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 

Laurie O. Robinson 

Acting Assistant Attorney General 

James H. Burch, II 

Acting Director, Bureau of Justice Assistance 

Office of Justice Programs 

Innovation • Partnerships • Safer Neighborhoods

www.ojp.usdoj.gov 

Bureau of Justice Assistance 

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA 

NCJ 225799
 

The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also 

includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile

Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime.
Contents 

At-A-GlAnce...................................................................................................................3
 

FY 2006 ProGrAms........................................................................................................5
 

Preventing Crime......................................................................................................................7
 

Emergency Planning .................................................................................................................9
 

Violent Crime .........................................................................................................................12
 

Gangs.....................................................................................................................................15
 

Problem-Solving Justice Initiatives ..........................................................................................16
 

Methamphetamine and Other Drugs ......................................................................................18
 

Protecting Vulnerable Populations...........................................................................................20
 

Corrections.............................................................................................................................23
 

Tools and Science for Criminal Justice ....................................................................................25
 

Justice Information Sharing .....................................................................................................26
 

Capacity Building ...................................................................................................................30
 

FY 2007 ProGrAms......................................................................................................33
 

Preventing Crime....................................................................................................................35
 

Emergency Planning ...............................................................................................................38
 

Violent Crime and Gangs........................................................................................................39
 

Problem-Solving Justice Initiatives .........................................................................................42
 

Combating Drug Crime and Abuse .........................................................................................44
 

Correctional Options ..............................................................................................................46
 

Justice Information Sharing .....................................................................................................49
 

Honoring America’s Public Safety Officers .............................................................................57
 

Tools for Criminal Justice ........................................................................................................58
 

Leadership and Building Capacity ..........................................................................................59
 

FYs 2006 And 2007 APPendixes...................................................................... cd–rom
 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 1 

At-A-GlAnCe

Created in 1984, 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. 

Leading the way in FYs 2006 and 2007, BJA focused its programmatic 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. 

A brief look at a few of the many programs administered by BJA in FYs 2006 and 2007 reveals: 

Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant funds provided more than $815 million to 50 states,
 

the District of Columbia, and 5 territories for local, state, and tribal justice initiatives.
 

Drug Courts received more than $19 million in funding and technical assistance support to
 

promote accountability and treatment.
 

Tribal Initiatives were bolstered through three programs totaling more than $42 million for
 

courts, treatment, and corrections efforts. 


Public Safety Officers’ Benefits administered more 


than $94 million to survivors of America’s fallen heroes. 

Victims of Human Trafficking efforts received 

nearly $25 million for task force and related support 

to combat and prevent human trafficking. 

Prescription Drug Monitoring funds totaling 

$13 million allowed states to enhance their capacity 

to collect and analyze controlled substance data. 

Bulletproof Vest Partnership awards supported law
 

enforcement across the country through nearly
 

$60 million for new and replacement vests.
 

BJA Priorities
 

— Emphasize Local Control 

— Develop Collaborations and Partnerships in the Field 

— Promote Capacity Building Through Planning 

— Streamline the Administration of Funding and Resources 

— Increase Training and Technical Assistance 

— Create Accountability of Projects 

— Encourage Innovation 

— Communicate the Value of Justice Efforts 

BJA’s efforts reflect the dedication, commitment, and successes of a nation of justice partners who 

believe that something can always be done to help reduce and prevent crime. 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 3 


FY 2006 Appropriations for BJA-Administered Programs (in $ millions) 

Justice Assistance 

Grant Program, $416.5 

Tribal Assistance, $22.0 

Byrne Program, 

Other Programs, $191.7 

$228.7 Bulletproof Vest 

Partnership, $30.0 

PSOB 

Program, $72.9 

Drug Court Grant 

Program, $10.0 

Payment Programs, $435.0 

FY 2006 Appropriations for BJA-Administered Programs, by Program Areas (in $ millions) 

Corrections, $457.3 

Tools and Science for 

Criminal Justice, $31.0 

Justice Information 

Sharing, $60.0 

Capacity Building, 

$10.0 

Preventing Crime, 

$16.5 

Emergency 

Planning, $146.0 

Violent Crime, $506.9 

Gangs, $66.0 

Problem-Solving Justice 

Initiatives, $12.6 

Methamphetamine and 

Other Drugs, $42.0 

Protecting Vulnerable 

Populations, $58.5 

6 • SOLuTIOnS FOR SAFER COMMunITIES 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FY 2006 ProGrAms 

Preventing crime 

BJA partners with a wide range of organizations and agencies to develop and implement innovative 

initiatives to prevent chronic and new crimes in America’s communities. 

citizen corps 

Citizen Corps has the following five components, 

the first two of which BJA administers: the 

Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) Program, 

National Neighborhood Watch Program, 

Community Emergency Response Team, Fire Corps, 

and Medical Reserve Corps. 

Volunteers in Police Service 

Implemented by the International Association of 

Chiefs of Police (IACP) on behalf of BJA and the 

White House Office of the USA Freedom Corps, 

VIPS enhances the capacity of local and state law 

enforcement to use volunteers. Through FY 2006: 

■■	 The www.policevolunteers.org web site receives 

more than 18 million hits. Since the VIPS 

Program’s inception on May 30, 2002, 1,418 

programs have registered, reflecting the efforts of 

more than 90,000 volunteers from all 50 states, 

the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto 

Rico. 

■■	 Engaging Youth Through Volunteerism 

(educational video), Volunteer Programs: 

Enhancing Public Safety by Leveraging 

Resources (resource guide), and Supporting 

Law Enforcement Volunteer Efforts: Resources to 

Enhance Public Safety (CD–ROM) are released. 

■■	 Basic and advanced training sessions. 

■■	 Technical assistance and site visits. 

National Neighborhood Watch 

BJA partners with the National Sheriffs’ Association 

(NSA) in managing the National Neighborhood 

Watch Program—USAonWatch (UOW)—to 

enhance, expand, and revitalize watch programs 

nationwide. 

■■	 16,290 watch groups registered. 

■■	 2,500 law enforcement agencies partner with 

these groups. 

■■	 Neighborhood Watch Toolkit and Training 

Curriculum. 

■■	 UOW web site (www.usaonwatch.org) receives 

more than 38 million hits, hosting more than 2 

million guests. 

state and local Anti-terrorism 

training (slAtt) Program 

■■	 SLATT trains more than 10,000 attendees at 

125 events. 

■■	 SLATT responds to the needs of law 

enforcement by providing specialized training 

and technical assistance; updating curricula; 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 7 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

implementing a web-based, anti-terrorism 

training distance-learning tool; and 

disseminating timely research products. 

■■	 18,771 officers are trained by state and 

local graduates of the SLATT Train-the-Trainer 

program. 

■■	 250 federal graduates of the Train-the-Trainer 

program. 

■■	 Intermediate Interviewing Techniques, 

Native American Jurisdictional Issues, and 

Intelligence Sources in the Correctional 

System curricula are delivered. 

■■	 Tribal lands anti-terrorism curriculum is 

developed and delivered. 

■■	 Web site (www.slatt.org) provides online 

training to complement the program’s onsite 

workshops and research products. 

■■	 88,000 reference materials are distributed, 

including Warning Signs of Terrorist Events, 

Recognition Indicators for Terrorist-Type IEDs, 

Investigating Terrorism/Criminal Extremism 

Guide—Terms and Concepts, Reference Guide for 

Arabic Terms, and Reference Material CD. 

identity theft 

BJA and the National Crime Prevention Council 

(NCPC) partner to combat one of the most 

damaging modern crimes: identity theft. 

■■	 Nationwide public service announcement (PSA) 

campaign for television and radio features 

McGruff the Crime Dog® teaching senior 

citizens how to protect themselves against 

telemarketing fraud. 

■■	 Seniors and Telemarketing Fraud 101 

(booklet) is released. 

national citizens’ crime 

Prevention campaign 

In FY 2006, the National Citizens’ Crime 

Prevention Campaign and its icon, McGruff the 

Crime Dog®, celebrate 25 years of educating 

citizens on preventing crime. The campaign is 

a partnership among BJA, NCPC, the Crime 

Prevention Coalition of America, and the Ad 

Council, Inc., that encourages citizens to participate 

in crime prevention through public service 

advertising campaigns, provides training and 

technical assistance to citizen and law enforcement 

organizations, coordinates demonstration programs, 

and produces publications and other resources. 

■■	 Peer-to-Peer Training and Technical Assistance 

Initiative: Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New 

York, and Rhode Island. 

■■	 The Crime Prevention Month kit, a calendar 

featuring crime prevention tips and major 

safety events, focuses on crime prevention in 

the information age, providing information 

and resources on topics such as identity theft, 

telemarketing fraud, and Internet safety. More 

than 87,000 copies are distributed. 

■■	 Webisodes, radio and television PSAs, press 

releases, and printed materials against bullying. 

■■	 Regional roundtables of state crime prevention 

leaders. 

■■	 Presentations to be modified and used by 

local crime prevention practitioners that include 

topics such as identity theft, crime prevention 

trends, seniors and crime prevention, and crime 

prevention and community preparedness. 

law enforcement and Youth 

Partnerships for crime Prevention 

The Law Enforcement and Youth Partnerships for 

Crime Prevention Initiative (www.cpinitiatives.org) 

8 • SOLuTIOnS FOR SAFER COMMunITIES 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

is a partnership among BJA, the Boys & Girls Clubs 

of America, and other national law enforcement and 

youth-oriented organizations to reinvigorate crime 

prevention efforts in local communities. 

■■	 A national conference with Community 

Teams—composed of a Boys & Girls 

Club executive, a senior law enforcement 

representative, and a community leader— 

receive training and develop a Blueprint Action 

Plan. Each community receives up to $15,000 

to develop and implement crime prevention 

programs tailored for its area. 

Project childsafe 

A component of Project Safe Neighborhoods, 

Project ChildSafe supports efforts to reduce gun 

crime through a firearms safety program and 

gunlocks and gun safety information. 

■■	 National Shooting Sports Foundation 

administers the program and works with 

governors and local officials to raise awareness 

of firearms safety and promote the safety kits’ 

availability. 

■■	 ChildSafe reaches its goal by distributing more 

than 35 million safety kits to gun owners in all 

50 states and in 5 U.S. territories since 2003. 

emergency Planning 

BJA assists state and local justice systems with planning for emergencies to help ensure that in any 

public safety crisis, the rule of law can and will be maintained. 

Pandemic Planning 

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is part of the 

national planning effort for a pandemic influenza 

outbreak, as well as any other natural or manmade 

public health crisis, as outlined in President Bush’s 

Implementation Plan for the National Strategy for 

Pandemic Influenza. 

■■	 BJA holds a national symposium, “Justice and 

Public Health Systems Planning: Confronting a 

Pandemic Outbreak.” Nearly 250 executives of 

federal, state, and local courts; corrections; law 

enforcement; public health; and other planning 

agencies participate, representing 45 states and 

the District of Columbia. 

■■	 BJA launches a dedicated web portal—which 

is continually updated—for pandemic 

planning, including online video presentations 

and documents and resources related to 

pandemic planning for courts and other justice 

components. 

■■	 BJA awards grants to national organizations 

that support law enforcement, courts, and 

corrections systems to provide resources for 

local and state personnel as they prepare their 

pandemic plans. 

■■	 BJA, in partnership with the Police Executive 

Research Forum, develops and releases The Role 

of Law Enforcement in Public Health Emergencies: 

Special Considerations for an All-Hazards 

Approach, to guide law enforcement planning 

efforts. 

■■	 BJA provides technical assistance to jurisdictions 

through multidisciplinary consultants from 

the public administration and public health 

communities. Technical assistance is provided to 

three state supreme courts, many associations, 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 9 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In December 2005, Congress passed and the President signed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act 

(Public Law 109-148), which provided a supplemental appropriation of $125 million “for state and local law 

enforcement assistance for necessary expenses related to the direct or indirect consequences of hurricanes in 

the Gulf of Mexico in calendar year 2005.” 

and law enforcement representatives responsible 

for planning within their agencies. 

■■	 BJA provides outreach to many justice 

components and organizations regarding 

planning for public health emergencies. BJA 

also develops a strong working relationship with 

the Department of Health and Human Services’ 

Public Health Service and the Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention. 

Hurricane Katrina support 

While the immediate impact of a hurricane on 

criminal justice functions often is obvious, the 

disruption and destruction of critical infrastructure 

is a serious threat to the long-term safety of a 

community. 

■■	 Within days of Hurricane Katrina’s devastating 

impact, BJA administers 33 supplemental 

Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance 

Grant (JAG) Program grants to local and state 

agencies in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi 

to support immediate law enforcement needs. 

■■	 The Office of Justice Programs ( OJP), through 

BJA, provides $5 million of emergency funding 

to support local law enforcement initiatives in 

communities DOJ identifies as in the greatest 

need in Alabama ($814,301), Louisiana 

($3,306,643), and Mississippi ($879,056). 

■■	 BJA automatically issues 6-month, no-cost 

extensions for all grants in Alabama, Louisiana, 

and Mississippi scheduled to end between the 

hurricane’s date (August 25, 2005) and the end 

of the calendar year (December 31). BJA also 

reviews all grants and updates programmatic 

special conditions from affected FY 2005 

JAG awards to ensure that access to funds is 

uninterrupted for grantees in serious need of 

their funds. 

■■	 BJA Policy Advisors with law enforcement 

experience represent DOJ and OJP on a 

Rapid Assessment Team, in partnership 

with the U.S. Department of Homeland 

Security’s (DHS) Office of State and Local 

Government Coordination and Preparedness. 

The focus of these teams: to assist local and 

state law enforcement agencies in Louisiana 

and Mississippi in conducting assessments to 

reconstitute services in the areas severely affected 

by Hurricane Katrina. 

■■	 RISS—the Regional Information 

Sharing Systems Program—a nationwide 

communications and information sharing 

program administered with support from BJA, 

responds to Hurricane Katrina with logistical 

support and supplies to law enforcement in the 

damaged areas. RISS confirms and announces 

staging locations within the affected states where 

supplies can be delivered, locates replacement 

patrol vehicles, and identifies emergency routes. 

RISS staff provide officers with food, water, 

fuel, and access to satellite telephones, as well 

as prepare intelligence assessments on gang and 

criminal activity. 

■■	 BJA administers $125 million from 

supplemental appropriations, as well as an 

10	 • SOLuTIOnS FOR SAFER COMMunITIES 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

additional $20 million from OJP’s Office of the 

Assistant Attorney General, deobligated through 

the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant 

Program, to Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, 

and Texas. On March 17, 2006, BJA awards 

$8.5 million to Alabama, $58.25 million to 

Louisiana, $58.25 million to Mississippi, and 

$20 million to Texas for communications 

systems; facilities repair and temporary facilities; 

personnel overtime and hiring; vehicles/boats; 

weapons, ammunition, safety equipment, 

uniforms, and other law enforcement supplies; 

and health and mental health services for public 

safety and criminal justice employees. 

■■	 Alabama Department of Economic and 

Community Affairs. Funds are distributed to 

eight counties and two state agencies affected 

by damage to infrastructure and organizational 

capabilities of their criminal and juvenile 

justice agencies. Funding will be used to replace 

equipment, purchase communication and office 

equipment, and upgrade information systems, 

as well as other efforts. The Mobile County 

District Attorney’s Office will use its funds to 

staff 22 attorneys to investigate and prosecute 

complaints of post-hurricane looting, price 

gouging, charity scams, demolition and cleanup 

scams, insurance fraud, and identify theft. Drug 

task forces from the City of Mobile, Escambia, 

City of Jackson, Baldwin County, Geneva 

County, and Mobile County receive funding to 

combat the influx of drug production and sales. 

■■	 Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement 

and Administration of Criminal Justice. 

Funds are distributed to address the lack 

of adequate personnel, equipment, and 

specialized training; to establish and 

continue programs that affect drug control 

and violent or nonviolent crime and related 

prosecution problems; to address recidivism 

by strengthening the prevention of crime 

and drug abuse intervention, treatment, and 

rehabilitation; and to provide specialized law 

enforcement and prosecution training for law 

enforcement, prosecution, and judicial systems 

improvement; enhanced forensics laboratories to 

train law enforcement in surveillance, criminal 

patrols, narcotics investigation, and terrorist 

activity; and information systems upgrades. 

■■	 Mississippi Department of Public Safety. 

Funds are distributed to support Mississippi’s 

law enforcement and other criminal justice 

agencies in the state’s lower 17 counties, heavily 

damaged as a result of Hurricane Katrina. After 

the hurricane, individuals from outside the 

jurisdictions came into the area to prey on local 

residents, and many of these individuals were 

arrested, increasing the number of criminal 

trials. Funds are provided to prosecution 

agencies to hire new prosecutors and keep 

up with the workload, as well as increasing 

the number of public defenders, purchasing 

equipment for law enforcement, training new 

law enforcement personnel, and upgrading 

communication equipment. 

■■	 Texas Office of the Governor, Criminal 

Justice Division. Although not directly affected 

by Katrina, Texas encounters a tremendous 

increase in its population as residents of 

Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi are 

displaced. In Houston, the murder rate during 

the last 4 months of 2005 (after evacuees arrive) 

was 139 percent greater than during the same 

4 months in 2004. The City of Houston, 

Harris County, and Fort Bend County will 

use funding to improve the capability of 

public safety agencies to address violent crime 

and accommodate increased demands on law 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 11 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

enforcement and emergency services, including 

hiring additional public safety employees, 

expanding information and intelligence systems, 

and addressing the increased demand on local 

courts and jail facilities. 

court security 

Court security remains a vital concern facing law 

enforcement and justice agencies. 

■■	 The National Center for State Courts develops 

a national strategic plan and implementation 

strategies to help ensure the safety and security 

of the nation’s courts. Court security strategies 

forming the foundation for the final report are 

available at www.ncsconline.org/D_Research/ 

coop. 

Violent crime 

BJA supports efforts nationwide to address violent crime. BJA also honors public safety officers 

who risk their lives each day by providing benefits to their survivors and recognizing acts of valor. 

Project safe neighborhoods 

In 2001, President George W. Bush created a 

comprehensive gun crime reduction strategy called 

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a premier 

criminal justice initiative. Linking prosecutors, 

community leaders, and local, state, and federal law 

enforcement officers, PSN provides a multifaceted 

approach to deterring and punishing gun crime. 

With more than $2 billion devoted to PSN for gun 

crime reduction efforts, new local, state, and federal 

prosecutors have been hired; training and technical 

assistance provided; and research conducted to 

further develop and promote effective prevention 

and deterrence efforts. 

■■	 Firearms cases filed in 2006 are up 66 percent 

from 2000; the number of defendants in 

firearms cases is also up 54.9 percent from 2000. 

In 2006, more defendants than ever before are 

sentenced to prison for firearms crimes. There 

is a notable increase in sentences longer than 61 

months imposed on defendants in these cases. 

■■	 Unveiled by the Attorney General at the 2006 

PSN National Training are two new PSN PSAs, 

created in partnership with the Ad Council. 

“Sounds of Gun Crime” and “Time Served” are 

intended to educate youth about the seriousness 

of gun crime and gang involvement. Distributed 

to English- and Spanish-language radio stations 

nationwide, the PSAs begin airing in July 2006 

and receive nearly $117 million in donated air 

time from initial launch through the second 

calendar quarter of 2006. 

■■	 In 2006, PSN sponsors 22 trainings for more 

than 3,000 practitioners. BJA provides funds 

to the National District Attorneys Association’s 

American Prosecutors Research Institute 

(APRI) to develop and continue its training and 

technical assistance efforts; PSN sponsors 14 

onsite technical assistance visits; and the Bureau 

of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives 

provides site support to an additional 22 

locations (with more than 4,000 trained). 

■■	 New products are developed and distributed to 

the districts to highlight practices and assist with 

local PSN projects: Practical Guide to Media 

Outreach for Project Safe Neighborhoods; Engaging 

the Community in Project Safe Neighborhoods; 

and Project Safe Neighborhoods in Practice II. 

Michigan State University—a PSN research 

12	 • SOLuTIOnS FOR SAFER COMMunITIES 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

partner—develops a series of reports highlighting 

strategic PSN interventions: gun prosecution case 

screening, offender notification meetings, crime 

incident reviews, and chronic violent offenders lists. 

capital case litigation initiative 

In response to a goal President Bush identified in 

the 2005 State of the Union Address, DOJ, through 

BJA, launched the Capital Case Litigation Initiative 

to improve the quality of representation and the 

reliability of verdicts in local and state capital cases 

through training for prosecutors, defense counsel, 

and trial judges. To accomplish this goal, DOJ 

has led an effort to develop curricula for the key 

constituencies and provide technical assistance to 

practitioners trying capital cases. 

■■	 The National Judicial College (NJC) provides 

education and resources to judges on how to 

address capital cases in five states (Arkansas, 

North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and 

Virginia). NJC also completes the Capital Cases 

Benchbook and begins development of a Capital 

Cases web site with resources on the latest death 

penalty information. 

■■	 The National Legal Aid & Defender 

Association facilitates a national consortium 

of 14 associations with capital litigation 

expertise in offering 5 pilot capital defense 

trainings. Each of the pilot trainings features 

an interdisciplinary faculty and curriculum that 

trains attorneys, mitigation specialists, and fact 

investigators from more than 20 states. The 

pilot trainings include a “bring your own case” 

feature that allows participants to learn and 

apply the ABA Guidelines for the Appointment 

and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death 

Penalty Cases. 

■■	 APRI and the National Advocacy Center 

complete the first national capital litigation 

training curriculum, establish a national 

clearinghouse resource center, and develop a 

pilot program for prosecutors. 

center for task Force training 

The Center for Task Force Training (CenTF) 

provides specialized narcotics commander and 

methamphetamine investigative management 

training to law enforcement agencies throughout 

the United States. A nationally recognized program 

featuring instruction by experienced subject-matter 

experts, CenTF training is provided in coordination 

with State Administering Agencies, RISS Regional 

Centers; U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, High Intensity 

Drug Trafficking Areas, state narcotics officers 

associations, and local, county, state, territory, and 

tribal law enforcement. 

■■	 In FY 2006, CenTF presents 22 trainings to 

more than 1,300 law enforcement officers, 

investigators, commanders, and supervisors. 

■■	 To supplement training delivery, a CenTF 

web-based resource center (www.iir.com/ 

centf/resource_center) is available, providing 

a centralized source of current narcotics 

information, and includes periodicals, available 

training, web sites, and other narcotics 

enforcement information. 

edward Byrne memorial Justice 

Assistance Grant Program 

The JAG Program allows local governments and 

states to support a broad range of activities to 

prevent and control crime and improve the criminal 

justice system. JAG uses a formula based on 

population and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 

(FBI) Uniform Crime Reports crime data to allocate 

multipurpose justice funding to all 56 states and 

territories and direct awards to some 2,100 local 

jurisdictions. JAG funds are distributed in a single 

award to grantees who are accountable for reporting 

financial, programmatic, and performance data. 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 13 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

■■	 In FY 2006, enacted funding for JAG is $416 

million with set-asides and rescissions reducing 

the amount available for grants to $292 million, 

a reduction of $115 million from JAG’s 

distribution in FY 2005. 

■■	 JAG funds are used by state and local 

jurisdictions for multijurisdictional drug 

and gang task forces, crime prevention and 

domestic violence programs, courts, corrections, 

treatment, and justice technology initiatives. 

■■	 Multijurisdictional task forces (MJTF) are 

cooperative law enforcement efforts involving 

two or more criminal justice agencies, with 

jurisdiction over two or more areas, sharing the 

common goal of addressing drug control or 

violent crime problems. MJTFs efficiently and 

effectively address offenders whose criminal 

activities often cross jurisdictional boundaries. 

In FY 2006, 40 states report that a combined 

$71 million in JAG funding will be used to fund 

more than 600 task forces. 

Public safety officers’ Benefits Program 

Enacted in 1976, the BJA-administered Public 

Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program—a 

unique partnership of DOJ; local, state, and federal 

public safety agencies; and national organizations— 

provides death and disability benefits and education 

assistance to those eligible for the program. BJA’s 

PSOB Office reviews and processes hundreds of 

cases each year; works with national firefighter, law 

enforcement, and first-responder groups to educate 

public safety agencies about the program; and offers 

support to survivors and agencies of fallen officers. 

■■	 Between FYs 2000 and 2005, the PSOB 

Program provided more than $350 million 

to survivors of approximately 1,530 law 

enforcement officers, firefighters, and first 

responders who died as a result of injuries 

sustained in the line of duty. In FY 2006, the 

benefit amount to survivors of fallen officers is 

$283,385. 

■■	 In FY 2006, 193 PSOB death claims are 

approved for approximately $52.5 million; 17 

disability claims are approved for approximately 

$3.8 million; and 281 educational assistance 

claims for approximately $882,000 are 

approved. 

■■	 A new web-based PSOB claims application 

system (www.psob.gov) is released in FY 2006, 

allowing survivors and agencies to submit death 

claims online for the first time. 

■■	 Since its enactment, the PSOB Act has 

undergone many amendments, further 

expanding the program and its benefits to public 

safety officers and their families. The PSOB 

draft regulations were completely rewritten 

and published in the Federal Register for public 

comment from July 26 to September 26, 2005, 

to bring the regulations up to date with today’s 

PSOB law. The regulations are finalized on 

September 11, 2006. 

Public safety officer medal of Valor 

Enacted on May 30, 2001, the Public Safety Officer 

Medal of Valor Act created the Public Safety Officer 

Medal of Valor as the highest national award for 

valor by a public safety officer. It is awarded by 

the President to public safety officers cited by the 

Attorney General and recommended by the Medal 

of Valor Review Board. BJA works with OJP’s Office 

of the Assistant Attorney General to coordinate this 

effort. In December 2007, President George W. 

Bush and Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey 

award the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor to 

the 2006 recipients at a private ceremony at the 

White House. 

The five recipients of the award represent fire, law 

enforcement, and emergency medical services from 

across the nation. 

14	 • SOLuTIOnS FOR SAFER COMMunITIES 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gangs 

BJA strives to reduce the occurrence of gang-related incidents through responsive and proactive 

efforts supported by enforcement planning; federal, state, and local law enforcement coordination; 

and intelligence-led strategies. 

Project safe neighborhoods 

Anti-Gang initiative 

In FY 2006 BJA administers $30 million to support 

local PSN partners in their anti-gang efforts and 

an additional $15 million for the U.S. Attorney 

General’s Six-City Anti-Gang Initiative. 

■■	 The Anti-Gang Initiative supports innovative 

and expanded gang prevention and enforcement 

efforts under the PSN initiative. The strategy 

for the Anti-Gang Initiative is twofold: first, 

prioritize prevention programs to provide the 

nation’s youth and offenders returning to the 

community with opportunities to help them 

resist gang involvement, and second, ensure 

robust enforcement policies when gang-related 

violence does occur. 

■■	 Six jurisdictions experiencing significant gang 

problems each receive $2.5 million in funding: 

Los Angeles, California; Tampa, Florida; the 

eastern district of Pennsylvania’s 222 Corridor; 

Toledo, Ohio; Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas; and 

Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Each of the sites 

coordinate activities through the U.S. Attorney’s 

Office for the district in which the site is 

located to address suppression/law enforcement, 

prevention, and reentry efforts. The use of 

reentry vouchers for some services is or will be 

initiated in each site. 

Gang resistance education And 

training Program 

An important component of DOJ’s anti-gang 

strategy is the Gang Resistance Education And 

Training (G.R.E.A.T.) Program, a school-based, 

law enforcement officer-instructed classroom 

curriculum. G.R.E.A.T. is intended as an 

immunization against delinquency, youth violence, 

and gang membership. 

■■	 In FY 2006, more than 140 local law 

enforcement agencies receive nearly $16 million 

in funding to implement the G.R.E.A.T. 

Program, administered by BJA. These local 

programs serve tens of thousands of youth 

in high-risk rural, suburban, and urban 

communities nationwide, reducing their crime 

victimization and improving their attitudes 

toward law enforcement. 

■■	 BJA staff deliver 8 grant-writing workshops to 

more than 250 agency representatives interested 

in implementing the G.R.E.A.T. Program and 

applying for program funding in the future. 

other Anti-Gang Activities 

■■	 BJA supports the development of the FBI’s 

National Gang Intelligence Center to ensure 

that local law enforcement needs are met. 

■■	 BJA convenes a conference cosponsored by 

the Middle Atlantic-Great Lakes Organized 

Crime Law Enforcement Network RISS Center 

and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms 

and Explosives and attended by 2,000 law 

enforcement personnel. 

■■	 BJA develops a gang investigator course, in 

partnership with DOJ’s Office of Community 

Oriented Policing Services (COPS). 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 15 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

■■	 BJA launches the National Gang Center, a 

joint effort by BJA and OJP’s Office of Juvenile 

Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). 

Problem-solving Justice initiatives 

BJA is committed to preventing and controlling crime, violence, and substance abuse in 

neighborhoods by supporting community justice efforts, including tribal and problem-solving 

courts, law enforcement partnerships, and community prosecution. 

tribal courts Assistance Program 

The Tribal Courts Assistance Program (TCAP) 

provides court-related support to tribal justice 

systems through new tribal courts, improvements 

to existing tribal courts, and funding for technical 

assistance (TA) and training of tribal court staff. 

■■	 TCAP provides grants to 26 tribal communities. 

■■	 The Tribal Judicial Institute at the University of 

North Dakota Law School, the TCAP Advisory 

Board, other Indian Country providers, and 

local government agencies provide training. 

■■	 The National Tribal Justice Resource Center 

continues to provide its tribal justice system 

clearinghouse and information center. 

■■	 TCAP provides scholarships to tribes needing 

assistance to cover travel costs for training 

events. 

■■	 With the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 

Services Administration, TCAP completes 

a review of practice and refines culturally 

competent assessment tools for substance abuse, 

mental health, and risk. 

■■	 The American Probation and Parole Association 

develops a tribal community supervision 

curriculum to reduce relapse and recidivism. 

■■	 The National Center for Rural Law 

Enforcement (part of the University of Arkansas 

system) assists with information sharing efforts 

among tribal and nontribal justice systems. 

community-Based Problem-solving 

criminal Justice initiative 

BJA convenes a focus group to discuss the problemsolving court movement and a Community-Based 

Problem-Solving Criminal Justice Initiative. The 

focus group includes key representatives discussing 

the potential of developing a coordinated systemwide screening, assessment, and referral process 

that targets a population of offenders with diverse 

problems. The initiative aims to broaden the scope 

of problem-solving courts, testing their approach 

to wider defendant populations and applying key 

problem-solving principles outside of the problemsolving court context. 

■■	 Ten demonstration criminal justice projects and 

one TA provider are funded. 

■■	 The Center for Court Innovation (www. 

courtinnovation.org), the TA provider, assists 

the demonstration sites in implementing their 

problem-solving initiatives. 

law enforcement/mental Health 

Partnership Program 

The Law Enforcement/Mental Health Partnership 

Program provides resources for law enforcement 

leaders and community partners to connect 

16	 • SOLuTIOnS FOR SAFER COMMunITIES 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

individuals with mental illnesses to services and 

to minimize the likelihood that law enforcement 

encounters will result in injury or death. 

■■	 The Council of State Governments (CSG) 

Justice Center serves as a partner providing 

services and resources to local and state law 

enforcement organizations addressing this 

issue. During FY 2006, CSG offers learning 

opportunities; promotes best practices for 

specialized police response programs; starts 

developing law enforcement training resources; 

inventories and collects information on local 

and state specialized response programs; and 

facilitates peer-to-peer learning. 

community Prosecution 

The National District Attorneys Association’s 

American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI) 

provides support for the National Center for 

Community Prosecution in close partnership with 

BJA Leadership Sites and the Center for Court 

Innovation. 

■■	 APRI trains 375 prosecutors, develops 

monographs, and provides technical assistance. 

Pretrial initiatives 

The Pretrial Services Resource Center (PSRC) 

serves as a technical assistance provider for courts on 

pretrial and diversion issues, produces publications, 

and represents BJA and pretrial issues at national 

and regional conferences. During FY 2006, PSRC: 

■■	 Provides onsite technical assistance to develop 

an objective risk-assessment instrument for the 

Franklin County, Ohio, pretrial program. 

■■	 Conducts diversion technical assistance sessions 

at four state pretrial association meetings. 

■■	 Completes The Role of Traditional Pretrial 

Diversion in the Age of Specialty Treatment 

Courts: Expanding the Range of Problem-Solving 

Options at the Pretrial Stage (www.pretrial.org/ 

html/library_release.htm) and begins work on 

Pretrial Diversion and the Law: A Sampling of 

Four Decades of Appellate Court Rulings, which is 

completed in FY 2007 (www.pretrial.org/html/ 

library_release.htm). 

The National Association of Pretrial Service Agencies 

(NAPSA) is working with BJA support to identify 

and catalog best practices in pretrial diversion to 

support jurisdictions implementing or considering 

implementing problem-solving initiatives. 

■■	 NAPSA is writing a monograph that details 

the definitions and history of pretrial diversion 

practices and programs, promising practices 

in the pretrial diversion field, successful 

diversion efforts that can be replicated by 

other localities, and issues and challenges 

facing diversion practitioners. 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 17 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

methamphetamine and other drugs 

BJA supports initiatives that address prevention, treatment, investigation, and prosecution of illicit 

substance abuse—including methamphetamine. 

combating methamphetamine Use 

An ongoing concern in the fight against drug abuse 

is the manufacturing and use of methamphetamine. 

DOJ and BJA, in coordination with the White 

House Office of National Drug Control Policy and 

other domestic and international law enforcement 

agencies, work with local and state law enforcement 

partners to reduce and prevent the manufacturing 

and use of methamphetamine. 

■■	 In FY 2006, more than 800 public safety officers 

attend the “Methamphetamine Investigation 

Management Workshops,” bringing the total 

number of officers trained to date to 4,984. 

And, recognizing that methamphetamine has 

no jurisdictional boundaries, BJA is developing 

methamphetamine training specifically for tribal 

law enforcement agencies and officers. 

■■	 The RISS Program provides secure law 

enforcement communication capabilities 

and other vital support and specialized 

surveillance equipment assistance funds for 

undercover operations. In 2006, RISS develops 

a law enforcement intelligence report on the 

involvement of street gangs in the distribution 

and sale of methamphetamine. 

■■	 In partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of 

America, BJA makes methamphetamine demand 

reduction a special focus of its 3rd Annual Law 

Enforcement and Youth Partnerships for Crime 

Prevention Training, held in October 2006. 

Project safe neighborhoods: 

methamphetamine and drug training 

Through PSN, the National District Attorneys 

Association presents the training “Illegal Drugs: 

New Problems/New Solutions for Prosecutors”; 

assists the PSN Anti-Gun Program by creating 

and presenting a module on the nexus between 

drugs and guns; produces the Informant newsletter 

quarterly and distributes it to every state and local 

prosecutor’s office across the nation; and publishes 

and distributes to every state and local prosecutor’s 

office Drug Prosecution and Prevention Across the 

Nation: Prosecutors’ Perception of Drug-Related Crime 

and Strategies to Combat the Drug Problem in their 

Communities (www.ndaa.org/publications/apri/ 

drug_prosecution_prevention_publications.html). 

drug court discretionary Grant Program 

The Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program 

provides funding and technical assistance to 

states, state courts, local courts, units of local 

government, and Indian tribal governments to 

develop and implement drug courts that integrate 

substance abuse treatment, mandatory drug testing, 

sanctions and incentives, and transitional services to 

nonviolent, substance-abusing offenders. 

■■	 With a decreased appropriation for the program 

in FY 2006, BJA reviews applications received 

but not funded from its FY 2005 drug court 

solicitation and is able to award 12 drug 

court grants totaling $1.8 million for 4 adult 

implementation and 8 enhancement grants. 

■■	 Using information developed in FY 2005, BJA 

continues to provide drug court training and 

technical assistance (T/TA). BJA implements a 

revised, streamlined approach to its Drug Court 

Planning Initiative to train nearly 40 percent of 

those jurisdictions seeking support, with nearly 

100 jurisdictions able to participate. A majority 

of drug court teams represent rural jurisdictions. 

18	 • SOLuTIOnS FOR SAFER COMMunITIES 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

■■	 Through the National Drug Court Training 

and Technical Assistance Program, BJA leverages 

prior-year funding to provide T/TA to more 

than 2,000 individuals in 20 jurisdictions. FY 

2006 training topics include “Incentives and 

Sanctions,” “Ensuring the Sustainability of Drug 

Court,” “Drug Court Evaluation Training,” 

“Drug Court Cultural Competency Training,” 

and “Statewide Drug Court Training.” 

■■	 Supporting drug court research and technology, 

BJA provides funding to OJP’s National 

Institute of Justice (NIJ) to complete an 

extensive, longitudinal project involving 2,200 

drug court participants from 29 communities. 

In addition, BJA provides assistance to the 

National Institutes of Health’s National Institute 

on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to develop and pilot 

test the e-Court program, a model management 

information system for drug court use at the 

state and local level. NIDA also will assess 

how these courts will use their data to further 

increase the effectiveness of their programs. BJA 

funding also supports training to pilot sites to 

demonstrate and establish the use of e-Court. 

■■	 BJA continues to support juvenile and family 

drug court programs and transfers $2.27 million 

to OJP’s OJJDP to provide training to juvenile 

and family drug court teams to establish and 

implement drug courts; a portion of the funds 

are used for an evaluation of juvenile drug 

courts. 

indian Alcohol and substance 

Abuse Program 

The Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program 

provides funding and technical assistance to federally 

recognized tribal governments to plan, develop, 

implement, or enhance tribal justice strategies 

involving alcohol and crime, as well as substance 

abuse. Since FY 2001, BJA has administered more 

than $26 million in grant support to 65 tribes and 

provided T/TA to not only grantees, but to 100 nongrantee tribal communities, as well. 

■■	 In FY 2006, BJA awards grants to 15 tribal 

communities. BJA also works with Fox Valley 

Technical College to establish a T/TA strategy 

to streamline T/TA delivery. In FY 2006 alone, 

14 training programs are conducted; 3 major 

forums are offered; and coordination is provided 

for 10 meetings, 26 program-related conference 

calls, and 13 onsite TA visits. Collectively, these 

events reach representatives from 187 tribes. 

■■	 BJA also offers training scholarships to more 

than 100 individuals to attend T/TA events to 

support their justice strategies. 

■■	 Special forums are conducted in Minnesota, 

Wisconsin, and Washington to enhance 

tribal-state-federal partnerships and to 

help increase coordination between State 

Administering Agencies and tribes. In 

Minnesota and Wisconsin, tribal and state 

criminal justice officials and community 

members meet to discuss emerging issues 

regarding methamphetamine, as well as ongoing 

and innovative alcohol and substance abuse 

strategies. The State of Washington brings 

together tribal, state, and local officials to 

discuss the impact of methamphetamine and 

how relationships and information sharing can 

be enhanced for even greater effectiveness in 

the future. 

Harold rogers Prescription 

drug monitoring Program 

The Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring 

Program (PDMP) enhances the capacity of 

regulatory and law enforcement agencies to collect 

and analyze controlled substance prescription data 

through a centralized database administered by an 

authorized state agency. PDMP assists states as they 

plan, implement, or enhance a PDMP. 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 19 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

■■	 In FY 2006, BJA provides funds to 18 states 

to implement and enhance their programs. 

BJA also develops a partnership with the 

nationally known Integrated Justice Information 

Sharing (IJIS) Institute to develop an interstate 

information exchange project for PDMP. Under 

the guidance of the practitioner-driven steering 

committee, a prototype for exchanging PDMP 

information between California and Nevada is 

being tested, with results being made available 

to all states to support replication and reduce 

development costs. In this way, one-time, 

upfront costs to states for PDMP system design 

and implementation are covered by the BJA 

investment in this effort. 

■■	 In FY 2006, BJA also supports an evaluation 

of the program by Simeone Associates, 

which concludes that when comparing 

PDMP states with non-PDMP states, and 

when examining the supply and abuse of 

prescription drugs—focusing on Schedule II 

pain relievers (e.g., Oxycontin) and stimulants 

(e.g., Ritalin)—there are notably lower rates of 

supply of pain relievers and stimulants in states 

with PDMPs (www.simeoneassociates.com/ 

simeone3.pdf). Ultimately, PDMPs (especially 

those that monitor proactively) reduce the per 

capita supply of prescription pain relievers and 

stimulants and, in so doing, reduce the abuse of 

these drugs. 

residential substance Abuse 

treatment for state Prisoners 

Formula Grant Program 

The Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for 

State Prisoners Formula Grant (RSAT) Program 

assists states and local governments in developing 

and implementing substance abuse treatment 

programs in state and local correctional and 

detention facilities, and in creating and maintaining 

meaningful community-based aftercare and reentry 

services for offenders returning to communities. 

■■	 In FY 2006, BJA awards $9.6 million in 

RSAT funding to all 50 states, the District 

of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the 

Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico for 

their residential and reentry substance abuse 

treatment initiatives. 

Protecting Vulnerable Populations 

BJA supports a wide range of initiatives that address mentally ill offenders within the criminal 

justice system, reduce and prevent human trafficking, develop statewide victim notification 

systems, alert seniors to and protect them from telemarketing fraud, and promote effective sex 

offender management. 

Justice and mental Health Programs 

Under the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment 

and Crime Reduction Act of 2004, BJA has 

developed the Justice and Mental Health 

Collaboration Program to address the needs of 

mentally ill offenders by supporting the planning, 

implementation, and expansion of justice and 

mental health partnerships. 

■■ More than 240 applications are submitted; BJA 

funds 27 grants totaling nearly $3.8 million. 

■■ BJA also launches its Mental Health Courts 

Learning Sites Program and establishes the 

Criminal Justice/Mental Health Leadership 

Initiative. Through its technical assistance 

provider, CSG, BJA develops The Essential 

20	 • SOLuTIOnS FOR SAFER COMMunITIES 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elements of a Mental Health Court: A Guide to 

Mental Health Court Design and Implementation; 

Navigating the Mental Health Maze: A Guide for 

Court Practitioners; and A Guide to Collecting 

Mental Health Court Outcome Data. CSG also 

develops a database to promote collaboration 

and identify promising practices and defines 

essential elements of a comprehensive response 

among courts, mental health systems, and law 

enforcement. 

■■	 BJA forms a working group for maximizing 

resources and expertise with the Substance 

Abuse and Mental Health Services 

Administration, the National Institute of 

Corrections, OJP’s OJJDP, and other DOJ 

partners. 

Human trafficking task Forces 

■■	 In FY 2006, BJA and OJP’s Office for Victims 

of Crime (OVC) issue a joint solicitation to 

create additional human trafficking task forces, 

including a victim-centered task force to 

collaborate with federal law enforcement, U.S. 

Attorneys, and victim service providers. 

■■	 BJA awards $4.4 million in grants to 10 

jurisdictions to support 42 task forces 

nationwide; OVC funds 25 comprehensive 

victim service sites. 

■■	 With the DOJ Office of Civil Rights, BJA 

participates on September 12, 2006, in the 

first in a series of Human Trafficking Training 

broadcasts over the Justice Television Network 

to U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and invited task 

force members. 

■■	 BJA facilitates OJP’s first Human Trafficking 

Conference, held October 3–5, 2006, in New 

Orleans, Louisiana, bringing together law 

enforcement officers, victim advocates, justice 

professionals, and faith-based and community 

providers to discuss the complex issues—and 

solutions—surrounding human trafficking. 

statewide Automated Victim information 

and notification Program 

The Statewide Automated Victim Information and 

Notification (SAVIN) Program helps states plan, 

implement, and enhance existing victim notification 

systems. These systems provide a single point of 

shared services for victims anywhere within a state 

to know the status of an offender from the point 

of arrest and incarceration through disposition, 

release, and community supervision. In 2006, BJA 

administers $16.4 million to 13 states to establish 

new statewide notification systems and 3 states to 

enhance their existing capacity. 

■■	 As a result, there are 29 statewide SAVIN 

programs with nearly 300,000 victims 

registered daily. 

■■	 Nearly 5 million outgoing notification calls 

are made, with more than 8 million inbound 

information calls serviced and 750,000 live 

operator-assisted calls managed. 

■■	 The Association of State Correctional 

Administrators conducts a national survey 

to obtain baseline information on victim 

notification capacity. BJA develops Planning, 

Implementing, and Operating Statewide 

Automated Victim Information and Notification 

(SAVIN) Programs: Guidelines and Standards— 

available online at www.it.ojp.gov—to help 

states establish a vision, mission, and goals for 

their SAVIN programs and technology standards 

to ensure programs conform to national justice 

information sharing standards. 

dru sjodin national sex offender 

Public Website 

In July 2005, the Attorney General launched the 

National Sex Offender Public Registry, later renamed 

the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public 

Website (NSOPW), a searchable site to link state 

and territory sex offender public registries, allowing 

access to public information about sex offenders. 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 21 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

■■	 Administered by BJA, this unprecedented 

resource allows states and territories to 

share public sex offender data with citizens 

nationwide—and free of charge. 

■■	 By July 2006, all 50 states, the District of 

Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico are linked 

to NSOPW. 

■■	 Since its inception, NSOPW has more than 

1.2 billion hits from 10 million users. Each 

week the web site averages 15 million hits from 

100,000 user sessions in 100 countries—and 

more than 1,000 organizations link to NSOPW 

on their web sites. 

telemarketing Fraud Prevention 

for seniors 

BJA supports efforts to protect individuals— 

especially seniors—from becoming victims of fraud. 

■■	 In 2006, through BJA resources, the National 

Consumers League (NCL) conducts an elder 

fraud survey about their fraud prevention 

needs and posts the results on its Telemarketing 

Fraud Educators Toolbox (www.fraud.org/ 

toolbox/members.htm). NCL adds to the 

toolbox new and updated tips about Medicare 

drug plan scams, government grant scams, 

and phishing; posts a survey by the National 

Association of Securities Dealers Investor 

Education Foundation about the vulnerability 

of seniors to investment and other types of 

scams; awards stipends to consumer agencies, 

consumer organizations, and community groups 

to conduct innovative telemarketing education 

programs for seniors; and begins work on a new 

video about seniors and telemarketing fraud, 

“Disconnect the Danger.” 

■■	 During FY 2006, NCPC evaluates data from a 

focus group convened to assess seniors’ attitudes 

toward telemarketing fraud; results suggest that 

among seniors there is a false sense of security 

due in part to registration on the National Do 

Not Call Registry. NCPC also releases a PSA, 

“School for Scoundrels,” as both a satellite 

feed and hardcopy version to broadcasters. 

The PSA concludes with McGruff ®, NCPC’s 

icon, informing viewers about an information 

booklet, Telemarketing 101, for seniors to better 

protect themselves from telemarketing crime. 

■■	 At its Seventh National Conference on 

Preventing Crime, NCPC presents a workshop 

that addresses scamming tactics aimed at 

seniors, drawing a standing room only crowd. 

■■	 NCPC also revamps its web site to include an 

entire online system for delivering messages to 

seniors such as telemarketing fact sheets and 

news items of specific interest to seniors. 

sex offender management 

BJA administers the Comprehensive Approaches 

to Sex Offender Management Grant Program and 

partners with national organizations to address sex 

offender management issues and provide training 

and technical assistance at the state and local 

level. In FY 2006, BJA administers funding to 14 

state, local, and tribal agencies to implement or 

enhance sex offender management strategies in their 

jurisdiction. 

■■	 BJA’s 2006 National Symposium on Sex 

Offender Management and Accountability 

for law enforcement, probation, parole, 

prosecution, and administration showcases 

critical information on management and 

accountability issues; provides updates on 

federal legislation and initiatives; and highlights 

effective strategies to improve supervision, 

management, and risk assessments of offenders. 

■■	 With the American Probation and Parole 

Association, BJA focuses on training for 

rural communities and updates the Offender 

Supervision with Electronic Technology 

guidebook. With CSG, BJA is also developing 

22	 • SOLuTIOnS FOR SAFER COMMunITIES 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a guide on housing and policy issues for 

state legislators and policymakers regarding 

community-based sex offender management. 

In partnership with the Vera Institute, BJA 

reviews nationwide sentencing practices for 

sex offenders and, with the National Institute 

of Corrections (NIC), BJA works on training 

curricula for supervision/custody of low-risk sex 

offenders released from jails to the community. 

■■	 With the IACP, BJA assists law enforcement 

agencies in establishing and enhancing internal 

protocols for managing sex offense cases, 

investigations, and coordination with community 

supervision agencies. 

corrections 

BJA corrections initiatives help to ensure public safety while protecting inmates, preparing 

offenders for their return to their communities, and supervising them in the community. 

Protecting inmates and safeguarding 

communities Program 

The Protecting Inmates and Safeguarding 

Communities Program, a result of the Prison Rape 

Elimination Act of 2003, supports states’ efforts to 

prevent and eliminate rape between inmates in state 

and local prisons, jails, and law enforcement lockup 

facilities and to safeguard the communities where 

inmates return. 

■■	 In FY 2006, BJA administers funding to 28 

jurisdictions, focusing especially on female and 

juvenile offenders, rape in local correctional 

facilities, and faith-based and community 

organization support for related strategies. 

■■	 BJA participates in regional workshops and 

training events, coordinates data collection 

with OJP’s Bureau of Justice Statistics and 

research with NIJ, and collaborates with the 

Prison Rape Elimination Commission. 

■■	 BJA also works with NIC on T/TA projects to 

develop a guidebook to better address sexual 

assaults in lockup facilities, educate judges 

and prosecutors on prosecution of prisoner 

rape cases, update corrections professionals, 

and support community mapping activities 

to facilitate reentry efforts for victims and 

perpetrators of sexual assaults. 

Prisoner reentry initiative 

■■	 In collaboration with the U.S. Departments of 

Labor and Health and Human Services, BJA 

administers 30 grants totaling more than $13 

million to 20 states for assessment, employment 

assistance, educational assistance, substance 

abuse treatment, cognitive restructuring, 

motivational interviewing, mental health 

and health services, and mentoring of 

nonviolent offenders. 

■■	 BJA participates in the Attorney General’s SixCity Gang Initiative for high-impact, violent 

gang offenders for enforcement, prevention, and 

reentry efforts for gang members in Cleveland, 

Ohio; Los Angeles, California; Tampa, Florida; 

Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas; the Route 222 corridor 

of eastern Pennsylvania; and Milwaukee, 

Wisconsin. DOJ awards $500,000 per site to 

create mentor-based reentry assistance programs 

for transitional housing, job readiness and 

placement assistance, and substance abuse and 

mental health treatment. 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 23 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Justice reinvestment Project 

Through the CSG, BJA supports the Justice 

Reinvestment Project to assess state sentencing 

legislation and policies related to technical violators, 

risk-assessment instruments used in offender 

supervision, use of evidence-based offender 

supervision practices and principles, reentry 

mapping, and resource allocation, ultimately 

leading to fewer victims and reduced recidivism. 

Jail reentry Project 

A partnership of the Urban Institute, the John Jay 

College of Criminal Justice, and the Montgomery 

County (Maryland) Department of Corrections 

and Rehabilitation, the Jail Reentry Project tackles 

issues regarding the estimated 10 to 12 million 

offenders returning to the communities from jail, 

with resources including practical publications and 

a toolkit for agencies, which reflect promising jail 

reentry programs. 

state criminal Alien Assistance 

Program 

In FY 2006, BJA distributes approximately $337 

million to nearly 800 jurisdictions, providing State 

Criminal Alien Assistance Program payments to 

states and localities that incurred correctional 

officer salary costs for incarcerating undocumented 

criminal aliens who have at least 1 felony or 2 

misdemeanor convictions for violations of state 

or local law and are incarcerated for at least 4 

consecutive days during the reporting period. 

correctional Facilities on tribal 

lands Program 

The Correctional Facilities on Tribal Lands Program 

helps federally recognized tribes construct or 

renovate correctional facilities on tribal lands used 

for the incarceration of offenders subject to tribal 

jurisdiction. 

■■	 BJA works with Justice Planners International 

to increase training and technical assistance to 

each jurisdiction that aided in the completion 

of 15 new construction projects in partnership 

with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Other 

accomplishments include renovation grants to 

four tribes to achieve site and sound separation 

between adults and juveniles in existing Indian 

Country jails (Colorado River Indian Tribes, 

Arizona; Fort Belknap Indian Community, 

Montana; Quinault Indian Nation, Washington; 

and the Yakama Indian Nation, Washington); 

a 3-day Tribal-Federal Working Group in 

Albuquerque, New Mexico, which results in 

the draft publication Planning for the Future of 

Corrections and Detention in Indian Country; and 

a “Strategic Planning Workshop” for the Arizona 

Tribal Justice and Rehabilitation Coalition. 

Prison industry enhancement 

certification Program 

Under the Prison Industry Enhancement 

Certification Program (PIECP), BJA certifies that 

local and state prison industry programs meet all 

requirements to be exempt from federal restrictions 

on prisoner-made goods in interstate commerce. 

BJA provides support to correctional agencies that 

currently participate in PIECP, as well as to agencies 

that may be interested in program participation. 

■■	 In FY 2006 BJA continues to partner with the 

National Correctional Industries Association 

(NCIA) to provide PIECP training and 

technical assistance and monitor compliance 

issues. 

■■	 In March 2006, NCIA hosts its national 

training in Atlantic City, New Jersey, which 

includes an entire workshop track dedicated 

to the PIECP mission. 

24	 • SOLuTIOnS FOR SAFER COMMunITIES 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

tools and science for criminal Justice 

BJA’s technical assistance and educational outreach offer the justice community cutting-edge 

knowledge and skills in DnA evidence and forensic methods, bullet-resistant vests, closed-circuit 

televised child testimony, and less-lethal technologies. 

dnA initiative 

BJA works with APRI to provide training, 

educational resources, and direct technical assistance 

nationwide for prosecutors on the use of DNA 

evidence. APRI conducts the “True Identity: DNA 

Fingerprinting on the Witness Stand” national 

training on April 25–28, 2006, in Chicago, Illinois, 

and on August 14–17, 2006, in San Francisco, 

California. APRI DNA publications include The 

Silent Witness newsletter and the Forensic DNA 

Fundamentals for the Prosecutor: Be Not Afraid 

monograph. 

less-lethal technology 

In the past 3 years, conducted energy devices have 

captured the interest of law enforcement as a lesslethal technology. With little information about 

such products beyond the manufacturer’s input, BJA 

and its partners responded to the call for objective 

information by identifying key issues regarding lesslethal technology. 

■■	 In April 2005, BJA, OJP’s NIJ, and DOJ’s 

COPS office convene a national symposium 

for more than 200 researchers and senior 

leaders from local, state, tribal, and federal 

law enforcement agencies to discuss lesslethal technologies, including the placement 

of less-lethal weapons on the use-of-force 

continuum and strategies for adopting less-lethal 

technology. 

■■	 This symposium leads to the creation of 

a working group that continues to make 

recommendations (www.less-lethal.org) 

regarding national policy, practices, and 

procedures for less-lethal technology. The 

working group includes representatives from 

the Commission on Accreditation for Law 

Enforcement Agencies, Fraternal Order of 

Police, International Association of Chiefs 

of Police, Major City Chiefs Association, 

National Organization of Black Law 

Enforcement Executives, National Sheriffs’ 

Association, Police Executive Research Forum, 

and Police Foundation. 

Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program 

■■	 In FY 2006, BJA’s Bulletproof Vest Partnership 

(BVP) Program awards $29 million in payments 

to 4,607 agencies in both smaller and large 

jurisdictions across the country to purchase 

213,484 vests for law enforcement officers, 

including replacements for Zylon® vests. 

■■	 BJA, NIJ, and the National Law Enforcement 

and Corrections Technology Center partner to 

ensure that the BVP web site presents up-todate and accurate results of NIJ vest testing so 

that vest purchasers can make informed—and 

safe—equipment choices. 

national Forensic Academy 

The issue of clearance rates, or the percentage 

of crimes cleared by arrest, for violent crimes, 

including homicide, is vital within the law 

enforcement community. 

■■	 The Department of Justice, through BJA, 

supports the University of Tennessee’s 

Law Enforcement Innovation Center and, 

in partnership with Oak Ridge National 

Laboratory and other public safety agencies, 

the National Forensic Academy (NFA) offers 

advanced forensic courses, such as bloodstain 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 25 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

pattern analysis, advanced forensic photography 

and latent fingerprint development, and vehicle 

identification. NFA also offers an intensive 

10-week program to train law enforcement 

in evidence identification, collection, and 

preservation, including the handling of critical 

DNA evidence. 

closed-circuit televising Program 

Administered by BJA, the Closed-Circuit Televising 

(CCTV) Program encourages states to pass laws 

that enable the use of closed-circuit televising and 

videotaping of the testimony of children in criminal 

proceedings for child abuse and to assist courts in 

establishing procedures for televised testimony. 

■■	 In FY 2006, the American Bar Association 

(ABA) administers a nationwide needs 

assessment to ascertain training, technical 

assistance, and resource needs of district 

attorney offices, courts, law enforcement 

agencies, and child advocacy centers working 

with child victims of sexual abuse. The 

assessments are sent to 483 district attorney 

offices, 482 sheriff’s departments, and 618 

child advocacy centers. Data from the survey 

assist ABA and BJA in developing a Request for 

Proposal (released in FY 2007) for competitive 

grants to state and local government for CCTV 

resources. 

■■	 BJA awards funding to the Virginia Department 

of Criminal Justice Services to serve as a learning 

site; upgrade their equipment; mentor CCTV 

sites through demonstrations of their mobile 

CCTV unit—the only one in the nation; 

provide technical assistance coordinated by 

ABA; and plan and cohost the 2007 CCTV 

National Conference. 

Justice information sharing 

Overcoming obstacles to sharing information among law enforcement and other justice partners 

increases their ability to solve crimes and keeps communities safer. DOJ and BJA are committed 

to providing the resources and assistance needed to make sharing information as easy and secure 

as possible. 

U.s. department of Justice 

Global Justice information 

sharing initiative 

DOJ’s Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative 

(Global) was created to support the broad-scale 

exchange of critical justice and public safety data and 

to serve as an advisory body to the U.S. Attorney 

General on justice information sharing issues. This 

initiative has brought together national leaders to 

develop and implement solutions to some of the 

biggest issues facing information sharing, including 

security, privacy, and a common transfer language. 

Global Federated Identity and Privilege 

Management Project 

BJA, in partnership with OJP’s NIJ and DHS, 

supports the Global Federated Identity and 

Privilege Management (GFIPM) Program 

that allows end users to seamlessly access 

information from multiple sources without 

the need for multiple authentication tokens 

or passwords. Current GFIPM participants 

are the RISS, Pennsylvania Justice Network, 

and Criminal Information Sharing Alliance 

Network. Deliverables to assist additional 

jurisdictions with implementing GFIPM 

include project documentation, recommended 

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policies and procedures, and metadata standards 

for defining the technical link between systems 

that make GFIPM possible. 

Global Security Working Group 

The Global Security Working Group (GSWG) 

works with BJA to provide the most current 

information to the field about the security of 

information and systems. In 2006, GSWG’s 

Applying Security Practices to Justice Information 

Sharing is supplemented with a new section 

covering wireless security implications. In 

addition, GSWG has taken a leadership role in 

assisting BJA and Global’s efforts to develop and 

refine the Global Justice Reference Architecture 

(JRA), or authorization authentication 

regarding Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). 

Privacy Technology 

In FY 2006, BJA and Global convene a 

working group of practitioners, policymakers, 

and private industry to address how the use of 

information technology can be leveraged in the 

protection of personally identifiable information 

and the privacy rights of citizens. 

Justice Reference Architecture 

JRA is Global’s framework for the use of SOA 

throughout the justice community and is a 

logical follow-on to the precursor work done 

on data standards with the Global Justice XML 

Data Model (GJXDM). JRA’s first specification 

document is released in 2006, with an update 

planned for early 2007. Also underway is 

a Services Specification and Identification 

Guidelines document, model agreements 

and memoranda of understanding for SOA 

implementations, and service interaction 

profiles for various network transport 

architectures to provide the justice community, 

private industry, and others with the tools to 

create true technical interoperability for their 

customers. 

regional information sharing 

systems Program 

Administered by BJA, the RISS Program is 

composed of six regional centers that share 

intelligence and coordinate efforts against criminal 

networks that operate across jurisdictional lines, 

such as terrorism, drug trafficking, violent crime, 

cybercrime, and gang activity. More than 7,000 law 

enforcement agencies and approximately 60,000 

access officers representing more than 750,000 

sworn law enforcement officers across the United 

States and Canada belong to RISS. 

■■	 In FY 2006, RISS receives more than 1.7 

million inquiries. 

■■	 RISS is in the process of upgrading the 

RISSIntel software application, allowing all the 

centers to operate using the same intelligence 

database application (RISSIntel). RISS also 

has upgraded and expanded the types and 

numbers of resources available on RISSNET, 

allowing users to query resources in addition to 

RISSIntel. 

■■	 RISS develops the Automated Trusted 

Information eXchange communication 

system, which allows first responders, critical 

infrastructure personnel, and public safety and 

law enforcement personnel to share terrorism 

and homeland security information in a secure, 

real-time environment. 

national White collar crime center 

The National White Collar Crime Center continues 

its partnership with the FBI to operate the Internet 

Crime Complaint Center; facilitates three regional 

Economic Crime Summits and two Economic 

Crime Seminars; adds new program support centers 

with universities and federal, state, and local law 

enforcement agencies; and expands the web site 

with an Internet-based distance learning system. 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 27 
Fusion centers 

Key to this nationwide information sharing 

framework to share terrorism information among 

federal, state, local, and tribal governments and 

the private sector is the incorporation of state and 

major urban area fusion centers into the Information 

Sharing Environment (ISE). Following the August 

2006 publication of the Fusion Center Guidelines— 

Law Enforcement Intelligence, Public Safety, and the 

Private Sector report, BJA, DHS, FBI, Office of 

the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and 

Program Manager–ISE (PM–ISE) identify a need to 

assist state and local agencies with establishing fusion 

capabilities, and training is offered to state and 

urban area fusion center leadership staff. 

national information 

exchange model 

As widespread adoption and use of the GJXDM 

continued from prior years, the focus in FY 2006 

is the transformation of the GJXDM to converge 

with the new National Information Exchange Model 

(NIEM). The design of the first NIEM release is 

based on extensive input from the field and results 

in a restructured data model, which is presented at 

the second national GJXDM Users’ Technical and 

Business Conference. A strong governance structure 

emerges during FY 2006, with working committees 

staffed under the NIEM Program Management 

Office, to provide involvement from local, state, 

tribal, and federal agencies and organizations and 

industry. Finally, outreach and communications are 

emphasized in FY 2006 to help prospective NIEM 

users understand the business premise and return 

on investment from using NIEM to implement 

information exchanges, and planning efforts are 

initiated to develop an Information Exchange 

Package Documentation using NIEM standards 

to define exchanges among local agencies, state 

and urban fusion centers, and the ISE regarding 

suspicious incidents and activities. 

law enforcement information 

technology standards council 

The Law Enforcement Information Technology 

Standards Council (LEITSC) is a consortium of 

organizations to address issues, coordinate and 

provide training and technology assistance to 

constituents, and recommend and develop solutions 

based on community needs. Comprising the 

International Association of Chiefs of Police, the 

National Sheriffs’ Association, the Police Executive 

Research Forum, and the National Organization of 

Black Law Enforcement Officials, LEITSC delivers 

two critical documents for law enforcement users in 

FY 2006, the Functional Specifications for Computer 

Aided Dispatch (CAD) and Records Management 

Systems (RMS), to allow agencies to describe 

consistently and effectively their requirements when 

procuring and developing CAD/RMS systems and 

provide greater interoperability between systems. 

national Governors Association 

Policy Academy Program 

With support from BJA, the National Governors 

Association Center for Best Practices is currently 

operating its second consecutive year of the 

GJXDM Policy Academy, leveraging small grants 

to implement GJXDM at the state level. In 2006, 

the program provides funding and resources 

to Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, 

Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. These successful 

mini-grant recipients were brought together at a 

national forum to discuss approaches, common 

issues, and obstacles, while laying the groundwork 

for future activities. New states coming into the 

Policy Academy program are Connecticut, Iowa, 

Minnesota, New York, and North Carolina. 

national Association of state 

chief information officers 

The National Association of State Chief Information 

Officers (NASCIO) partners with BJA to promote 

28 • SOLuTIOnS FOR SAFER COMMunITIES 
 

 

awareness of information sharing issues specifically 

targeted at the state CIO level. NASCIO has 

adopted the enterprise architecture (EA) framework, 

which helps state CIOs perform their jobs and 

enhances the ability of states to share information 

across jurisdictional boundaries, ultimately realizing 

cost savings in the millions. In FY 2006, NASCIO 

provides online training on EA, SOA, and JRA for 

state, local, and tribal justice agencies. 

integrated Justice information 

systems institute 

The Integrated Justice Information Systems 

(IJIS) Institute—composed of private industry 

representatives—assists BJA in the management and 

delivery of vital training and technical assistance 

services to the field. Working with the GJXDM 

Training and Technical Assistance Committee and 

other partners, IJIS provides the central management 

facility for receiving, processing, scheduling, and 

managing requests for T/TA. IJIS also manages 

the BJA National Information Sharing Standards 

Helpdesk and Knowledgebase and the Information 

Exchange Package Documentation Clearinghouse to 

serve as online immediate resources to the field for 

best practices and reusable artifacts. 

Program manager–information 

sharing environment 

In December 2004, Congress passed and the 

President signed the Intelligence Reform and 

Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA) to create 

the ISE for sharing terrorism information among 

federal, state, local, tribal, and private sector entities 

and foreign partners by putting in place processes, 

protocols, and technology. IRTPA also established 

the PM–ISE (www.ise.gov) with governmentwide 

authority to plan, oversee, and manage the ISE. In 

FY 2006, BJA and Global’s Criminal Intelligence 

Coordinating Council assists ODNI and the Office 

of the PM–ISE with executing the Information 

Sharing Environment Implementation Plan through 

groups and local and state subject-matter expert 

participation relating to ISE implementation efforts. 

Presidential Guideline 

In addition, DOJ, ODNI, and the PM–ISE 

cochair an effort to establish uniform procedures 

to implement privacy guidelines consistent with 

President Bush’s December 2005 memorandum 

to executive departments and agencies outlining 

requirements and guidelines critical to the 

development of the ISE and information sharing 

and fusion center efforts nationwide. 

national criminal intelligence 

resource center Web site 

The National Criminal Intelligence Resource 

Center (NCIRC) web site at www.ncirc.gov serves 

as a secure, one-stop shop for local, state, tribal, 

and federal law enforcement to keep up with the 

latest developments in criminal intelligence and 

model policies, techniques, lessons learned, best 

practices, and training opportunities. NCIRC can 

be accessed only through the secure RISS network 

(RISSNETTM) and the FBI’s Law Enforcement 

Online site. 

minimum criminal intelligence 

training standards 

To help implement the Minimum Criminal 

Intelligence Training Standards for United States 

Law Enforcement and Other Criminal Justice 

Agencies, BJA develops and implements training 

for chief executives and intelligence commanders/ 

supervisors. The chief executive course is presented 

in six locations in FY 2006, and a training blueprint, 

titled Criminal Intelligence Training: Forging Ahead, 

is developed that contains a nationwide strategy 

for developing and delivering criminal intelligence 

training. 

Prescription drug 

monitoring Program 

The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program 

(PDMP) enable states to share information across 

state boundaries to further combat problems 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 29 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

associated with prescription drug abuse and 

doctor shopping. A project committee with 

representatives from state PDMPs in California, 

Nevada, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, New York, 

Ohio, Kentucky, and Alabama; BJA; the Drug 

Enforcement Administration; the Substance Abuse 

and Mental Health Services Administration; and 

private industry worked to first establish a concept 

of operations, initial cost modeling for large-scale 

PDMP information sharing capabilities, and 

technical standards, based on the GJXDM, for 

exchanging data among state PDMP administrators. 

A pilot exchange between California and Nevada, 

which share a substantial overlap in prescription 

drug abusers, will help develop standards and 

demonstrated best practices in an information 

sharing capability between state PDMPs. 

intelligent transportation systems/Public 

safety Program 

The Intelligent Transportation Systems/Public 

Safety (ITS/PS) Program, a joint effort of BJA 

and the U.S. Department of Transportation 

(DOT), seeks to address technology gaps between 

transportation centers and public safety agencies 

nationwide. To steer activities, partners from state 

and local practitioner organizations, DOJ and DOT 

agencies, and private industry establish a project 

management committee and adopt the GJXDM as 

a data standard for justice information sharing. In 

turn, the transportation community standardizes the 

Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers 1512 

set of standards, the dictionary for transportationrelated exchanges. While the two standards are 

largely incompatible, the ITS/PS committee 

addresses this gap by identifying the most common 

exchange points between communities and exploring 

technological solutions to bridging the standards. 

capacity Building 

BJA leads the way with technical assistance, training, and other support for judicial skills 

development, court management, and strategic planning in America’s communities. 

statewide communities initiative 

BJA supports state, local, and tribal efforts to 

institutionalize approaches to communitybased strategic planning through the Statewide 

Communities Initiative, offered by the National 

Criminal Justice Association (NCJA). Embracing 

a “bottom-up” approach to justice planning and 

empowering local officials and community members 

to define problems and implement strategic plans 

to enhance public safety, this model uses locally 

defined concerns to inform priorities and enrich the 

formation of a statewide strategic plan. 

BJA and NCJA: 

■■	 Provide access to resources that support strategic 

planning principles and implementation by state 

and local justice practitioners. 

■■	 Develop and disseminate practical training 

curricula and presentations for state, local, and 

tribal justice planners. 

■■	 Highlight model collaborative planning 

approaches so states can build on the real-life 

successes of other states. 

■■	 Provide technical expertise to other federal 

agencies administering resources for state, local, 

and tribal justice purposes. 

30	 • SOLuTIOnS FOR SAFER COMMunITIES 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

■■ Conduct hands-on, train-the-trainer workshops 

for state justice funding agencies and state, local, 

and tribal criminal justice planners. 

Judicial training 

Through a BJA-administered and congressionally 

directed award, the NJC’s Judicial Education and 

Skills Training provides scholarships for judges from 

46 states, Washington, D.C., and 2 territories to 

attend 36 courses; conducts 3 faculty development 

train-the-trainer workshops both at NJC and in 

their home jurisdictions; and develops and presents 

3 programs for judges—“Cultural Competence,” 

“Practical Approaches to Substance Abuse,” and 

“Handling Pro Se Litigants.” 

Urban court managers network 

The Urban Court Managers Network (implemented 

by the Justice Management Institute, www. 

jmijustice.org/Home/PublicWeb/UCMN) meeting, 

in Phoenix, Arizona, on November 16–18, 2005, 

focuses on criminal caseflow practices in Maricopa 

Superior Court and includes an examination of 

proceedings and business practices in the early 

stages of felony case processing, issues and new 

opportunities in adult probation, and performance 

measurement in large urban courts. A focus group 

discusses “Hot Topics in Criminal Cases,” including 

booking, charging, and movement and transfer of 

prisoners; courthouse construction and renovation; 

pretrial release; interpreter services; and disaster 

recovery. 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 31 


FY 2007 Appropriations for BJA-Administered Programs (in $ millions) 

Justice Assistance 

Grant Program, $525.2 

Tribal Assistance, $22.0 

Byrne Discretionary 

Grant Program, 

$191.7 Other Programs, 

$186.0 Bulletproof Vest 

Partnership, $30.0 

PSOB 

Program, $72.9 

Drug Court Grant 

Program, $10.0 

Payment Programs, $435.0 

FY 2007 Appropriations for BJA-Administered Programs, by Program Areas (in $ millions) 

Tools for Criminal 

Justice, $31.0 

Justice Information 

Sharing, $80.5 

Leadership and Capacity Building, 

$4.0 

Honoring America’s Public 

Safety Officers, $72.9 

Correctional Options, 

$457.0 

Violent Crime 

and Gangs, $705.9 

Problem Solving Justice 

Initiatives, $23.0 Combating Drug Abuse 

and Crime, $37.5 Preventing Crime, $61.0 

34 • SolutionS for Safer CommunitieS 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FY 2007 Programs 

Preventing Crime 

BJa works with citizens and law enforcement and justice agencies to reduce and prevent crime 

and change communities, supporting efforts such as neighborhood volunteer efforts, identity theft 

initiatives, youth outreach, and gang prevention. 

USA Freedom Corps 

A national program that promotes community 

service, USA Freedom Corps includes Citizen 

Corps, a locally driven initiative that promotes safer 

and stronger communities prepared to respond to 

the threats of terrorism, crime, public health issues, 

and disasters. BJA administers two components 

of Citizen Corps, the Volunteers in Police 

Service Program (VIPS) and the USAonWatch/ 

Neighborhood Watch Program. 

Volunteers in Police Service 

Implemented by the International Association of 

Chiefs of Police (IACP) on behalf of BJA and the 

White House Office of the USA Freedom Corps, 

VIPS offers print and multimedia resources, 

training, and technical assistance to establish or 

enhance a law enforcement volunteer program. 

On May 30, 2007, VIPS celebrated its fifth 

anniversary by releasing a new online video, Five 

Years of the National VIPS Program; distributing a 

directory of registered VIPS programs nationwide; 

and launching a completely redesigned and 

interactive web site, www.policevolunteers.org. 

In FY 2007, VIPS released a new issue of the 

VIPS in Focus publication series: Sex Offender 

Management: Involving Citizens to Strengthen Law 

Enforcement Efforts. VIPS conducted six “Building 

Blocks of a Law Enforcement Volunteer Program” 

and seven “Advancing an Existing Volunteer 

Program” courses, introducing participants to 

VIPS resources and providing them with the 

knowledge and skills to implement or enhance 

an effective law enforcement volunteer program. 

VIPS also developed a new course, “VIPS and 

Disaster Response,” which informs participants 

about integrating volunteers into a law enforcement 

agency’s plan for natural disasters, public health 

crises, and other emergencies. VIPS conducted 

seven training sessions using this new course and 

developed a video by the same name, available as 

streaming media from the VIPS web site. VIPS 

continued its technical assistance to local and state 

law enforcement agencies, providing the tools 

and guidance to develop and maintain successful 

volunteer programs. 

National Neighborhood Watch 

In partnership with BJA, the National Sheriffs’ 

Association (NSA) worked to enhance, expand, 

and revitalize watch programs through the National 

Neighborhood Watch Program—USAonWatch 

(UOW)—and its web site, www.usaonwatch.org. 

During FY 2007, NSA held 34 Neighborhood 

Watch trainings throughout the country, attended by 

over 1,100 participants representing more than 750 

agencies. The UOW web database grew to almost 

18,000 watch groups representing over 3,500 law 

enforcement agencies. UOW distributed more than 

10,000 brochures and action packs and provided an 

e-newsletter to over 9,400 people. 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 35 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Identity Theft 

BJA is a partner in the Office of Justice Programs 

(OJP) Identity Theft Working Group, which meets 

to share updates on identity theft as well as trainings 

and technical assistance resources to the field, such 

as training prosecutors and computer forensics 

investigators in economic and high-tech crimes. 

In FY 2007, BJA also provided funding to OJP’s 

Bureau of Justice Statistics for a comprehensive 

survey to develop baseline statistics on the 

prevalence and characteristics of identity theft 

nationally. 

Through the National White Collar Crime 

Center (NW3C), BJA offers a nationwide support 

system for agencies involved in the prevention, 

investigation, and prosecution of economic 

and high-tech crime. NWC3 training begins a 

networking process that continues out of the 

classroom and into real cases, capitalizing on the 

strengths of each agency. In FY 2007, NW3C 

developed a curriculum, Financial Crimes Against 

Seniors, to train investigators to successfully pursue 

these cases, which was rolled out in spring 2008. 

In partnership with the National District Attorneys 

Association’s (NDAA) American Prosecutors 

Research Institute (APRI), BJA conducted focus 

groups in FY 2007 and administered surveys to 

research key identity theft issues and challenges 

facing local prosecutors and financial institutions. 

A national symposium of experts in identity theft 

then convened to examine the topic in more depth, 

resulting in a monograph, Who’s on First? Challenges 

Facing Prosecutors and Financial Institutions in 

Responding to Identity Theft, which was disseminated 

to prosecutors and financial institutions across the 

country. 

National Crime Prevention Initiatives 

BJA, through its longstanding partnership with the 

National Citizens’ Crime Prevention Campaign— 

comprising the National Crime Prevention Council 

(NCPC), Crime Prevention Coalition of America 

(CPCA), the Advertising Council, and Saatchi 

& Saatchi New York—released a comprehensive 

cyberbullying prevention public education 

campaign in FY 2007. Using the power of radio, 

TV, and Internet advertising, the campaign helps 

reduce and prevent cyberbullying by giving parents 

and teens the tools they need to stop a cyberbully. 

A companion web resource provides parents and 

teens with information on how to talk about the 

issues of cyberbullying, set up guidelines for Internet 

activities, and report a cyberbully. 

In partnership with BJA, NCPC produced and 

distributed several resources targeted to distinct 

readerships but all working for the common goal of 

crime prevention. NCPC also directed a capacitybuilding effort with CPCA through peer-to-peer 

training and technical assistance to state crime 

prevention associations, and NCPC and CPCA 

conducted four Crime Prevention Leaders’ Regional 

Roundtables. 

With the support and guidance of BJA and 

the International Association of Campus Law 

Enforcement Administrators, NCPC developed 

and piloted a basic, 3-day campus crime prevention 

course designed specifically for law enforcement and 

public safety personnel on college and university 

campuses. NCPC also produced a PowerPoint 

presentation for law enforcement officers and 

crime prevention practitioners to educate, increase 

awareness, and teach prevention strategies in their 

communities; a Crime Prevention Month Kit that 

provides crime prevention program examples, 

resources, and reproducible brochures and handouts 

to help educate residents on ways to keep their 

families, homes, and communities safe; and a 

Seniors Crime Prevention Training Kit to update 

seniors and caregivers regarding the dangers of 

telemarketing fraud and related crimes. 

36 • SolutionS for Safer CommunitieS 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Law Enforcement and Youth 

Partnerships for Crime Prevention 

The Law Enforcement and Youth Partnerships for 

Crime Prevention Initiative (www.cpinitiatives. 

org) is a partnership among BJA, the Boys & Girls 

Clubs of America, and many other national law 

enforcement and youth-oriented organizations 

to reinvigorate crime prevention efforts in local 

communities around the country. Designed to 

promote the value of engaging youth in crime 

prevention activities, the 3rd National Conference 

was held in October 2006 with 17 youth and 

crime prevention-related organizations conducting 

workshops for more than 500 participants from 160 

community teams from 47 states, the District of 

Columbia, and 30 Native American communities. 

These teams received training and then developed 

a Blueprint Action Plan to best serve the youth 

in their communities; each community received 

$18,000 in seed money to develop and implement 

crime prevention programs tailored for its area. To 

help ensure success, the participating organizations 

provided training and technical assistance to the 

communities over the course of the following 12 

months. 

Project ChildSafe 

A component of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), 

Project ChildSafe teaches firearms owners how to 

properly store and safely handle their weapons. In 

partnership with BJA, the National Shooting Sports 

Foundation (NSSF) distributes gun safety kits 

containing gun locks and gun safety information. 

Working with governors, lieutenant governors, and 

local officials, NSSF helps to raise awareness of 

firearms safety and prevent children from accessing 

loaded firearms in the home. In FY 2007, Project 

ChildSafe received requests for nearly 875,000 gun 

safety kits from 536 law enforcement agencies in 46 

states; based on available resources, approximately 

36 percent of requests were met. 

Gang Resistance Education And 

Training Program 

In FY 2007, BJA awarded nearly $15 million to 

local law enforcement agencies and law enforcement 

professionals to deliver BJA’s Gang Resistance 

Education And Training (G.R.E.A.T.) Program. 

School-based and officer-instructed, the G.R.E.A.T. 

curriculum focuses on prevention and is intended 

as an immunization against delinquency, youth 

violence, and gang membership. Uniformed officers 

teach classroom students to set positive goals, resist 

negative pressures, resolve conflicts, and understand 

how gangs affect the quality of their lives. 

In FY 2007, 163 local law enforcement agencies 

in 39 states received funding to implement the 

G.R.E.A.T. Program, and 684 new officers were 

certified to teach the G.R.E.A.T. Program in 

elementary and middle schools. The workbook 

usage reports of G.R.E.A.T. officers indicate that 

147,000 elementary students and 304,000 middle 

school students were trained. In addition, 211 

G.R.E.A.T. officers were certified to facilitate the 

G.R.E.A.T. Families component, and local agencies 

continued to establish connections with school 

officials, faith-based and community organizations, 

and family/juvenile court agencies to promote the 

families approach in their communities. 

Senior Telemarketing Fraud 

NCPC, in collaboration with BJA, promotes 

awareness, prevention, and safety to help senior 

citizens and their adult children and caregivers 

better protect themselves from telemarketing fraud 

and related crimes. NCPC participated in training 

conferences, community events and workshops, and 

meetings that included the American Association 

of Retired Persons, NSA, IACP, the Washington 

Metropolitan Police Department’s Senior Police 

Academy, and the Office for Latino Affairs in 

Washington, D.C., providing technical assistance 

and promoting fraud awareness. NCPC also 

distributed more than 10,000 copies of Seniors and 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 37 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Telemarketing Fraud: 101, a guide for protecting 

seniors from fraud, and 5,000 CD–ROMs entitled 

Crime Prevention Presentations, Volume 1 and 2, 

which include presentations on seniors and crime 

prevention. The presentations are available at www. 

mcgruffstore.org/videos.html. 

Human Trafficking Task Forces 

Since FY 2004, BJA and OJP’s Office for Victims 

of Crime (OVC) have partnered to fund local and 

state law enforcement agencies to work with U.S. 

Attorneys, federal law enforcement, and victim 

services agencies to identify and rescue victims of 

human trafficking and prosecute traffickers. During 

FY 2007, BJA and OVC emphasized enhancing 

the performance of existing task forces, and BJA 

administered supplemental funding to six of the task 

forces (Los Angeles and Oakland, California; Collier 

County, Florida; Austin and Harris County, Texas; 

and Seattle, Washington). 

BJA and OVC also cochaired a committee to 

coordinate the delivery of technical assistance to 

the task forces and to other state and local agencies 

engaged in interdicting human trafficking. With 

guidance from this committee, BJA funded the 

Upper Midwestern Community Policing Institute 

to continue delivering the BJA-developed Human 

Trafficking Train-the-Trainer curriculum for law 

enforcement through Regional Community Policing 

Institutes; develop a task force leadership program; 

and develop an advanced human trafficking training 

curriculum. 

Emergency Planning 

BJa and its national partners recognize that public health emergencies—whether an epidemic, 

pandemic influenza, biological terrorist attack, or natural disaster—can threaten america’s justice 

system and rule of law. BJa has identified critical planning and response objectives for local justice 

systems and the lessons learned and promising approaches in preparing the justice system for such 

emergencies to ensure the rule of law is upheld during any emergency, natural or manmade. 

Pandemic Planning 

Following the FY 2006 national symposium on 

pandemic planning, BJA coordinated a pandemic 

influenza consortium with support from American 

University’s Criminal Courts Technical Assistance 

Project (CCTAP). With representatives from each 

component of the justice system, this consortium 

coordinates BJA’s pandemic initiative and meets 

regularly to discuss findings and issues and to plan 

initiatives. CCTAP also assists local and state courts 

in undertaking planning and implementation 

processes during a pandemic crisis. 

In March 2007, BJA published Guidelines for 

Pandemic Emergency Preparedness Planning: A 

Roadmap for Courts, which was distributed to the 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 

and many judicial organizations; a multimedia 

presentation of this report for future training 

events was released in FY 2008. A marketing piece 

summarizing pandemic planning tasks was also 

designed and distributed via BJA’s pandemic web 

site (www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/pandemic/pandemic_ 

main.html). During FY 2007, BJA participated in 

two CDC summits on Pandemic Preparedness and 

Community Mitigation Strategies and conducted 

a panel on Court Emergency Preparedness and 

Pandemic Planning for the Annual Conference of 

the American Judges Association. 

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Continuity of Operations (COOP) 

Courts develop a COOP plan to ensure normal 

operations when the courthouse or court-related 

facilities are threatened or inaccessible. The National 

Center for State Courts, along with a national 

coalition of 16 leaders from BJA, all sectors of 

the justice system, and other agencies involved in 

business continuity planning, developed Continuity 

of Court Operations: Steps for COOP Planning. 

This guide walks a court through the process of 

developing a COOP plan, including anticipating a 

pandemic, and provides worksheets, a COOP plan 

template, and links to related online resources. The 

Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts used 

drafts of this guide in developing its COOP plan, 

and after positive feedback from pilot jurisdictions, 

plans to develop a similar COOP plan statewide. 

The guide is available on the COOP web site (www. 

ncsconline.org/D_Research/coop/index.html), 

which also offers streaming media presentations by 

judicial, medical, and governmental experts and will 

soon have online distance learning modules. 

CDC/DOJ Workgroup on Justice and 

Public Health Emergencies 

CDC’s Public Health Law Program and BJA 

convened a workgroup to increase coordination 

among public health and law enforcement agencies 

as they respond jointly to all-hazards public health 

emergencies. Drawn from the fields of public 

health, law enforcement, and the judiciary at the 

local, state, and national levels, the workgroup 

first met in Washington, D.C., in June 2007 to 

explore specific ways collaboration can enhance 

preparedness planning for emergencies. In FY 2007, 

the workgroup began development of a framework 

document and draft memoranda of understanding 

for two scenarios: conducting a joint public health 

and law enforcement investigation of a suspected 

bioterrorist event, and coordinating responses 

during a widespread contagious disease outbreak 

possibly requiring voluntary quarantine, isolation, 

or other social distancing measures. Both documents 

are scheduled to be finalized and distributed in 

February 2008. 

Violent Crime and Gangs 

BJa helps jurisdictions throughout the united States reduce, prevent, and control violent crime; 

address gun crime; and confront gangs and gang-related crime. 

Targeting Violent Crime Initiative 

BJA designed the Targeting Violent Crime Initiative 

(TVCI) to assist law enforcement in developing 

intelligence-led task forces for responding to violent 

crime in their communities. In FY 2007, more 

than $74 million was provided to 103 agencies to 

improve analytical capacity, mount drug trafficking 

investigations, suppress violent neighborhood 

gangs, and enhance regional and national criminal 

intelligence analysis and sharing. These agencies 

began providing monthly reports in February 2008 

on data such as felony and misdemeanor arrests, 

gang member arrests, seized firearms, and gangs 

disrupted. 

Project Safe Neighborhoods 

Anti-Gang Training 

In FY 2007, BJA sponsored the pilot of the PSN 

Anti-Gang Training in Dover, Delaware. This 

event was BJA’s first comprehensive, advanced 

anti-gang training for federal, state, and local 

law enforcement personnel and prosecutors. The 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 39 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

160 participants learned key anti-gang strategies 

involving intervention/prevention, suppression, 

and reentry. Specialized training tracks served 

local law enforcement executives, line personnel, 

investigators, and prosecutors. An executive session 

provided community leaders with a unique forum 

for discussing critical gang issues and impediments 

to addressing them with peers from around the 

country. The facilitated discussion helped identify 

strategies that communities may use to respond 

to gang activity. Valuable feedback from the 

pilot training will help design and implement 12 

trainings in 2008, including a separate track for 

gang prevention and intervention personnel. 

Center for Task Force Training 

Under the Center for Task Force Training (CenTF) 

Program, BJA provides specialized training to law 

enforcement to increase the effectiveness of state, 

local, and tribal agencies in task force command and 

methamphetamine investigation management. In 

FY 2007, CenTF provided training to more than 

500 public safety officers, including the “Narcotics 

Commanders Workshop,” a 3-day course for 

multijurisdictional narcotics task force commanders 

and supervisors, and the “Methamphetamine 

Investigation Management Workshop,” a 3-day 

course on the methamphetamine problem 

and serious health and safety hazards of meth 

manufacturing. CenTF also developed and delivered 

the “Methamphetamine on Tribal Lands Training” 

to address meth issues unique to Indian Country. 

Tribal leaders, law enforcement, first responders, 

and social service providers came together to 

focus on the meth problem, public awareness, 

community partnerships, and drug-endangered 

children. Law enforcement officers then participated 

in an additional day of training that addressed 

law enforcement-sensitive topics such as meth 

manufacturing methods, first response and lab 

scene procedures, investigation techniques, and raid 

planning. 

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. JAG 

supports initiatives ranging from multijurisdictional 

drug and gang task forces to crime prevention and 

domestic violence programs, courts, corrections, 

treatment, and justice information sharing projects. 

In FY 2007, BJA administered $452.8 million in 

JAG funding, an increase of nearly $160.8 million 

over FY 2006. 

Advanced Law Enforcement 

Rapid Response Training 

During FY 2007, BJA partnered with Texas 

State University to implement Advanced Law 

Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) 

for campus, school, local, and tribal law 

enforcement nationwide. The ALERRT training 

prepares law enforcement agencies to safely and 

effectively respond to and stop one or more active 

shooters. Texas State trained 600 law enforcement 

officers in 14 locations in FY 2007, as well as 

delivered train-the-trainer active shooter trainings, 

and scheduled the new trainers to teach the basic 

active shooter course in their regions. 

National Gang Center 

The National Gang Center (NGC), a collaborative 

effort between BJA and OJP’s Office of Juvenile 

Justice and Delinquency Prevention, provides 

the latest information about anti-gang programs 

and access to resources such as the web site for 

the G.R.E.A.T. Program, administered by BJA in 

cooperation with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 

Firearms and Explosives, and the National Gang 

Threat Assessment. 

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In FY 2007, NGC developed a basic gang 

enforcement course for law enforcement officers 

newly assigned to anti-gang work; a train-the-trainer 

course that allows agencies to provide inservice 

training; a basic criminal intelligence course; a 

course for criminal intelligence unit commanders; 

and a course in criminal intelligence training for 

chief executive officers that focuses on community 

trust, accountability, and legal issues affecting their 

jurisdictions. 

Attorney General’s 10-City 

Anti-Gang Initiative 

The Attorney General announced that the 

Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative (CAGI) would 

expand from its six original sites1 to include four 

more sites: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Rochester, 

New York; Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina; and 

Indianapolis, Indiana. Each of these sites received 

$2.5 million to carry out the three-prong CAGI 

strategy: suppression (law enforcement), prevention, 

and reentry. The reentry component emphasizes 

both pre-release and post-release services, and postrelease supervision and coordination of information 

sharing among law enforcement and prevention 

agencies. Post-release services include coordination 

with faith-based and community organizations 

(FBCOs) for delivery of services, the use of vouchers 

for selection of services, and mentoring (as needed) 

to offenders. 

State and Local Anti-Terrorism 

Training Program 

A dynamic and ever-evolving program, the State and 

Local Anti-Terrorism Training (SLATT) Program 

delivered specialized anti-terrorism training to 

more than 10,300 federal, state, local, and tribal 

officers at 108 events in FY 2007. In addition, more 

than 12,300 officers received terrorism prevention 

information from graduates of SLATT’s Train-theTrainer Program. SLATT also expanded its online 

training (www.slatt.org), adding new modules on 

terrorism topics and case studies of terrorist attacks, 

redesigning the overall site to improve functionality, 

and implementing online access for law enforcement 

to download specialized program materials. 

A major initiative for SLATT during FY 2007 was 

the development and delivery of the Communities 

Against Terrorism (CAT) Program, which outlines 

potential indicators of terrorism for various 

industries and offers templates of industry-specific 

resources designed for distribution to businesses, 

which may be customized with law enforcement 

agency contact information. The program, reaching 

hotels, dive shops, construction sites, home supply 

businesses, self-storage facilities, rental vehicles, and 

other businesses that might unknowingly facilitate 

an act of terror, provides accompanying tutorials to 

prepare officers to work with the community and 

an automated presentation outlining the program. 

CAT is available to officers via CD or the SLATT 

web site. 

1 The original CAGI sites were Los Angeles, California; 

Cleveland, Ohio; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Milwaukee, 

Wisconsin; Tampa, Florida; and the 222 corridor that stretches 

from Easton to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 41 
Problem-Solving Justice Initiatives 

through its partnerships with federal, state, and local agencies, BJa supports community justice 

efforts that address mental health and substance abuse issues of criminal justice system-involved 

individuals. BJa also supports a wide range of diversion programs to help tribal and alaska native 

governments develop, implement, and enhance their judicial systems. 

Justice and Mental Health Partnerships 

In FY 2007, BJA continued its partnership with 

OJP’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

Prevention, the National Institute of Corrections, 

and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 

Services Administration, to plan, coordinate, design, 

and implement interagency efforts to improve the 

response to people with mental health, substance 

abuse, or co-occurring disorders involved or at risk 

of involvement with the criminal and juvenile justice 

systems. These partners met regularly to compare 

funding objectives and make determinations on 

where future partner technical assistance and 

funding could most effectively be invested and 

leveraged. 

Under the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration 

Program (JMHCP), BJA administered 27 awards 

in FY 2007 and worked with the Council of State 

Governments (CSG) Justice Center to provide 

other vital resources and technical assistance. 

BJA and CSG developed a Planning and 

Implementation Guide to assess grantees’ activities 

around collaboration, governance, and program 

progress. The guide incorporates BJA performance 

measures and has served as a practical framework 

for delivering technical assistance and monitoring 

grantees’ progress. Technical assistance included 

grantee interviews, offsite assistance, site visits, and 

the development of a grantee toolkit. BJA and CSG 

also developed Essential Elements of a Mental Health 

Court and What Is a Mental Health Court? 

For grantees and non-grantees alike, in FY 2007 

BJA launched the Criminal Justice/Mental Health 

Information Network (InfoNet) web site (http:// 

cjmh-infonet.org), a resource for policymakers, 

practitioners, and advocates to help improve 

outcomes for individuals with mental illnesses in 

the criminal justice system. InfoNet offers program 

profiles, media articles and research studies, 

legislation, innovative state-level efforts, advocacy 

initiatives, frequently asked questions, and JMHCP 

grantee project profiles. 

Law Enforcement/Mental Health 

Partnership Program 

BJA, the CSG Justice Center, and the Police 

Executive Research Forum (PERF) collaborate to 

examine and improve law enforcement-mental 

health efforts. The Law Enforcement/Mental 

Health Partnership Program builds on the successes 

of communities across the country to provide 

resources for law enforcement leaders and related 

stakeholders to develop initiatives that allow law 

enforcement to not only connect people with 

mental illnesses to much-needed services but also 

to minimize the risk of injury or death to officers 

during encounters. With support from BJA, the 

CSG Justice Center and PERF are developing 

a toolkit of resources to assist communities in 

better understanding the need for specialized law 

enforcement-based responses to people with mental 

illnesses, and how to navigate any obstacles to 

effective implementation. Improving Responses to 

People with Mental Illnesses: The Essential Elements 

of a Specialized Law Enforcement-Based Program 

is a policy guide that provides recommendations 

for achieving the key program components of any 

effective specialized law enforcement-based response 

(available at consensusproject.org/downloads/ 

le-essentialelements.pdf). Strategies for Effective 

Training is a practical handbook for developing 

the training that is a vital part of a department’s 

efforts regarding system-involved people with 

mental illnesses. Tailoring Responses to Jurisdictional 

42 • SolutionS for Safer CommunitieS 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Needs and Circumstances is a series of case studies 

describing how various jurisdictions have achieved 

the 10 essential elements of a specialized response 

based on their communities’ own unique strengths 

and weaknesses. 

Mental Health Court Learning Sites 

BJA has designated five mental health courts as 

learning sites for JMHCP grantees and others to 

develop mental health courts or improve their 

practices; the CSG Justice Center helps coordinate 

these visits. BJA developed a data collection tool for 

mental health courts that incorporates performance 

and outcome measurement. In FY 2007, CSG 

conducted a Mental Health Court Survey, gathering 

data on more than 100 mental health court 

programs to include on the InfoNet along with 

court-based media and research, offering the field 

updated information on the different programs, 

models, and research studies available to them. 

Drug Courts 

In FY 2007, BJA slated 43 drug court teams to 

receive financial support from BJA to plan for a new 

drug court in their community. BJA also provided 

16 awards for the implementation and enhancement 

of adult drug courts. 

BJA provided training, educational resources, and 

followup technical assistance to drug court teams 

through the Drug Court Planning Initiative. The 

National Drug Court Institute, supported by BJA, 

conducted more than 30 trainings to requesting 

jurisdictions under the Statewide Training Initiative, 

fulfilled 20 onsite technical assistance requests, and 

provided offsite technical assistance to over 1,500 

adult drug court program inquiries. The National 

Center for State Courts conducted 12 onsite visits 

to state agencies as part of the Statewide Technical 

Assistance Program, and American University 

responded to more than 5,000 inquires and prepared 

assessments on drug court activity for BJA and 

requesting jurisdictions. 

BJA continued to fund the National Institute 

of Drug Abuse to develop a performance-based 

E-Court Web Project to enable drug courts to report 

court and participant progress, service linkages, 

and outcomes—including recidivism, graduation 

rates, and improved client functioning—directly to 

OJP. BJA also supported OJP’s National Institute 

of Justice (NIJ) Multi-Site Adult Drug Court 

Evaluation, an extensive, longitudinal, multiyear 

study involving 2,200 drug court participants from 

29 communities. 

Tribal Courts Assistance Program 

BJA administers the Tribal Courts Assistance 

Program (TCAP), part of the U.S. Department of 

Justice’s (DOJ) Indian Country Law Enforcement 

Initiative, which provides funding to federally 

recognized tribal governments, to support the 

development, implementation, and enhancement 

of tribal judicial systems appropriate for their 

communities. 

In FY 2007, BJA administered 35 grants totaling 

nearly $5.6 million to help federally recognized 

American Indian and Alaska Native communities 

plan single and intertribal court systems and to 

implement small, medium, and large tribal court 

enhancement projects. BJA also worked with the 

Tribal Judicial Institute at the University of North 

Dakota Law School, the TCAP Advisory Board, and 

other tribal-affiliated national and regional partners 

to plan and conduct 34 trainings across the country 

that benefited more than 3,000 tribal court officials 

representing hundreds of tribal justice systems. 

In addition, the National Tribal Judicial Center 

(NTJC) provided judicial education opportunities 

to established and emerging justice systems in 

Indian Country. NTJC curricula are specifically 

aimed at strengthening the sovereignty of American 

Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages through 

judicial education; NTJC scholarships allowed 

tribal judges and court personnel to attend NTJC 

courses: “Essential Skills for Tribal Court Judges,” 

“Court Management for Tribal Judges and Court 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 43 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Administrators,” and “Dispute Resolution Skills for 

Tribal Justice Systems.” 

Problem-Solving Courts 

BJA funding supports the Community-Based 

Problem-Solving Criminal Justice Initiative to 

broaden the scope of problem-solving courts, testing 

their approach on wider defendant populations 

and applying key problem-solving principles 

outside the court context. The Center for Court 

Innovation, the technical assistance provider 

for the initiative, hosted a workshop in Atlanta, 

Georgia, in May 2007 for grantees to share lessons 

learned and troubleshoot problems in pursuing 

their court’s goals. The center also hosted 505 

practitioners in 2007 who paid their own way to 

visit and learn from the center’s demonstration 

projects in New York; 14 jurisdictions that visited 

the center’s demonstration projects are currently 

planning community court projects. In FY 2007, 

center staff responded to 796 requests for assistance 

about problem-solving criminal justice strategies; 

made 107 presentations at national, regional, and 

international conferences; and published 21 white 

papers and research reports, identifying current and 

emerging court innovations. 

Community Prosecution 

BJA and the Center for Court Innovation worked 

closely with APRI to support the National Center 

for Community Prosecution (NCCP) to promote 

community prosecution, enhance the effectiveness of 

community prosecutors in the field, and emphasize 

sustainability and measurement. NCCP trained 

180 state and local prosecutors at the 3rd National 

Community Prosecution Conference in San Diego; 

published monographs, such as the Community 

Prosecution Performance Measures Manual; and 

provided web assistance, with nearly 73,000 hits and 

more than 1,100 “Ask the Experts” e-requests. 

Pretrial Initiatives 

The Pretrial Justice Institute provided a range of 

technical assistance to pretrial diversion and release 

practitioners, including 2 monographs, site-based 

technical assistance to 15 jurisdictions, assistance 

to officials on risk assessment instruments, and 

the launch of a pretrial diversion web page, www. 

pretrial.org, for pretrial diversion resources. 

Combating Drug Crime and Abuse 

BJa supports programs that address the problems of illicit substance abuse and related crime, provide 

substance abuse treatment services, and monitor prescription drug and methamphetamine data. 

Methamphetamine Use 

BJA supports local, tribal, and state law enforcement 

partners in combating methamphetamine (meth) 

manufacturing, trafficking, and use. In FY 2007, 

BJA funded FirstPic, Inc., to provide meth 

enforcement training and technical assistance to 

tribal communities. With other federal agencies and 

national tribal organizations, FirstPic identified 10 

geographically diverse tribes for training throughout 

FY 2008 to focus on interdiction and investigative 

strategies, forensic techniques, clandestine labs, 

enforcement and safety, and demand reduction 

strategies. In FY 2007, BJA also provided support 

for the National Association of Counties to design 

and distribute a quarterly newsletter focusing on 

the latest meth issues and an issue brief on local law 

enforcement’s role in the fight against meth. 

44 • SolutionS for Safer CommunitieS 
Indian Alcohol and Substance 

Abuse Program 

Initiated in 2001, the Indian Alcohol and Substance 

Abuse Program (IASAP) helps tribal governments 

reduce and control crime associated with alcohol 

and substance abuse. In FY 2007, BJA administered 

12 IASAP grants totaling $3 million to tribes and 

tribal villages in the states of Alaska (1), Colorado 

(1), Michigan (1), Montana (1), Nebraska (1), 

Oklahoma (2), Nevada (2), Washington (2), 

and Wyoming (1). IASAP grants enable tribes 

to implement culturally appropriate strategies 

that foster effective partnerships; apprehend and 

prosecute illegal drug and alcohol smugglers, dealers, 

and users; reduce the number of substance abuserelated crimes, traffic fatalities, and injuries; and 

make treatment readily available to tribal members. 

Also in FY 2007, BJA, Fox Valley Technical College’s 

Criminal Justice Center for Innovation, the IASAP 

Advisory Forum (composed of representatives from 

each tribal grantee), and other partners conducted 4 

training conferences, 14 regional and local training 

sessions, 3 focus groups, and 13 onsite technical 

assistance visits. A total of 147 scholarships—to both 

grantees and non-grantees—enabled tribal officials 

to attend national training and technical assistance 

events, where nearly 2,000 individuals representing 

more than 180 tribes participated. 

Prescription Drug Monitoring Program 

Responding to the misuse and abuse of prescription 

drugs, many states have implemented prescription 

drug monitoring programs to detect the diversion 

and abuse of pharmaceutical controlled substances, 

particularly at the retail level where no other 

automated information collection exists. Through 

the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring 

Program (PDMP), BJA assists states in establishing 

or enhancing a PDMP. In FY 2007, grants totaling 

more than $6 million were made to 18 states, 

such as California, where its Controlled Substance 

Utilization Review and Evaluation System 

(CURES) program used PDMP funding to collect, 

correlate, analyze, and disseminate information 

about suspicious activity to appropriate agencies. 

This PDMP data sharing will allow CURES to 

immediately respond to inquiries by emergency 

room doctors, validate and establish user access to 

the newly created web access portal, and maintain a 

CURES fax alert system. 

In FY 2007, the Kentucky All Schedules Prescription 

Electronic Reporting (KASPER) program conducted 

a survey to measure user satisfaction of the system. 

The survey demonstrated very positive results among 

law enforcement and health care users: 93 percent 

of all respondents felt KASPER was an effective 

tool for keeping track of an individual’s scheduled 

prescription drug history, and 95 percent of all 

respondents agreed that KASPER is an excellent tool 

for identifying potential “doctor shoppers.” 

In FY 2007, BJA’s PDMP partnered with Project 

Remote at the Virginia Department of Mental 

Health, Mental Retardation, and Substance 

Abuse Services to increase access to substance 

abuse treatment services in southwest Virginia. 

This partnership is creating a continuing medical 

education course in pain management that will 

include information on chronic pain management, 

epidemiology of prescription drug abuse in Virginia, 

laws and regulations related to prescribing controlled 

substances, and information about the prescription 

drug monitoring program. 

Residential Substance Abuse 

Treatment for State Prisoners 

Formula Grant Program 

The Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State 

Prisoners Formula Grant (RSAT) Program assists 

states and local governments in developing and 

implementing substance abuse treatment programs 

in their correctional and detention facilities, and in 

creating and maintaining community-based aftercare 

services for offenders. RSAT enables incarcerated 

inmates to receive residential substance abuse 

treatment, prepares them for reintegration into their 

communities by incorporating reentry planning 

activities into treatment programs, and supports 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 45 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

their reentry process by delivering community-based 

treatment and other broad-based aftercare. In FY 

2007, Congress appropriated $9.3 million in RSAT 

funding, and BJA administered grants to the 50 

states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, 

Guam, and Puerto Rico. 

National Alliance for Drug 

Endangered Children 

With children often found living in homes where 

meth is being produced, law enforcement, social 

services, medical providers, and prosecutors have 

developed partnerships offering support for these 

children. In FY 2007, BJA awarded a grant to the 

National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children 

to implement effective and sustainable state and 

community strategies to protect children and to 

leverage existing resources to assist these child victims. 

Methamphetamine Precursor 

Chemical Tracking 

Law enforcement efforts and legislation restricting 

the sale of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine 

products have resulted in decreased domestic meth 

production, and the Combat Meth Act has required 

retailers selling precursor chemicals to maintain 

a log of all sales. State and local jurisdictions are 

now implementing or planning to implement 

automated systems that track the sales of these 

precursor chemicals. To support the development 

of these systems, BJA participated in FY 2007 in 

two meetings of the National Alliance for Model 

State Drug Laws Meth Precursor Tracking Advisory 

Committee. Comprising federal, state, and other 

key officials, this committee shares information 

and develops recommendations for tracking 

systems, including data standards and crossborder sharing. BJA also awarded a grant for the 

Tennessee Meth Task Force to enhance its tracking 

system for precursor chemicals, the Tennessee 

Methamphetamine Intelligence System (TMIS), 

which has been considered a model for precursor 

tracking systems throughout the country. TMIS not 

only tracks precursor chemicals, but also facilitates 

statewide communication of information in support 

of law enforcement operations on multiple levels. 

There are plans to expand this capability by linking 

TMIS with the Tennessee State Fusion Center. 

Correctional Options 

State, local, and tribal correctional systems face diverse challenges with issues such as offender 

reentry into the community, incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens, prison industry 

enhancement, sex offender management, and the effective management and use of resources. 

Prisoner Reentry Initiative 

With the support of several federal agencies, the 

Prisoner Reentry Initiative (PRI) is designed to 

reduce recidivism by helping returning inmates find 

work and access other critical community services. 

BJA administers funding to state agencies to provide 

pre-release assessment, programming and services, 

transition planning, and post-release supervision 

and coordination of services for prisoners returning 

to communities. Coordinating with a companion 

U.S. Department of Labor grant program for 

FBCOs, in FY 2007 BJA awarded 24 PRI grants to 

24 states for a total of more than $9.8 million, for 

assessment, employment and educational assistance, 

substance abuse treatment, cognitive restructuring, 

motivational interviewing, mental health and health 

services, and mentoring. The U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services also assists in this effort 

with designing and implementing substance abuse 

and mental health treatment services. 

46 • SolutionS for Safer CommunitieS 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FY 2006 PRI grantees made significant progress 

during FY 2007; for example, the Arizona 

Department of Corrections developed a curriculum 

involving resume building, interviewing techniques, 

mock interviews, and visits from FBCO partners to 

coordinate post-release services. The Connecticut 

Department of Corrections and the Massachusetts 

Department of Corrections developed an automated 

eligibility system to identify prospective reentry 

program participants; the Ohio and New Jersey 

Departments of Corrections exceeded the targeted 

number of inmates to be served under their 

programs; and the Texas Department of Criminal 

Justice established a reentry component in which the 

FBCO partner proactively reaches out to offenders 

before release, which resulted in more offenders 

completing both the in-prison and community 

programs and finding stable employment. 

BJA also supports the Attorney General’s 10-City 

Anti-Gang Initiative for high-impact, violent 

gang offenders (see page 41), involving mentorbased assistance programs that provide transitional 

housing, job readiness and placement assistance, 

and substance abuse and mental health treatment to 

prisoners reentering communities. 

State Criminal Alien Assistance Program 

The State Criminal Alien Assistance Program 

(SCAAP) provides federal payments to states and 

localities that have incurred correctional officer 

salary costs for incarcerating undocumented 

criminal aliens who have at least one felony or two 

misdemeanor convictions for violations of state or 

local law, and who are incarcerated for at least 4 

consecutive days during the reporting period. In FY 

2007, BJA distributed approximately $377 million 

in SCAAP payments to 810 jurisdictions to assist 

them with their correctional officer costs. 

Correctional Facilities on Tribal Lands 

Administered by BJA, funding provided through 

the Construction of Correctional Facilities on Tribal 

Lands Discretionary Grant Program helps federally 

recognized American Indian tribes and Alaska Native 

villages construct or renovate correctional facilities 

used for the incarceration of offenders subject to 

tribal jurisdiction. In FY 2007, BJA continued 

to partner with Justice Planners International to 

provide training and technical assistance services 

to each previously funded construction project. By 

April 2007, 17 tribes had completed construction 

on new facilities, 16 tribes had received certificates 

of occupancy from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

5 tribes were actively engaged in various stages 

of design and construction, and 4 tribes were 

renovating existing structures to make them 

federally compliant and operable. Also in FY 2007, 

the program was designed to accommodate tribes 

interested in renovating correctional facilities and/or 

planning the construction of correctional facilities, 

and BJA funded 8 additional renovation projects and 

17 planning grants. 

Prison Industry Enhancement 

Certification Program 

Under the Prison Industry Enhancement 

Certification Program (PIECP), BJA certifies that 

local and state prison industry programs meet 

requirements to be exempt from federal restrictions 

on prisoner-made goods in interstate commerce. 

The National Correctional Industries Association 

provides training, offers technical assistance, and 

monitors compliance issues related to PIECP. In 

FY 2007, 201 private industries were designated as 

active cost accounting centers among the 42 PIECP 

certificate holders. With 5,579 inmates employed 

during FY 2007, PIECP is integral to assisting with 

efforts to reintegrate offenders into the community 

by providing offenders with job skills, training, and 

even at times job placement. 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 47 
Justice Reinvestment 

Building on BJA’s and CSG’s Report of the Reentry 

Policy Council, the Justice Reinvestment Project 

assesses prison population projections; sentencing 

legislation, policy, and practices; corrections policy 

for technical violators; risk assessment instruments 

and evidence-based practices and principles used in 

offender supervision; mapping of where offenders 

return upon release; resource allocation; and 

the role of stakeholders/partners in determining 

corrections-related policy and legislative initiatives. 

CSG collaborates with states in which all the 

major stakeholders agree to participate, including 

the Governor’s office, corrections administrators, 

legislators, other state agency heads, local leaders, 

and other stakeholders to project where they may 

save in prison construction and also how they can 

best determine which offenders should be released 

to the community and what resources should 

be directed toward those offenders. The result: 

offenders receive the most appropriate and effective 

supervision and services, reducing recidivism, 

criminal activity, and victimization and allowing 

states and localities to focus services and resources on 

more serious, high-risk offenders. In FY 2007, CSG 

provided assistance to Arizona, Connecticut, Kansas, 

Nevada, Rhode Island, and Texas and continues 

to receive requests from other states for justice 

reinvestment assistance. 

Jail Reentry Roundtable Initiative 

Coordinated by the Urban Institute in partnership 

with the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and 

the Montgomery County (Maryland) Department 

of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Jail Reentry 

Roundtable addresses issues faced by the estimated 

10 to 12 million offenders returning yearly to the 

community from jail. This initiative has designed 

and delivered issue papers on housing, employment, 

treatment needs, family dynamics, and offender 

supervision, and is also developing two major 

resources for use by jails and communities: a jail 

reentry toolkit for agencies and a “roadmap” for 

jails that includes examples of promising jail reentry 

programs. 

Specialized Reentry 

BJA partners with the American Probation and 

Parole Association (APPA) regarding reentry issues 

faced exclusively by methamphetamine-addicted 

offenders and gang members. APPA will develop and 

distribute materials to assist community corrections 

agencies in addressing the supervision and services 

risk/needs of these specific populations, from health, 

mental health, family dynamics, and treatment 

for meth-addicted offenders, to law enforcement 

partnerships, information sharing, supervision, and 

service needs for gang member reentry. 

Sex Offender Management 

BJA administers the Comprehensive Approaches 

to Sex Offender Management (CASOM) 

Grant Program, which assists communities in 

improving their adult and juvenile sex offender 

management policies and practices. In FY 2007, 

BJA administered funding to 27 state, local, 

and tribal agencies to implement or enhance sex 

offender management strategies in their jurisdiction. 

While state strategies focused on training activities 

coordinated with national CASOM efforts, 

local and tribal funding supported assessment, 

planning, and implementation of strategies. Sex 

offender management efforts with national partners 

continued in FY 2007, as BJA and APPA offered 

four teleconferences/webcasts on supervision of sex 

offenders in rural communities and the impact of 

electronic technology on supervision. 

With BJA support, in January 2007 CSG hosted a 

national forum for state legislators that focused on 

policy implications for sex offender management 

legislation. With IACP, BJA assisted law 

enforcement agencies in establishing and enhancing 

internal protocols for managing sex offense cases, 

investigations, and coordination with community 

supervision agencies. IACP also led several focus 

groups and conducted field visits to law enforcement 

agencies to identify issues to consider in enhancing 

their roles in sex offender management. 

48 • SolutionS for Safer CommunitieS 
Protecting Inmates and 

Safeguarding Communities 

In FY 2007, BJA worked with Protecting Inmates 

and Safeguarding Communities grantees to facilitate 

project implementation through targeted training 

and technical assistance. BJA also joined with 

national partners to provide guidance to justice 

professionals in facilitating prison rape elimination. 

NDAA’s National Center for the Prosecution of 

Violence Against Women, in collaboration with the 

National Judicial College (NJC), created two key 

resources for prosecutors: The Prosecution of Prison 

Rape and the Prison Rape Elimination Act: A Model 

Curriculum for Prosecutors, which contains videos, 

a PowerPoint presentation, and faculty manual, 

and The Prosecution of Prison Rape: The Prison 

Rape Elimination Act CD–ROM, which teaches 

prosecutors how to prepare and prosecute prison 

rape cases; more than 3,000 of these CD–ROMs 

were distributed. NJC also published What Judges 

Need to Know About Prison Rape: The Prison Rape 

Elimination Act and The Prison Rape Elimination Act 

of 2003: Curriculum for Judges, and disseminated 

more than 1,200 CD–ROMs containing these 

publications and provided in-person training to state 

court judges. 

Using BJA funding, the Center for Innovative 

Public Policies (CIPP) provides no-cost support 

to state and regional law enforcement and sheriff 

associations, including presentations on the Prison 

Rape Elimination Act, onsite technical assistance, 

and a policy development guide to assist agencies 

as they update and revise policies and procedures. 

CIPP also offers a training curriculum to train law 

enforcement employees during roll calls, educate 

agency leadership and policymakers, and equip 

employees and supervisors involved in day-to-day 

operations. 

Justice Information Sharing 

overcoming obstacles to sharing information among justice partners increases their ability to prevent 

and solve crimes and protect communities. DoJ and BJa are committed to providing the resources 

and assistance needed to make sharing information as easy and secure as possible. 

DOJ Global Justice Information 

Sharing Initiative (Global) 

Global Security Working Group 

BJA works closely with the Global Security 

Working Group (GSWG), whose mission is to 

foster the trusted sharing of justice information, 

by recommending a security framework and best 

practices for security guidelines, technologies, 

and procedures. The three major program areas 

addressed in 2007 were security framework 

products, coordination of technical privacy 

policy implementation guidelines, and federated 

identity and a privilege management capability 

demonstration (see page 50). 

In FY 2007, GSWG delivered Applying Wireless 

Security Practices to Justice Information Sharing, a 

companion resource to Applying Security Practices to 

Justice Information Sharing that specifically focuses 

on the challenges of securing wireless connectivity. 

This comprehensive resource promotes awareness of 

the unique challenges posed by wireless information 

sharing and offers low-cost solutions to help ensure 

robust security regardless of the transmission 

medium. GSWG helped ensure a consistent vision 

of security guidelines and best practices to the field, 

including synchronization between the GSWG 

security framework and the emerging Justice 

Reference Architecture (JRA) specification and 

guidelines. 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 49 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GSWG also helped coordinate a BJA focus group, 

the Technical Privacy Task Team, to establish 

technology and metadata requirements for 

information sharing while protecting the privacy 

rights of those involved. Implementing Privacy 

Policy in Justice Information Sharing: A Technical 

Report provided electronic privacy policy metadata, 

additional privacy policy recommendations, 

and outreach materials to the Global Advisory 

Committee for consideration in future projects. 

Global Federated Identity and 

Privilege Management Project 

Facilitated by GSWG and funded jointly by BJA 

and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security 

(DHS), the Global Federated Identity and 

Privilege Management (GFIPM) Project includes 

as participants the Criminal Information Sharing 

Alliance Network (CISANet), Pennsylvania Justice 

Network (JNET), and Regional Information 

Sharing Systems Network (RISSNET). This pilot 

project successfully demonstrated in 2007 how 

different systems may share user identification and 

access authorization information during real-time 

operations, allowing retained control over resources, 

and saving costs. Project deliverables included the 

pilot demonstration, outreach materials to promote 

awareness of GFIPM, and the GFIPM metadata 

specification. 

Regional Information Sharing 

Systems Program 

The Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) 

Program supports law enforcement efforts to 

combat crime and terrorism and promote officer 

safety in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, 

U.S. territories, Australia, Canada, and England. 

RISS offers secure communications, intelligence 

databases, investigative resources, analytical support, 

equipment, and many other services to enhance 

and improve the ability to detect crime, apprehend 

offenders, and successfully prosecute individuals. 

RISSNET, a secure intranet, acts as the gateway for 

disparate systems to connect and provides users with 

the ability to quickly query, analyze, and research 

data. Since its inception, RISS membership has 

grown to more than 8,000 criminal justice agencies 

and almost 1 million officers worldwide, represented 

by more than 81,000 access-approved officers. 

In FY 2007, the RISSNET Portal was launched, 

which provides users with one entry point for 

RISSNET, allowing them to instantly view and 

access RISSNET resources from one location; 

the continued development of RISSafe, to store, 

maintain, and monitor information on planned 

law enforcement events with the goal of identifying 

and alerting affected agencies of potential conflicts; 

and the training of 68,000 individuals across the 

country in investigative techniques and resources. 

RISS intelligence database records exceeded 3.2 

million, and inquiries to system resources were over 

2.8 million. Analytical staff completed more than 

21,000 products (e.g., intelligence bulletins, crime 

trend reports, and link analysis charts), and over 

5,000 requests were fulfilled for equipment loans. 

FY 2007 also saw the expansion of the RISS Gang 

Program, which maintains the secure RISS National 

Gang Database—more than 100,000 records on 

gang suspects, organizations, weapons, locations, 

and vehicles, as well as visual imagery of gang 

members and symbols. The program also maintains 

a web site organized into topics such as motorcycle, 

ethnic, prison, and drug gangs; tattoos; and graffiti. 

In addition, RISSGang provides links to web sites 

operated by various specific criminal gangs; an 

anonymizing filter is automatically applied when 

a user clicks on one of these links, which renders a 

target web site unable to identify officers visiting the 

site. To further increase the sharing of critical gang 

information, in FY 2007 RISS opened access to the 

RISSGang Program resources to both member and 

nonmember criminal justice agencies. 

50 • SolutionS for Safer CommunitieS 
National White Collar Crime Center 

Since 1978, BJA has supported NW3C, which 

provides no-cost services to state and local criminal 

justice agencies involved in the prevention, 

investigation, and prosecution of criminal activities 

spanning jurisdictional boundaries such as terrorism, 

economic crime, and high-tech crime (e.g., cyber 

or computer crime, including Internet-based crimes 

against children and child pornography). In FY 

2007, NW3C membership grew by 390 agencies 

(21.7 percent) for a total of 2,681 state and local 

enforcement and regulatory agencies. NW3C 

trained 4,422 law enforcement officers and held 2 

outreach events with officers attending sessions on 

identity theft and phishing and on tools, tricks, and 

techniques used by cyber criminals. At the NW3C 

annual training conference in October 2006, 

participants gained insights into 20 separate white 

collar crime topics. 

NW3C provides investigative support services for 

America’s law enforcement community through 

crime analysis, database information searches, and 

supplemental case funding. These services are free 

of charge for member agencies. In FY 2007, NW3C 

provided 1,667 analytical services, for an 84 percent 

increase over FY 2006. 

In FY 2007, BJA also administered NW3C’s portion 

of funding for the Internet Crime Complaint Center 

(IC3), a national complaint and investigatory 

system addressing Internet fraud, child exploitation, 

cyber-stalking, and identity theft. IC3’s 2007 report 

indicated an increase of over 400 percent in Internet 

crime complaints since 2001. In 2007, IC3 received 

206,884 complaints, representing more than $239 

million in losses for the year. 

Statewide Automated Victim 

Information and Notification 

To support the Statewide Automated Victim 

Information Notification (SAVIN) systems, BJA 

provides states with funding to participate in the 

national notification network. In FY 2007, BJA 

awarded 11 new grants and 4 supplemental grants 

for system development or enhancements for a total 

of $12.2 million, bringing the total number of state 

SAVIN systems to 27. To further support SAVIN, 

in April 2007 BJA cohosted the first annual SAVIN 

training conference, bringing together teams from 

42 states to share progress and highlight innovative 

strategies for system design and implementation. 

In 2007, the combined SAVIN systems made 6.5 

million outbound notification calls and 500,000 

e-mail notifications, and serviced more than 9.7 

million inbound information calls, 15.3 million 

inbound web inquiries, and 750,000 live operatorassisted calls. 

Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender 

Public Website (NSOPW) 

Built by BJA, NSOPW (www.nsopw.gov) is a 

searchable web site that links state and territory sex 

offender public registries, allowing access to vital 

public information about sex offenders nationwide. 

All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and 

Puerto Rico participate in this public safety resource, 

sharing comprehensive, free-of-charge public sex 

offender data with citizens nationwide. During FY 

2007, NSOPW received more than 532 million 

hits from more than 3.8 million user sessions. 

Each week, NSOPW averages 15 million hits from 

approximately 100 countries, and more than 1,000 

organizations link to NSOPW on their web sites. 

Fusion Centers 

To facilitate the development of a national fusion 

center capability, BJA and DHS’s National 

Preparedness Directorate developed the Fusion 

Process Technical Assistance Program. This 

formalized training program supports DHS’s Office 

of Intelligence and Analysis in coordination with 

the Office of the Director of National Intelligence 

(ODNI); the Office of the Program Manager, 

Information Sharing Environment (PM–ISE); the 

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and experts 

from states and local communities such as Global, 

the Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 51 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(CICC), and the Global Intelligence Working 

Group (GIWG). To accelerate the implementation 

of baseline capabilities within all state and local 

fusion centers, DOJ and DHS partnered to develop 

11 fusion technical assistance (TA) services. Each 

service supports the implementation of the Global 

Fusion Center Guidelines and the ODNI ISE 

Implementation Plan to facilitate the nationwide 

development and enhancement of the fusion 

process. Services cover process orientation, process 

governance, concept of operations, privacy policy, 

technical assistance with 28 C.F.R. Part 23 (criminal 

intelligence systems operating policy), fusion center 

administration and management, liaison officer 

programming, state and local anti-terrorism training, 

criminal intelligence for the Chief Executive, 

National Information Exchange Model (NIEM), 

and regional intelligence group workshops. Technical 

assistance regarding the fusion process was provided 

through 70 programs and TA deliveries in 39 states 

during 2007; regional workshops were also hosted 

in Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, New Hampshire, and 

New York to enable fusion center personnel to build 

capabilities in a collaborative environment. 

The first annual National Fusion Center Conference 

was held in Destin, Florida, on March 6–8, 2007, 

and was strongly supported by federal, state, local, 

and tribal participants committed to solidifying the 

national network of justice centers based on mission, 

common practices, protocols, and documentation. 

National Association of State 

Chief Information Officers 

BJA continued its partnership with the National 

Association of State Chief Information Officers 

(NASCIO) in 2007 to promote Enterprise 

Architecture (EA), JRA, and NIEM to state 

implementers, and expand and promote state 

technology best practices and expertise into the 

national policy work of BJA and Global. 

NASCIO conducts the NASCIO EA Committee, 

which has delivered the following resources to the 

field: Information Technology (IT) Governance and 

Business Outcomes, Electronic Records Management 

and Digital Preservation (Parts 1 through 3), 

Transforming Government Through Change 

Management, and Building Better State Government 

Through Enterprise Architecture. NASCIO has also 

initiated the Enterprise Architecture Cooperative, 

which leverages the best-practice EA implementation 

in states, aligning with the federal Business Reference 

Architecture to further promote the benefits and 

resources available for state adoption of EA and 

related best practices. 

NASCIO provides TA directly to state agencies on 

adoption of EA, JRA, and NIEM, and provides 

outreach and linkages to a variety of stakeholder 

groups and events, including the National Science 

Foundation, Architecture.gov partners, the National 

Association of Government Archivists and Records 

Administrators, and the Global Infrastructure and 

Standards Working Group. NASCIO maintains and 

continually updates an online Information Sharing 

Catalog to promote adoption and use of existing best 

practices and standards across the country. 

National Governors Association 

Center for Best Practices 

With the National Governors Association Center 

for Best Practices, BJA has funded an initiative 

to identify states for using NIEM to improve 

justice information sharing. Alabama, New York, 

Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin were 

selected competitively to participate in the program, 

and each received a small grant as an incentive for 

either developing new NIEM Information Exchange 

Packages (IEPDs) or converting Global Justice XML 

Data Model (GJXDM) IEPDs to NIEM IEPDs. 

These states also were required to evaluate the level 

of effort and associated costs, document the results 

of the process, and forward the IEPDs to the NIEM 

Clearinghouse for possible reuse. The goals: to 

create reusable IEPDs that can be shared with other 

states, to develop lessons learned for development of 

new NIEM IEPDs and converting GJXDM IEPDs, 

and to document the costs and level of effort for this 

type of work. 

52 • SolutionS for Safer CommunitieS 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Information Exchange Package 

Documentation and Suspicious 

Activity Reporting 

Efforts were initiated to develop an IEPD using 

NIEM standards to define exchanges among local 

agencies, state and urban fusion centers, and ISE 

for suspicious incidents and activities. A focus 

group of state, local, and tribal subject matter 

experts developed IEPD, available at www.it.ojp. 

gov, and efforts were coordinated by the Institute 

for Intergovernmental Research, SEARCH, and the 

IJIS Institute. The group plans to continue advising 

on the process of implementing IEPD in the state 

and urban area fusion centers. This focus group 

also coordinated with PM–ISE in its efforts to 

develop functional standards for Suspicious Activity 

Reporting (SAR) to ISE. 

Minimum Criminal Intelligence 

Training Standards 

Since the Minimum Criminal Intelligence Training 

Standards were initially published in 2004 as a 

result of the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing 

Plan (NCISP), new initiatives and developments 

have occurred, including the establishment of the 

Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 

the development of fusion centers nationwide, the 

ongoing need to address privacy issues, and the 

development of the ISE Implementation Plan. 

A committee of law enforcement professionals 

involved in the intelligence community formed in 

March 2007 to update these standards. Committee 

members reviewed the standards and recommended 

many updates, including updating terminology 

and ensuring that the standards reflect current 

developments in the field (e.g., fusion centers, 

NCISP, the ISE, controlled unclassified information, 

and privacy information). The Minimum Criminal 

Intelligence Training Standards, version 2, was 

approved in October 2007 by the CounterTerrorism Training Coordination Working Group, 

Global, CICC, and GIWG. 

Concurrently with this revision, work began to 

develop a Master Intelligence Training Calendar. 

The “Criminal Intelligence for the Chief Executive” 

course was administered also in six locations during 

FY 2007, and BJA further developed the pilot 

“Intelligence Manager/Commander” course. 

Information Sharing Environment 

The purpose of the Information Sharing 

Environment (ISE) is to facilitate the sharing of 

terrorism-related information among federal, state, 

local, tribal, and private sector entities, as well as 

foreign partners. The Program Manager (PM–ISE) 

has governmentwide authority to plan, oversee, and 

manage ISE. To facilitate implementation of ISE, 

representatives from BJA and Global’s CICC have 

assisted ODNI and the PM–ISE by supporting 

the development of focus groups and coordinating 

the participation of local and state subject matter 

experts. Supported events in FY 2007 included 

the “Dialogue on Intelligence and Intelligence-Led 

Policing” executive briefing and a meeting between 

the Governors Homeland Security Advisors Council 

and CICC, both in Washington, D.C. 

Privacy and Civil Liberties Policies 

With input from PM–ISE; the ISE Privacy 

Guidelines Committee’s (PGC) State, Local, and 

Tribal Working Group; and the ISE PGC Training 

and Outreach Working Group, BJA developed the 

Fusion Center Privacy Policy Development: Privacy, 

Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Policy Template to 

provide fusion center personnel with a logical list 

of questions, grouped into policy sections, enabling 

them to draft sound privacy policies for their centers 

that adhere to Global’s guidelines. The template was 

introduced at regional fusion center group meetings, 

and attendees were offered TA, via e-mail, phone, 

or onsite visit, over a 90-day period in which each 

center would draft its policy. 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 53 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corrections Information Sharing 

Vital information sharing can help protect 

communities against terrorism, violent crime, and 

other crime associated with gangs and drugs, and can 

also facilitate reentry efforts among law enforcement, 

probation/parole, and social services agencies. 

The Association of State Correctional Administrators 

is building automated capacities for correctional 

information sharing, ultimately to support ongoing 

programs such as its performance-based measures, 

clearinghouse, correctional intelligence sharing, and 

response to pandemic situations. APPA is developing 

a comprehensive list of IEPDs using NIEM among 

community corrections and justice counterparts, 

public safety entities, and the private sector. The 

goal: to post these IEPDs on the NIEM IEPD 

Clearinghouse web site. 

National Criminal Intelligence 

Resource Center 

The National Criminal Intelligence Resource Center 

(NCIRC) is a secure web site (www.ncirc.gov) that 

serves as a one-stop shop for every federal, state, 

local, and tribal law enforcement official who must 

keep up with the latest developments in criminal 

intelligence. The site houses the most current 

versions of national strategy documents, policies 

and standards, model policies, techniques, lessons 

learned, best practices, and training information, 

as well as information on intelligence contacts and 

related organizations, training and TA opportunities, 

and ongoing developments and initiatives. The 

NCIRC site is developed and made available with 

the approval of BJA, ODNI, FBI, DHS, and other 

officials. 

National Information Exchange Model 

DOJ’s and DHS’s NIEM initiative is an 

enterprisewide information exchange standard 

that can enable jurisdictions to effectively share 

critical information, and holds great promise for 

information sharing with nontraditional justice 

partners. During FY 2007, PM–ISE recognized 

NIEM as one of the principal data standards 

recommended for ISE. The Common Terrorism 

Information Sharing Standards (CTISS) Working 

Group, chartered under the Information Sharing 

Council, is now leveraging NIEM and the 

Department of Defense/Intelligence Community 

Universal Core (U-Core) to establish the 

baseline ISE data partition. And the new NIEM 

Communications and Outreach Committee is 

marketing the NIEM initiative to the public, while 

NIEM.gov has been reorganized to provide even 

easier navigation to key documents and resources. 

Also in 2007, the new production release of NIEM 

(version 2.0) was completed and published through 

the NIEM web site and NIEM News, a bimonthly 

newsletter to more than 1,000 NIEM stakeholders, 

as well as through journals and periodicals to 

the IT community. NIEM 2.0 was highlighted 

at the Global Justice Information Sharing Users’ 

Conference held in August 2007 in Chicago, 

Illinois. With the release of version 2.0, NIEM has 

transitioned to a fully mature and stable model. 

Rapid adoption is occurring, with the majority of 

states now evaluating NIEM, conducting NIEM 

pilot projects, or developing operational NIEM 

IEPDs. 

Finally, with a growing demand for NIEM training, 

more than 600 managers, architects, and developers 

attended NIEM training sessions. In addition 

to informational materials developed during FY 

2007, such as “Why NIEM Now?” and “The 

Value of NIEM,” the NIEM web site offers a 

wealth of information, including updated technical 

documents such as the “NIEM Naming and Design 

Rules, version 1.2,” an essential component of the 

technical aspects of implementing NIEM. 

Law Enforcement Information 

Technology Standards Council 

Sponsored by BJA, the Law Enforcement 

Information Technology Standards Council 

54 • SolutionS for Safer CommunitieS 
(LEITSC)—comprising representatives from 

IACP, the National Organization of Black Law 

Enforcement Executives, NSA, and PERF— 

promotes consistency and interoperability of 

Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) and Records 

Management Systems (RMS) across agencies. 

LEITSC identified the top 10 priority information 

exchanges involving CAD and RMS and provided 

those exchange specifications in GJXDM format, 

with plans underway to offer NIEM exchanges 

in 2008. By achieving consensus across LEITSC 

membership and offering the resulting exchange 

specifications online, a common, interoperable 

technology will become a reality. 

Justice Reference Architecture 

To realize a service-oriented approach to information 

sharing, BJA and Global’s Infrastructure/Standards 

Working Group have been delivering and 

enhancing the Global JRA, along with guidance for 

identifying, defining, implementing, and governing 

common services. In FY 2007 alone, the following 

deliverables were produced: Global Justice Reference 

Architecture Specification version 1.4, Web Services 

Service Interaction Profile version 1.0, ebXML 

Messaging Service Interaction Profile version 0.9, 

and outreach resources such as the JRA Executive 

Overview briefing and online documentation. 

Work is also ongoing to map and further define the 

interconnections between JRA and other federal, 

state, and local architectures, including how JRA 

will interoperate with data standards such as NIEM 

and with identity management and biometric 

methodologies. 

Privacy Technology 

In November 2005, BJA, in partnership with 

Global and the IJIS Institute, convened a Privacy 

Technology Focus Group of both public and 

private sector privacy policy experts to explore 

technology possibilities to support the development 

and implementation of privacy policies. The 

group’s recommendations to BJA became the 

catalyst for GSWG to activate a task team, which 

drafted a report identifying a privacy policy 

technical framework, metadata requirements, and 

implementation guidelines that included business 

requirements analysis, transition techniques, and 

development tools. Entitled Implementing Privacy 

Policy in Justice Information Sharing: A Technical 

Framework, the report was released at the Global 

meeting in October 2007, and can be found at www. 

it.ojp.gov. The next step is to conduct pilot tests to 

validate the concepts in the report. 

Prescription Drug Monitoring 

Data Exchange 

In 2007, BJA and the IJIS Institute completed phase 

2 of the PDMP, which included demonstrating a 

successful operational prescription drug management 

program data exchange between California and 

Nevada, a common border crossing for illegal doctor 

shopping and prescription drug abuse. Phase 2 

also delivered exchange specifications in NIEM 

format, providing reusable artifacts for any state 

to replicate; delivered a migration report based 

on the transition of these artifacts from GJXDM 

format to NIEM; and conducted a survey of all 

state offices to gauge their data-sharing capabilities, 

restrictions, and practices. This work served as the 

foundation for phase 3, which expands the concept 

of interstate data sharing to accommodate multiple 

state exchanges simultaneously. Activities completed 

toward this multistate hub project include premier 

definition of a multistate exchange model in 

NIEM format, functional specifications, and initial 

agreements for Kentucky, Nevada, New York, and 

Ohio to participate. 

Intelligent Transportation 

Systems/Public Safety 

In FY 2007, the Intelligent Transportation 

Systems/Public Safety (ITS/PS) information 

exchange project, funded by the U.S. Department 

of Transportation and BJA, began to address the 

gap between public safety-oriented GJXDM and 

transportation-oriented IEEE 1512 standards. 

The project committee delivered 12 prioritized 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 55 
information exchanges in both GJXDM and IEEE 

1512 standards with transformation style sheets 

to help provide the link between the technology 

standards; the GJXDM/IEEE 1512 Compatibility 

Analysis Report detailed the findings of the 

committee. To perform a field operational test, 

Houston TranStar and the Harris County Toll 

Road Authority in Texas planned to implement the 

Incident Notification and Incident Status Update 

exchanges and provide feedback to the committee. 

Justice Information 

Exchange Model 

In FY 2007, BJA and SEARCH released a new 

version of the Justice Information Exchange Model 

(JIEM) tool on the Eclipse platform, improving 

usability and implementing many practitioneridentified features such as enhanced NIEM 

integration and offline operation capability. In 

addition, the JIEM steering committee reviewed 

adoption of the tool, cultivated fresh approaches 

for the new tool release, and promoted usage 

and adoption. Twelve JIEM training events were 

provided in 2007, including online training for the 

first time ever. The underlying JIEM reference model 

was also enhanced to incorporate hospital availability 

and SAR as part of ongoing NIEM priority exchange 

development. 

The JIEM tool has seen many successes; for 

example, Pennsylvania’s State Administering 

Agency, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime 

and Delinquency, used the JIEM methodology to 

build consensus across four counties on information 

exchange requirements. The resulting toolkit 

promotes common business practices, reduces costs, 

and increases the automated flow of information 

within and among the state’s counties. JIEM also 

helped build a national consensus standard on SAR 

and related business processes for subsequent NIEM 

information exchange development. 

Training and Technical Assistance 

While BJA’s training program in information 

technology focuses on GJXDM and NIEM, it also 

includes the foundational XML model, JIEM, and 

many train-the-trainer events. The most widely 

attended information technology training was the 

NIEM National Training event in December 2006, 

which included both an executive briefing and 

practical implementers’ course. BJA continues to 

explore options for online delivery of training, to 

not only maximize resources, but also save time for 

participants. 

BJA’s TA program provides onsite expertise and 

support in design, assessment, and recommendations 

pertaining to information sharing issues. Six fullscale TA sessions were conducted in 2007 on topics 

ranging from NIEM implementation, fusion center 

coordination, and data migration, to drug task force 

information sharing and dispatch interoperability. 

Another critical component of the TA program is the 

National Information Sharing Standards help desk 

and knowledgebase. The online resource promotes 

“self-service knowledge transfer” with hundreds 

of articles on information sharing topics. The 

knowledgebase, via the IEPD Clearinghouse, also 

provides pointers to over 80 information exchange 

specifications from the field, both in GJXDM and 

NIEM formats. And the staffed help desk (www. 

leitsc.org/IEPDs.htm) is available to end users to 

respond to questions from the field. 

56 • SolutionS for Safer CommunitieS 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honoring America’s Public Safety Officers 

BJa considers it a great honor to administer the following programs recognizing america’s public 

safety heroes and their selfless and unwavering dedication to communities nationwide. 

Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor 

Under the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor 

Act, the President may annually award up to five 

Medals of Valor to public safety officers honored 

for performing extraordinary acts of valor that are 

deemed to be above and beyond the call of duty. BJA 

administers this program on behalf of OJP’s Office 

of the Assistant Attorney General. 

Medal of Valor awardees for 2005–2006 honored in 

a 2007 White House ceremony with the President 

and Attorney General were Officer Kevin Howland 

(Sacramento, California), who, after being struck by 

a vehicle containing four armed robbery suspects, 

was able to arrest all the suspects; Firefighter David 

Loving (Richmond, Virginia), who rescued a trapped 

and injured victim from a burning mobile home 

involved in a traffic accident; Officer Todd Myers 

(West Hartford, Connecticut), who, witnessing a 

20-vehicle traffic crash, rescued a woman from a 

burning vehicle and performed additional rescues 

while suffering first- and second-degree burns; 

Firefighter Brian Rothell (Chesterfield, Virginia), 

who saved the life of a man attempting to commit 

suicide by jumping from a bridge; and Sergeant 

Kirk Van Orsdel (Hemet, California), who received 

wounds during multiple exchanges of gunfire with a 

suspect armed with an AK–47 assault rifle. 

Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program 

Enacted in 1976, BJA’s Public Safety Officers’ 

Benefits (PSOB) Program is a partnership effort of 

DOJ; local, state, and federal public safety agencies; 

and national organizations that provides death, 

education assistance, and disability benefits to those 

eligible for the program. The PSOB Office reviews 

and processes hundreds of cases each year; works 

with national firefighter, law enforcement, and first 

responder agencies and organizations to educate 

communities regarding the program; and offers 

support to families and colleagues of fallen officers. 

PSOB 

Claims Filed 

PSOB Claims 

Approved 

Death 312 140 

Disability 55 12 

Education 282 82 

The following changes have been made to make the 

PSOB Program even more responsive to the needs of 

America’s public safety community: 

■■ Database. A computerized database of active 

PSOB cases was designed to capture and track 

critical details on claims, allowing PSOB staff 

to instantly search records and respond to 

inquiries on cases. This database will become 

the foundation for a new web-based PSOB case 

management system. 

■■	 Awareness. While many law enforcement 

officers, fire fighters, and other first responders 

know about the PSOB Program, there are still 

too many agencies surprised to learn that the 

program has existed for more than 30 years. BJA 

is committed to “getting the word out” to those 

who should know, through presentations and 

trainings at national, regional, state, and local 

conferences and meetings. 

■■ PSOB Online. A significant milestone for the 

PSOB Program, as of May 2006, agencies and 

survivors can now access the forms required to 

file a PSOB death claim at www.psob.gov. 

■■	 Hearing Officers. The number of Hearing 

Officers for PSOB appeals has increased to 

decrease the waiting time for survivors. These 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 57 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hearing Officers are available to factually and 

respectfully consider issues raised on appeal. 

■■	 Communication. Agencies need accurate and 

consistent updates on PSOB benefits. The 

PSOB web site continues to be updated to share 

practical details regarding the program, as well 

as to allow users to download forms and other 

information. 

■■ Information Kit. PSOB is finalizing the PSOB 

Information Kit, for distribution to more than 

60,000 public safety organizations throughout 

the country. The kit will include a copy of the 

new (as of 9/11/2006) regulations, an easy-touse checklist for “Hometown Heroes” claims, 

updated PSOB forms, and an information card 

for loved ones of public safety officers to keep 

with other important papers. 

■■	 Spanish Translations. All forms, as well as 

communication letters, the PSOB checklist, 

and informational materials, are now available 

in Spanish. Additionally, death claims may be 

submitted online in Spanish at www.psob.gov. 

■■	 Agency Support. PSOB’s national partners, 

the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and 

Concerns of Police Survivors, are implementing 

support teams to be “on call” for agencies of 

fallen officers. On request, these teams will 

be available to help agencies and survivors 

throughout the PSOB claim submission and 

review process. This support will not only 

improve the completeness of PSOB claims 

submitted to the PSOB Office, but will also 

reduce “getbacks” from agencies for any 

additional information that might be required 

to complete the review. 

Tools for Criminal Justice 

BJa continues to provide the justice community with cutting-edge knowledge and capability in Dna 

evidence, forensic methods, equipment, and technology. 

DNA Initiative 

Through its DNA Forensic Program, in FY 

2007 APRI published three articles in The Silent 

Witness, its online newsletter on DNA evidence; 

provided technical assistance to the DNA Division 

of Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office 

for an in-house cold case prosecution training; 

provided prosecutors with trial-related DNA 

technical assistance (in fact, 163 DNA technical 

assistance inquiries in just 6 months); and amassed 

an extensive collection of case decisions, state and 

federal legislation, and legal documents, including 

trial and deposition transcripts, briefs, sample 

discovery requests, memorandums, and model 

motions, for the field’s use and available at the 

program’s web site (www.ndaa.org/apri/programs/ 

dna/dna_home.html). 

Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program 

BJA’s Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) Program 

awarded more than $28.6 million to 3,981 law 

enforcement agencies to support the purchase of 

180,173 vests for law enforcement officers across 

the country. Of this amount, approximately $15.8 

million went to large jurisdictions and approximately 

$12.9 million to smaller jurisdictions. All smaller 

jurisdictions requesting funding received the 

maximum allowable amount of their request (50 

percent), while large jurisdictions received nearly a 

10 percent increase in funds over the previous year. 

BJA and NIJ and its National Law Enforcement 

and Corrections Technology Center continued to 

maintain the BVP web site to provide the most upto-date and accurate information on NIJ vest testing 

so that agencies can make informed choices and help 

ensure officer safety. 

58	 • SolutionS for Safer CommunitieS 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

National Forensic Academy 

Each year the University of Tennessee, Law 

Enforcement Innovation Center, National Forensic 

Academy (NFA) conducts three 10-week inresidence sessions on crime scene investigation and 

evidence for law enforcement personnel nationwide. 

In FY 2007, NFA completed a program review to 

examine the effectiveness of its training, in which 

subject matter experts, instructors, and NFA alumni 

identified ways to provide increased assessment and 

individualized feedback for each program participant 

in the future. In addition, working with BJA and 

other subject matter experts, NFA designed a 

1-week forensics course for investigators who work 

in corrections facilities. The pilot course, “Crime 

Scene Management in a Correctional Institution,” 

was piloted in Oklahoma in April 2007 and later 

in Tennessee and New Jersey. NFA will continue 

to offer this course to positively affect serious and 

violent crime in U.S. prisons. 

Closed-Circuit Televising Program 

The American Bar Association’s Center on 

Children and the Law supports BJA’s ClosedCircuit Televising (CCTV) Program and recording 

technology program. The center conducted the 

first nationwide CCTV/recording technology 

assessment to ascertain the true training, technical 

assistance, and funding needs of district attorney 

offices, courts, law enforcement agencies, and child 

advocacy centers, as they work with child victims 

of sexual abuse. Assessments went to 483 district 

attorney offices, 482 sheriff departments, and 618 

child advocacy centers (CAC), with response rates 

of 24 percent from district attorneys, 31 percent 

from sheriffs, and 41 percent from CACs. The 

center also received many phone calls and e-mails 

requesting further information on funding and 

other opportunities related to CCTV. 

Assessment results showed that recording technology 

is being used increasingly to take child victims’ 

statements; interviewing is being conducted by 

multidisciplinary teams; and CACs and their 

forensic interviewers are serving a key role in taking 

child victims’ statements. The use and availability 

of CCTV and recording technology continue 

to play an important role in reducing trauma to 

child molestation victims, and respondents believe 

their programs need improvement and would 

like assistance in conducting evaluations and 

understanding CCTV and recording laws. 

Collaborating with BJA and the American Bar 

Association, the Virginia Department of Criminal 

Justice Services sponsored a national training 

conference on CCTV/recording technology, 

“Through a Child’s Eyes,” on August 23–24, 2007 

in Arlington, Virginia. This conference provided 

judges, prosecutors, guardians ad litem, law 

enforcement personnel, victim/witness advocates, 

child protective service workers, mental health 

providers, and policymakers with an opportunity 

to share vital information on model CCTV/ 

recording programs and learn more about associated 

technology. 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 59 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leadership and Building Capacity 

BJa leads the way with technical assistance, training, and other support for communities, law 

enforcement agencies, and court personnel. 

Statewide Communities Initiative (SCI) 

BJA supports state, local, and tribal government 

efforts to institutionalize approaches to communitybased strategic planning through SCI, designed 

and implemented in partnership with the National 

Criminal Justice Association (NCJA). For both 

jurisdictions that have adopted and sustained 

the community-based planning approach and 

those enhancing their planning strategies, in 

2007 NCJA provided resources (personnel, print, 

and electronic) related to strategic planning, 

developed and delivered training curricula and 

presentations, highlighted model collaborative 

planning approaches, offered expertise and support 

to other federal agencies and organizations, and 

conducted interactive train-the-trainer workshops 

directed at justice funding agencies and criminal 

justice planners. NCJA offered core SCI training 

components and tailored the training to meet the 

needs of each jurisdiction, covering topics such as 

identifying key stakeholders, building local capacity, 

addressing turf battles, leveraging resources, and 

identifying community assets. In 2007, NCJA 

trained more than 200 trainers to administer the 

SCI curriculum in Delaware, Florida, Indiana, 

Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, and 

Pennsylvania. An additional 200 participants 

received SCI training through workshops at national 

and state events such as the BJA regional training 

series and the NCPC meeting. 

Law Enforcement Training 

In partnership with BJA, IACP operates the 

Smaller Police Department Technical Assistance 

Program and the New Police Chief Mentoring 

Project. A quarterly online newsletter, Big Ideas 

for Smaller Police Departments, reaches more than 

4,500 recipients; is sent electronically to 42 state 

associations of chiefs of police; and is posted on the 

IACP web site. In FY 2007, IACP’s best practices 

guide, Maneuvering Successfully in the Political 

Environment, also became available. 

Also, in FY 2007 IACP trained more than 300 

law enforcement executives from smaller police 

departments in 6 states at no cost to them. In 

addition, IACP hosted two mentoring sessions in 

Illinois and Florida to prepare prospective mentors 

of new police chiefs, a highly successful initiative 

for IACP. A training track specifically designed 

for smaller police departments enabled IACP to 

train 1,967 participants in Boston, Massachusetts, 

during its annual conference. Finally, IACP 

hosted a roundtable for smaller agencies at the 

U.S. Capitol Police Department to address issues 

raised when police answer calls for children and 

youth with mental health challenges and in crisis. 

The roundtable was a collaborative effort of BJA, 

IACP, the U.S. Department of Health and Human 

Services Child, Family and Adolescent Branch, and 

the National Federation of Families for Children’s 

Mental Health. 

IACP is also working to conduct a survey concerning 

police/corrections partnerships; schedule regional 

focus groups of law enforcement and corrections 

executives to identify needs, concerns, benefits, and 

strategies; conduct site visits to identify best practices; 

and develop an online compendium of police/ 

corrections partnership strategies and best practices. 

Judicial Training 

Working with BJA, NJC provided thousands of 

judges the opportunity to enhance their judicial 

skills by offering training programs and scholarships 

for participation in various events. In addition to 

these ongoing services, in FY 2007 NJC held three 

60 • SolutionS for Safer CommunitieS 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

train-the-trainer faculty development workshops: 

“Planning and Presenting Effective Presentations,” 

“Distance Learning: A Workshop for Judicial 

Educators,” and “Creating an Active Learning 

Environment.” 

Capital Case Litigation Initiative (CCLI) 

Recognizing the need for proper legal training 

in capital cases to obtain reliable jury verdicts 

and minimize post-conviction litigation, BJA 

administers CCLI. As part of this initiative, in FY 

2007 NJC presented education programs on how 

to effectively handle a capital case to 134 judges in 

Arizona, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, and 

also launched a web site (www.capitalcasesresources. 

org) to provide judges with vital information 

regarding handling capital cases and links to 

relevant resources. In FY 2007, NDAA conducted 

prosecutor training in 12 states and established 

training agreements with 5 additional states for 

future training opportunities. 

Court Training 

In partnership with BJA, the National Association 

for Court Management (NACM) strives to improve 

the administration of justice and promote the 

interdependence of court managers and judges. 

NACM’s initiatives in FY 2007 included a range 

of resources for court personnel. The Urban Court 

Managers’ Network, cosponsored by NACM and 

the Justice Management Institute, held 2 national 

conferences for more than 1,100 participants to 

discuss issues that affect large urban trial courts. Five 

NACM Core Competency Curriculum Guidelines 

(CCCG)—“How to Use the CCCG Toolbox,” “The 

Purposes and Responsibilities of Courts,” “Caseflow 

Management,” “Leadership,” and “Information 

Technology”—were posted on the NACM web site 

(www.nacmnet.org). Three toolboxes—“Visioning 

and Strategic Planning,” “Education, Training, 

and Development,” and “Human Resources 

Management”—were designed, and the final four 

toolboxes—“Court Community Communication,” 

“Resources, Budget, and Finance,” “Advanced 

Resources, Budget, and Finance,” and “Essential 

Components”—are in final draft. During FY 2007 

alone, the CCCG link received more than 16,000 

hits on the NACM web site. 

2006 and 2007 Annual Reports to Congress • 61 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 

202–616–6500 

866–859–2687 

Fax: 202–305–1367 

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA 

E-mail: AskBJA@usdoj.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 

800–851–3420 

Fax: 301–519–5212 

www.ncjrs.gov 

Questions/comments: www.ncjrs.gov/App/ContactUs.aspx 

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 *NCJ~225799*

Washington, DC 20531 

Official Business 

Penalty for Private Use $300 

PRESORTED STANDARD
 

POSTAGE & fEES PAID
 

DOJ/BJA
 

PERmIT NO. G–91