Statewide Automated Victim Information and 

Notification

SBI Springboard Initiative

SBU Secure but unclassified

SCA Second Chance Act of 2007
FY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 95

SCAAP State Criminal Alien Assistance Program

SIRS SORNA Inter-jurisdictional Relocation Service

SJI State Justice Institute

SLATT State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training

SMI Serious mental illness

SOARING-2 Skills for Offender Assessment and Responsivity in 

New Goals (GMU)

SORNA Sex Offender Relocation and Notification Act

SPI Smart Policing Initiative

SWBPI Southwest Border Prosecution Initiative

SWORN South West Offender Real-time Notification

T

TCAP Tribal Courts Assistance Program

TCCLA Tribal Criminal and Civil Legal Assistance Program

TJISS Tribal Justice Information Sharing System

TJP Tribal Justice Plan

TLOA Tribal Law and Order Act

TLPI Tribal Law and Policy Institute

TPA Tribal Probation Academy

TTA Training and technical assistance

TTAC National PDMP TTA Center

U

U.S.C. United States Code

UCAD Unified law enforcement, fire, and EMS Computer 

Aided Dispatch

UCAD FR UCAD Functional Requirements

UMCPI Upper Midwest Community Policing Institute

USAO Assistant U.S. Attorneys

USAO United States Attorneys’ Offices

V

VA U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

VALOR Preventing Violence Against Law Enforcement 

Officers and Ensuring Officer Resilience and 

Survivability

VIPS Volunteers in Police Service

VITA Virginia Information Technologies Agency

VTC Veterans’ Treatment Courts

WXYZ

XML Extensible Markup Language



Bureau of Justice Assistance Information

BJA’s mission is to provide leadership and services in grant administration and criminal justice policy to 

support local, state, and tribal justice strategies to achieve safer communities. For more information about 

BJA and its programs, contact:

Bureau of Justice Assistance

810 Seventh Street NW.

Washington, DC 20531

Phone: 202–616–6500

www.bja.gov/contactus.aspx

Web site: www.bja.gov

The BJA Clearinghouse, a component of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, shares BJA 

program information with local, state, tribal, and federal agencies and community groups across the country. 

Information specialists provide reference and referral services, publication distribution, participation and 

support for conferences, and other networking and outreach activities. The clearinghouse can be contacted at:

Bureau of Justice Assistance Clearinghouse

P.O. Box 6000

Rockville, MD 20849–6000

Toll free: 1–800–851–3420

Fax: 301–519–5212

Questions/comments: www.ncjrs.gov/App/ContactUs.aspx

Web site: www.ncjrs.gov

Clearinghouse staff are available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. eastern time. Ask to be placed on 

the BJA mailing list.
U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Assistance

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