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

Mary Lou Leary

Acting Assistant Attorney General

Denise E. O'Donnell

Director, Bureau of Justice Assistance

Office of Justice Programs

Innovation • Partnerships • Safer Neighborhoods

www.ojp.gov

Bureau of Justice Assistance

www.bja.gov

NCJ 240300

The Office of Justice Programs (OJP), headed by Acting Assistant Attorney General Mary 

Lou Leary, provides federal leadership in developing the nation’s capacity to prevent and 

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

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

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

and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and 

Tracking. More information about OJP can be found at www.ojp.gov.
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • i

TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AND THE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE OF THE SENATE:

P

ursuant to the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as amended by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 (Public 

Law 100-690), in accordance with Section 522, I am pleased to transmit the Bureau of Justice Assistance Annual Report for 

Fiscal Year 2011.

This report also includes information pursuant to:

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

made under the Edward Byrne Memorial Grant Program.

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

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

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

Respectfully submitted,

Denise E. O’Donnell

Director, Bureau of Justice Assistance

Washington, D.C.

November 2012
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • iii

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

T

he Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), a component of 

the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Office of Justice 

Programs (OJP), was created in 1984 to help America’s 

local, state, and tribal governments reduce violence and 

restore security in communities and thereby improve the 

efficiency and effectiveness of our nation’s criminal justice 

system. For nearly 30 years, BJA’s mission has been to promote 

sound criminal justice policy, develop effective partnerships 

with the field, promote accountability, offer technical 

assistance and training, and encourage local control of 

programs. BJA’s leadership, along with the services we provide, 

has been essential to both identifying and putting into 

practice the most current, innovative, and evidence-based 

approaches to criminal justice.

This Report to Congress describes the funding, technical 

assistance, and diverse resources BJA provided in fiscal year 

(FY) 2011 to support jurisdictions in their efforts to reduce and 

prevent crime and promote fairness in the criminal justice 

system. We are proud to highlight the many examples of how 

our stakeholders used BJA’s resources to make a difference in 

their communities and across the nation.

The diversity of programs and activities has been remarkable, 

including launching major initiatives such as the pilot training 

for VALOR (Preventing Violence Against Law Enforcement 

Officers and Ensuring Officer Resilience and Survivability), a 

key component of the Attorney General’s national Officer 

Safety Initiative; the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, which uses 

a data-driven approach to reduce corrections spending and 

reinvest savings in evidence-based strategies that increase 

public safety and hold offenders accountable; the Building 

Neighborhood Capacity Program, a component of the 

White House-led Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, which 

supports the transformation of distressed neighborhoods into 

ones of opportunity; and the Law Enforcement Congressional 

Badge of Bravery, which honors exceptional acts of bravery 

in the line of duty by federal, state, local, and tribal law 

enforcement officers. 

BJA also forged new partnerships and continued successful 

collaborations on several programs and initiatives, including 

working with OJP’s National Institute of Justice to develop 

the Honest Opportunity Probation with Enforcement 

Demonstration Field Experiment, which replicates Hawaii’s 

highly successful probation model; with the Substance 

Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center 

for Substance Abuse Treatment in issuing a second joint 

solicitation to enhance the court services, coordination, and 

substance abuse treatment capacity of adult drug courts; 

and with OJP’s Office for Victims of Crime and DOJ’s Civil 

Rights Division to administer the Anti-Human Trafficking Task 

Force Initiative, which uses proactive investigations to identify 

and rescue victims of human trafficking as well as provide 

training to law enforcement agencies and victim service 

providers.

BJA continued to administer the leading source of federal 

justice funding to state and local jurisdictions: the Edward 

Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program. In 

FY 2011 alone, BJA awarded more than 1,400 formula grants 

totaling more than $366 million. To illustrate how this funding 

is being used across the country, our online JAG Showcase 

focuses on JAG-funded statewide, local, and subgrantee 
iv • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

projects that have demonstrated success or have shown 

promise in meeting the objectives and goals of JAG while 

positively impacting communities. Each year, new methods 

are being discovered to reduce and prevent crime, violence, 

and drug abuse and to improve the functioning of the 

criminal justice system, and the JAG Showcase provides a 

forum for us to share this information.

As BJA’s Director, it is an honor to see how technical 

assistance, training, funding, and other resources from BJA 

have enabled communities to build exciting, worthwhile 

projects tailored to their local needs and conditions. Some of 

the most successful initiatives within this report highlight the 

good ideas that were generated in the field. I applaud the 

many achievements of the men and women in the justice 

field who, with the support of BJA and collaborative efforts at 

the state and local levels, have made such a difference in 

their communities.

BJA is proud to have played a role in the successes of these 

programs and the numerous other programs and initiatives 

that BJA funded in FY 2011. For more details about these 

programs, including success stories, links to the resources 

mentioned, and online access to data on BJA funding by 

state and locality, visit the online version of this report at 

www.bja.gov/AR. 
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • v

CONTENTS

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

FY 2011 At-A-Glance ..........................................................................................................................................vii

FY 2011 Programs

Enhancing Law Enforcement Initiatives and Protecting and 

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

Honoring America’s Public Safety Officers ...............................................................................................17

Supporting Innovation in Adjudication....................................................................................................19

Countering Terrorism and Advancing Information Sharing and 

Technology To Fight Crime and Protect the Homeland ..........................................................................25

Managing Offenders.................................................................................................................................37

Breaking the Cycles of Mental Health, Substance Abuse, 

and Crime .................................................................................................................................................47

Addressing Crime and Justice for American Indians and 

Alaska Natives ...........................................................................................................................................53

Empowering Communities and Building Capacity ................................................................................59

Acronyms and Abbreviations ..........................................................................................................................67

Appendixes (online at www.bja.gov/AR)
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • vii

FY 2011 AT-A-GLANCE

T

he Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) strengthens the 

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

state, and tribal governments reduce and prevent crime 

and violence. 

In fiscal year (FY) 2011, 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. 

BJA delivers resources to state, local, and tribal communities 

and justice agencies with an emphasis on partnerships and 

promoting data-driven and evidence-based practices and 

policies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the 

justice system. At the same time, BJA encourages innovation 

and testing of new strategies to meet the unique needs of the 

communities it serves.

In FY 2011, BJA focused on several key justice priorities 

facing America’s communities. These priorities addressed 

the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) strategic goals and 

objectives and included:

■ Improving state and local efforts to reduce and prevent 

violent crime—including gang, gun, and drug crime—

through data-driven and evidence-based strategies.

■ Addressing economic and financial crime, including 

mortgage fraud and intellectual property crime.

■ Supporting state and local law enforcement in identifying 

and preventing terrorist incidents.

■ Promoting interoperability and information sharing to 

improve the ability of state and local law enforcement 

and justice agencies to share criminal intelligence, while 

ensuring respect for privacy rights and civil liberties.

■ Ensuring fairness and access to justice by improving the 

capacity of America’s courts.

■ Supporting smart and effective approaches to offender 

reentry and justice reinvestment.

■ Helping improve the functioning of criminal justice systems 

in tribal communities.

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

BJA in FY 2011 reveals the following:

Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants provided 

more than $366 million to 50 states, the District of Columbia, 

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

The Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program distributed more 

than $24 million to nearly 5,000 jurisdictions. 

Through the Intellectual Property Enforcement, Training, and 

Technical Assistance Program, grantees seized nearly $64 

million in counterfeit assets and more than $10.5 million in 

noncounterfeit assets.

Public Safety Officers’ Benefits were approved for 201 claims 

to provide benefits to survivors of America’s fallen heroes.

The Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative contributed 

numerous recommendations to support DOJ’s informationsharing mission. 
viii • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training Program trainers 

delivered nearly 60 workshops on terrorism interdiction, 

investigation, and prevention to more than 5,500 law 

enforcement professionals. 

The Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) 

Initiative (NSI) Program Management Office increased the 

number of NSI operational sites from 15 to 53. 

Second Chance Act funds of more than $41 million allowed 

communities to provide critical services to returning offenders 

and ensure necessary accountability. 

Adult Drug Court funding of nearly $25 million enabled 85 

jurisdictions to develop and implement drug treatment courts.

Tribal Initiatives were bolstered through three programs 

totaling nearly $33 million for courts, treatment, and 

corrections efforts, which were awarded through DOJ’s 

Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation. 

These and other BJA efforts reflect the dedication, 

commitment, and successes of a nation of justice partners 

who believe that more can always be done to help reduce 

and prevent crime and enhance the criminal justice system.

FY 2011 APPROPRIATIONS FOR BJA-ADMINISTERED PROGRAMS

Formula

$454,758,000 (38%)

Discretionary

$350,944,000 (29%)

Reimbursement

$326,366,000 (27%)

Payments

$70,082,000 (6%)
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • ix

FY 2011 FUNDING BY BJA PROGRAM AREAS

Enhancing Law Enforcement Initiatives 

and Protecting and Supporting 

Victims of Crime

39%

Honoring America’s 

Public Safety Officers

6%

Supporting Innovation

in Adjudication

4%

Countering Terrorism and Advancing 

Information Sharing and Technology To

Fight Crime and Protect the Homeland

7%

Managing Offenders

30%

Breaking the Cycles of Mental Health,

Substance Abuse, and Crime

8%

Empowering Communities

and Building Capacity

2%

Addressing Crime and Justice for

American Indians and Alaska Natives

4%
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 1

CHAPTER 1

ENHANCING LAW ENFORCEMENT INITIATIVES AND 

PROTECTING AND SUPPORTING VICTIMS OF CRIME

T

he Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) supports initiatives 

that address the prevention, suppression, and subsequent 

reduction of violent crime, gang activity, and economic 

crime, and it provides resources, including training and 

technical assistance (TTA), to law enforcement agencies 

and the communities they serve. These initiatives include 

smart policing, officer safety, anti-human trafficking task 

forces, forensics, drug market intervention, mortgage fraud, 

intellectual property, leadership development, and crime 

prevention. Further, BJA administers victim-centered programs 

that leverage support from partners at the state, local, and 

tribal levels. More information on these initiatives and success 

stories can be found in the online annual report, available at 

www.bja.gov/AR.

Edward Byrne Memorial Justice 

Assistance Grant Program

The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) 

Program, the leading source of federal justice funding to 

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

governments with critical funding necessary to support 

a range of program areas, including law enforcement, 

prosecution and the courts, prevention and education, 

corrections and community corrections, drug treatment and 

enforcement, planning, evaluation, technology improvement, 

and crime victim and witness initiatives. JAG awards have a 

4-year project period, but funds are distributed up front rather 

than on a reimbursement basis, allowing recipients to earn 

interest on their awards and generate additional funding for 

successful initiatives and future projects. 

On average, more than 60 percent of annual JAG funding—

from awards made in fiscal years (FYs) 2009, 2010, and 

2011—is allocated for law enforcement personnel, initiatives, 

and equipment, including multijurisdictional drug and gang 

task forces, police cruisers, and less-than-lethal devices. 

In FY 2011, JAG-funded task forces reported that they had 

disrupted 1,191 drug trafficking organizations and dismantled 

451. In addition, 82,519 individuals, including 4,602 gang 

members, were arrested on felony charges and another 

26,755, including 1,245 gang members, were arrested on 

misdemeanor charges. A total of 136,745 new investigations 

were initiated, 2,306 federal and 24,659 state judicial search 

warrants were served, and 17,848 firearms were seized. 

In FY 2011, BJA awarded 1,348 local and 56 state JAG formula 

grants totaling more than $366 million (approximately $246 

million to states and territories and $120 million to local units 

of government). 

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

html) highlights JAG statewide, local, and subgrantee 

projects that have demonstrated success or have shown 

promise in meeting the objectives and goals of JAG while 

positively impacting communities. Each year, new methods 
2 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

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

to improve the functioning of the criminal justice system are 

being discovered. The JAG Showcase serves as a resource 

for criminal justice professionals in the field who seek to stay 

informed of some of the most interesting, innovative, resultsoriented projects that have been funded with JAG money in 

the last several years.

Smart Policing Initiative

Developing solutions that are data driven, effective, and 

economical—as measured by reduced crime, higher closure 

rates, and realistic cost—would be of great benefit to law 

enforcement agencies in this era of budget reductions and 

limited staffing. The goal of the Smart Policing Initiative (SPI) is 

to identify those solutions.

Beginning in 2009, 10 law enforcement agencies have 

been testing solutions with their research partners. Research 

partners, generally from local universities, work closely with 

their SPI agency partner and help identify the issues, assist 

in solution development, and devise an evaluation plan 

to measure the impact of solutions. Results are still coming 

in, but some preliminary findings are encouraging for 

law enforcement agencies grappling with chronic crime 

problems. In 2012, several of these projects will be releasing 

final reports on their solutions to crime problems. 

In FY 2011, BJA made awards to 16 sites, for a total of nearly 

$5 million. The FY 2011 funded sites are Glendale, Arizona; 

Phoenix, Arizona; New Haven, Connecticut; Evans County, 

Georgia; Grangeville, Idaho; Shawnee, Kansas; York, Maine; 

Boston, Massachusetts; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Lowell, 

Massachusetts; Michigan State Police, Michigan; Kansas City, 

Missouri; Las Vegas, Nevada; Frisco, 

Texas; Pharr, Texas; and Pullman, 

Washington. The total number of SPI 

sites is now 28.

Officer Safety

Bulletproof Vest Partnership

Based on preliminary data, it appears 

that felonious assaults on law 

enforcement and corrections officers 

are continuing to increase, despite 

the fact that violent crime in many 

states across the country is declining 

for the fifth consecutive year. As of 

December 7, 2011, 64 law enforcement 

and corrections officers have died 

SPI SITES
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 3

after being assaulted while performing their jobs. Fifty-four of 

those officers died as a result of firearms-related incidents, an 

increase of 12 percent over the same time period last year.

Created by the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 1998, 

the Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) Program is a unique 

Department of Justice (DOJ) initiative designed to provide 

a critical resource to state and local law enforcement. With 

serious state and local budget constraints facing jurisdictions 

across the United States, the BVP Program continues to 

provide funds to help jurisdictions provide bullet- and 

stab-resistant body armor for sworn law enforcement and 

corrections officers. 

At the direction of the Attorney General, beginning with 

FY 2011 BVP funds, jurisdictions must have a written 

mandatory wear policy for uniformed officers who are 

engaged in field activities in order to receive BVP funds. 

Although some jurisdictions chose to not apply for funds in 

2011 because of the mandatory wear policy requirement, 

BJA recorded receiving the second highest number of BVP 

applications since the inception of the program. In FY 2011, 

BJA received 5,134 applications and awarded a total of 

nearly $24.3 million to 4,960 state, local, and tribal jurisdictions. 

These funds will be used to pay for up to 50 percent of the 

cost of protective vests that meet the current National Institute 

of Justice (NIJ) body armor standards.

VALOR—Preventing Violence Against 

Law Enforcement Officers and Ensuring 

Officer Resilience and Survivability

Preventing Violence Against Law Enforcement Officers and 

Ensuring Officer Resilience and Survivability (VALOR) is a 

national officer safety and technical assistance initiative 

developed and delivered by BJA in response to the 

precipitous increase in officer deaths and injuries due to 

violent felonious assaults. During the past 21⁄2 years, police 

officer deaths from gunfire have dramatically increased 

from an all-time low in 2008. According to the National Law 

Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, the number of officers 

shot and killed surged 22 percent in 2009 and another 

24 percent in 2010. Unfortunately, as of December 9, 2011, 

preliminary figures for 2011 indicate a 13 percent increase in 

gunfire deaths over those of 2010. 

VALOR training is designed to help prevent violence against 

law enforcement officers and ensure officer resilience and 

survivability following any violent encounters they may 

face during the course of their duties. Under this initiative, 

critical nationwide TTA is provided to sworn state, local, and 

tribal law enforcement officers through a variety of delivery 

mechanisms.

During FY 2011, VALOR training has been presented in nine 

different locations. 

■ The pilot 2-day regional training was held in Richmond, 

Virginia in January 2011. Additional 2-day regional trainings 

were held in Detroit, Michigan; San Diego, California; and 

Seattle, Washington. One-day specialized trainings were 

held in Gatlinburg, Tennessee; St. George, Utah; and Grand 

Island, Nebraska. VALOR training has been presented to 

1,442 state, local, tribal, and federal law enforcement 

officers.

■ The officer safety training program has proved so popular 

that a train-the-trainer course was piloted in Richmond, 

Virginia in August 2011. 

■ BJA developed and published more than 8,000 law 

enforcement Officer Safety Toolkits that describe the officer 

safety resources available to law enforcement officers and 

agencies. The toolkits have been distributed to state, local, 
4 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies by the 93 U.S. 

Attorneys’ Offices and by BJA. 

■ The VALOR web portal (www.valorforblue.org) went live on 

May 4, 2011. The portal, which provides officers with access 

to online training, officer safety resources, and information 

concerning upcoming officer safety training events, 

currently has nearly 1,300 registered users. 

Reducing Officer Injuries

Policing is a high-risk profession; however, injuries and deaths 

need not be accepted as just part of the job. Through this 

national program, BJA’s partner, the International Association 

of Chiefs of Police’s (IACP’s) Division of State Associations 

of Chiefs of Police, has been thoroughly examining and 

quantifying how officers are getting injured in order to 

develop a comprehensive policy response. The intended 

outcome of this effort is to better equip law enforcement 

agencies with the information and tools necessary to address 

areas of vulnerability, thereby reducing injuries suffered by 

police officers. 

The goals of the project are to identify and document the 

cause and magnitude of officer injuries, develop practical 

resources to assist law enforcement agencies in identifying 

and responding to officer injury vulnerabilities, and widely 

disseminate the resources to the law enforcement community.

To accomplish these goals, a 12-month national study 

of 18 agencies was conducted to thoroughly examine 

and quantify a total spectrum of injuries sustained by law 

enforcement officers. Data collection ended in June 2011 

and analysis began shortly thereafter. In late August 2011, 

an advisory board meeting made up of law enforcement 

executives, educators, and researchers led to initial 

discussions about what resources to provide to the law 

enforcement community. The next steps include publishing a 

final report and creating fact sheets, case studies, checklists, 

journal articles, an executive summary, and other materials 

for the law enforcement community on how to reduce officer 

injuries and support officer safety.

National Center for the Prevention of 

Violence Against the Police

Responding to the need for critical information on 

emerging trends involving felonious assaults directed at law 

enforcement, IACP, in partnership with BJA, established the 

National Center for the Prevention of Violence Against the 

Police (National Center). The mission of the National Center 

is to prevent felonious assaults against law enforcement 

through the timely development and dissemination of 

actionable information within the wider context of IACP’s 

officer safety initiatives. 

Since launching the first year of activity in February 2011, 

the National Center has been working to understand what 

information about felonious assaults against law enforcement 

officers is currently available and what actionable information 

can be extracted to inform preventative measures. Activities 

have included the development of an expert advisory 

group to guide the National Center’s efforts, a preliminary 

data review and analysis, web page and postincident 

administrative review protocol development, and publication 

of several items in IACP’s The Police Chief magazine.

National Center staff will study this available data and 

information to develop a protocol and strategies designed 

to prevent violent assaults against law enforcement officers 

throughout the criminal justice system. Part of the National 

Center’s work is to integrate these findings into the broader 

body of knowledge being produced on duty-related 
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 5

injuries, disabilities, and deaths in order to enhance overall 

community and officer safety efforts.

Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force Initiative

Combating human trafficking requires a comprehensive 

response from government and nongovernment entities in 

myriad areas from human rights, to employment issues, to 

law enforcement. Under the Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force 

Initiative, BJA and its partners work closely with local and state 

law enforcement agencies to organize anti-human trafficking 

task forces with a multidisciplinary, victim-centered approach 

that takes into account both the humanitarian principle 

behind the identification and rescue of victims and the role 

trafficking victims play in the investigation and prosecution of 

traffickers. Working with an Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) 

grantee and DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, BJA’s Anti-Human 

Trafficking Task Force Initiative uses proactive investigations to 

identify and rescue victims of human trafficking.

As of December 2011, there were 31 active anti-human 

trafficking task forces. In FY 2011, BJA and OVC jointly released 

the Enhanced Collaborative Model to Combat Human 

Trafficking Competitive Grant Announcement. Twelve new 

awards were made (six law enforcement and six victim 

service providers) for a total of more than $5.8 million. 

In FY 2011, OVC and BJA worked collaboratively to host three 

Regional Training Forums (in San Jose, California; Hartford, 

Connecticut; and Chicago, Illinois). The forums provided 

an opportunity for the BJA task forces and the OVC service 

providers to receive training, discuss case information, share 

intelligence, and network with other law enforcement and 

victim service providers in the region. Additionally, the Upper 

Midwest Community Policing Institute delivered advanced 

human trafficking investigation training and, in partnership 

with the National Judicial College and the National 

Association of Attorneys General, designed, developed, and 

delivered human trafficking training for state judges and 

prosecutors. 

Violent Gang and Gun Crime Reduction 

Program (Project Safe Neighborhoods)

The Violent Gang and Gun Crime Reduction Program, also 

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

reducing gun and gang crime in America that focuses on 

aggressive and coordinated enforcement of existing gun laws 

in federal and state courts. The PSN strategy concentrates 

on the implementation of five elements integral to a 

comprehensive, coordinated gun and gang crime reduction 

and prevention program: (1) partnerships, (2) strategic 

planning, (3) training, (4) community outreach, and 

(5) accountability. Over the past several years, BJA has 

supported these five elements through both direct grant 

funds and the delivery of TTA to the field. 

Some of the significant PSN accomplishments in FY 2011 

include the following: 

■ BJA provided nearly $9.5 million in direct grants for local PSN 

initiatives. These formula grants supported the delivery and 

implementation of the PSN strategy to communities and 

task forces within the districts as they continue to expand 

their gang and gun reduction efforts. In FY 2012, these 

grants will be awarded competitively. Additionally, 

$2.5 million was provided for the PSN TTA program. In FY 

2011, BJA received approximately 55 PSN TTA requests. 

■ As a result of PSN task force investigations in FY 2009, 11,276 

individuals were prosecuted and convicted of violations 
6 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

of federal firearm laws; for FYs 2010 and 2011, the numbers 

were 10,468 and 10,771, respectively.

■ The National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) (1) supports 

PSN Anti-Gang Training Conferences, (2) conducts outreach 

to identify stakeholders and engage community leaders, 

and (3) makes available information, tools, and resources 

on best practices and emerging gun and gang violence 

trends. During FY 2011, NCPC trained more than 1,000 

participants through anti-gang trainings, completed 3 PSN 

supplemental trainings at non-PSN events, held 1 webinar 

on engaging youth in service, and developed 4 documents 

for publication in 2012—on girls and gangs, anti-gang civil 

injunctions, hybrid gangs, and schools and gangs.

■ NCPC, in partnership with the National District Attorneys 

Association (NDAA), served as an outside facilitator to assist 

the National Alliance of Gang Investigators’ Association’s 

Strategic Planning Committee in formulating vision/

mission statements, goals, objectives, and activities for the 

organization at its 3rd Annual World Gang Control Strategy 

Summit.

■ BJA collaborated with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 

Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the U.S. Marshals Service; 

the Institute for Intergovernmental Research (IIR); and 

other training partners to review the current PSN training 

curriculum. Key issues addressed were determining the 

appropriate sequence of the curriculum, developing 

supplemental training, refocusing the training to emphasize 

how federal law enforcement resources can better support 

state and local law enforcement, and determining the most 

economical way to deliver the training. 

Center for Task Force Training 

To provide affordable, timely, and effective training that 

addresses multijurisdictional criminal activity, BJA, in 

partnership with IIR, administers the Center for Task Force 

Training (CenTF) Program. The CenTF Program offers two core 

training programs that can be tailored to meet the needs of 

law enforcement: the Task Force Commanders Workshop and 

the Methamphetamine Investigative Management Workshop. 

The CenTF Program also provides highly customized technical 

assistance services for law enforcement—delivered by 

subject-matter experts—and focuses on the implementation 

and administration of task forces based on sound 

management principles.

In FY 2011, nearly 1,100 law enforcement professionals were 

trained through the CenTF Program. The program also offers 

a distance-learning component—the Center for Task Force 

Leadership and Integrity—through which more than 1,600 

law enforcement officers from 46 states and 2 territories 

completed training during FY 2011. 

National Forensic Academy

The University of Tennessee’s National Forensic Academy 

(NFA) is an intense 10-week, in-residence training program 

designed to increase the skills of crime scene investigators. 

It provides a practical, hands-on, knowledge-based 

interdisciplinary training environment in which participants 

learn the best practices and standards in crime scene 

investigation.

While NFA has long been the standard for forensic training, 

in recent years greater efficiency has been brought to the 

program, allowing for more comprehensive training and more 

cost-effective delivery. 
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 7

In FY 2011, NFA held two training sessions. The first had 24 

graduates from 15 states representing 19 agencies, and the 

second had 24 graduates from 16 states representing 21 

agencies. 

Forensic Science Technology Training 

and Technical Assistance

The National Forensic Science Technology Center (NFSTC), 

in partnership with BJA, responds to TTA requests from the 

field by providing agencies and practitioners with the latest 

knowledge and skills to enhance forensic services. This 

assistance is crucial to ensuring the proper administration of 

justice in our nation’s court system. 

In FY 2011, NFSTC delivered key assistance and resources 

to law enforcement agencies in cities including Detroit, 

Philadelphia, New Orleans, and Los Angeles. Objectives 

included assessing laboratory processes, evaluating the 

use of forensic technology, and reviewing inventory control 

protocols and backlog-reduction strategies. In addition, this 

program provided online training in crime scene processing 

and medicolegal death investigation. 

Notable successes achieved through the program in 2011 

included the development of a comprehensive model for 

addressing forensic service challenges that can be used 

by community leaders nationwide. An outcome of NFSTC’s 

Michigan Public Safety Project is the guide, Restructuring 

Forensic Services: A Community Approach to Excellence,

which provides step-by-step approaches for establishing 

model forensic service delivery.

In addition, BJA cosponsored the National Public Safety 

Summit on Forensic Science to educate nonforensic criminal 

justice practitioners about forensic science issues that may 

affect their agencies and the cases they manage.

Drug Market Intervention

In FY 2008, BJA, through PSN, developed a training continuum 

for local teams interested in implementing an open-air drug 

market intervention (DMI) initiative, commonly referred to at 

the time as the “High Point model.” DMI is a strategy that uses 

focused deterrence, intervention, and prevention to effectively 

eliminate illegal open-air drug markets and the crime, 

violence, and disorder associated with them. 

The BJA-sponsored DMI training initiative, in partnership 

with Michigan State University, consists of a continuum of 

3 trainings for up to 10 target sites that are interested in 

replicating the strategy. Each selected site’s team consists of 

a law enforcement officer, a local prosecutor, a community 

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

three trainings. Each team receives a site visit from a BJA 

technical assistance provider along with ongoing support to 

assist local teams in adapting the model to their unique local 

context. BJA’s national partners have developed a training 

manual for target sites that interested jurisdictions can use to 

implement DMI locally. 

During FY 2011, BJA’s national partners accomplished the 

following:

■ Held four DMI training sessions.

■ Responded to more than 100 TTA requests from the field.

■ Revised the appearance and content of the DMI public 

web site and maintained the secure site.
8 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

■ Published a lessons-learned document and an evaluation 

of the High Point DMI effort.

■ Revised the High Point video for distribution.

■ Provided presentations about DMI at meetings and through 

webinars.

Mortgage Fraud

Mortgage fraud played a large role in the economic down 

cycle starting in 2007. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 

estimates that mortgage fraud costs $4–$6 billion in losses 

annually. Foreclosure rates in some communities exceed 20 

percent, and many experts estimated that 2011 would see the 

peak of the foreclosure crisis. BJA awarded grants to state and 

local jurisdictions across the country in FY 2009 and again in 

FY 2010 to increase their ability to investigate and prosecute 

mortgage fraud.

In 2009, BJA convened a working group of representatives 

from various regions of the country in response to the 

accelerating growth of mortgage fraud and problem vacant 

properties. The goal of this initiative is to increase the capacity 

of state and local agencies to prevent, detect, investigate, 

and prosecute mortgage fraud cases in coordination with 

federal agencies. This work continued in 2010 when BJA 

developed a network of TTA providers—the National White 

Collar Crime Center (NW3C), NCPC, NDAA, and St. Petersburg 

College Center for Public Safety Innovation—to respond 

to state and local needs. In FY 2011, BJA’s TTA providers 

developed and piloted training curricula for prosecutors, 

investigators, and line officers on the subject of mortgage 

fraud investigation and vacant property crime in coordination 

with the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices throughout the country. 

BJA’s site-based grantees continued to use their resources 

to launch investigations and prosecutions of individuals 

suspected of engaging in mortgage fraud, and have 

reported several successes in this arena.

National Gang Center

The National Gang Center (NGC), jointly funded by BJA and 

the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 

(OJJDP), conducts research on street gangs, serves as a 

clearinghouse for individuals and agencies seeking gangrelated information, and provides TTA in gang prevention, 

intervention, suppression, and reentry. 

In FY 2011, NGC’s accomplishments included the following:

■ Continued to operate and maintain the NGC web site. 

■ Published three evaluations: Results From a Multisite 

Evaluation of the G.R.E.A.T. Program; Findings from the 

Evaluation of OJJDP’s Gang Reduction Program; and City 

Gangs.

■ Developed three new publications for online dissemination: 

U.S. Gang Problem Trends and Seriousness, 1996–2009; 

Highlights of the 2009 National Youth Gang Survey; and 

Gang Prevention: An Overview of Research and Programs.

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

■ Conducted five law enforcement trainings. Developed and 

administered pre- and post-test exams for participants. 

■ Developed and published a brochure describing the law 

enforcement curricula. The brochure is made available at 

all appropriate conferences sponsored by NGC, BJA, and 

OJJDP, and at other conferences when requested. 
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 9

■ Provided faculty to the National Alliance of Gang 

Investigators’ Associations’ World Gang Control Summit. 

■ Convened the 2011 National Gang Symposium June 7–10, 

2011 in Orlando, Florida. 

Intellectual Property Crime

The improved coordination of intellectual property (IP) 

rights enforcement efforts among federal, state, and local 

authorities is a high priority for DOJ. BJA’s Intellectual 

Property Theft Enforcement Program assists state and local 

law enforcement agencies and educational institutions in 

providing resources for IP crime prevention, response, and TTA 

efforts. 

In FY 2011, BJA made $4.92 million available to support these 

efforts, with 21 jurisdictions receiving funding to reimburse 

expenses related to performing criminal enforcement 

operations; educating the public to prevent, deter, and 

identify criminal violations of IP laws; establishing task forces to 

conduct investigations, forensic analyses, and prosecutions; 

and acquiring equipment to conduct investigations and 

forensic analysis of evidence. In addition, BJA awarded grants 

to NW3C, the National Association of Attorneys General, 

and NCPC to enhance TTA to state, local, and tribal law 

enforcement agencies to increase their capacity to respond 

to IP crime. BJA also engaged in extensive outreach efforts 

by initiating the production of an IP Theft Public Education 

Campaign and providing IP investigation and prosecution 

training.

The following accomplishments were achieved in FY 2011:

■ Offered 11 regional trainings to law enforcement agencies 

throughout the country.

■ Produced and finalized IP theft awareness campaign 

materials in partnership with collaborators at the federal, 

state, and local level as well as industry, nonprofit 

organizations, and media sectors.

■ Seized $63,926,540 in counterfeit assets, $10,601,256 in 

noncounterfeit assets, and $236,715 in cash through BJA’s 

IP grantees’ enforcement operations.

Leading by Legacy

The Leading by Legacy program, funded through the FY 2009 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and developed 

in partnership with IACP, is designed to meet leadership 

and management training needs for rural law enforcement 

agencies. The program provides onsite training in rural 

areas of the United States, webinars, CD–ROM training, and 

onsite technical assistance to small rural agencies. Onsite 

trainings are limited to 30 participants and designed to allow 

participants to become actively engaged in small group 

exercises and interact with the cadre of trainers.

Five trainings were held during FY 2011, and 145 individuals 

completed the training and returned to their communities 

with improved leadership and legacy-building skills. 

Partnerships developed with local agencies and law 

enforcement training facilities to cohost the training have 

helped reduce costs, and more than 100 persons are 

pending acceptance into additional trainings to be held 

in 2012. 

Rural Law Enforcement Training Initiative

The Rural Law Enforcement Training Initiative addresses the 

unique needs of rural law enforcement agencies. Working 
10 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

with Regional Community Policing Institutes across the 

United States, as well as other law enforcement agencies, 

the University of Tennessee’s Law Enforcement Innovation 

Center (UT–LEIC) has implemented a comprehensive 

training initiative covering a wide range of criminal justice 

topics and consisting of multiple training activities. Course 

offerings include Reducing Domestic Violence; DNA 

Evidence Identification, Collection and Preservation for Law 

Enforcement; Survival Spanish for Law Enforcement; Survival 

Spanish for Jail Facilities; Crime Scene Management; and 

Fundamentals of Cybercrime Investigation. In FY 2011, UT–LEIC 

delivered 51 classes to nearly 1,200 participants.

Volunteers in Police Service

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

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

campus, and tribal law enforcement to use volunteers. The 

VIPS Program serves as a resource for all law enforcement 

volunteer programs and efforts, and it offers print and 

multimedia resources and TTA to agencies interested in 

establishing or enhancing a law enforcement volunteer 

program. More than 2,200 local programs have registered, 

representing 250,000 volunteers from all 50 states, the District 

of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. 

Program accomplishments in FY 2011 include:

■ Releasing Volunteers in Police Service Add Value While 

Budgets Decrease. The publication is also available on the 

VIPS web site. 

■ Registering the 500th person for its Building Blocks of a Law 

Enforcement Volunteer Program e-learning course, and 

making substantial progress in the development of VIPS 

and Disaster Response, a second e-learning course. 

■ Inaugurating a monthly podcast series featuring news and 

information about the VIPS Program that was viewed more 

than 2,500 times. 

■ Releasing four new issues of the VIPS in Focus publication 

series. 

The foundation of this national initiative is the VIPS web site 

(www.policevolunteers.org), which has received nearly 

58 million hits since its inception. The web site serves as a 

gateway to information and resources for law enforcement 

agencies and citizens.

National Neighborhood Watch/

USAonWatch Program Initiative

Since 1972, the USAonWatch (UOW)/Neighborhood Watch 

Program—managed by the National Sheriffs’ Association 

(NSA)—has worked to unite law enforcement agencies, 

private organizations, and individual citizens in a nationwide 

effort to diminish crime and improve local communities. BJA 

has been a key supporter of the project since 2002, when 

USAonWatch.org was launched as the online outreach of the 

National Neighborhood Watch Program. 

Neighborhood Watch brings together community members 

and law enforcement at the local level to prevent crime 

and work toward local crime solutions while encouraging 

general public safety. The program starts community 

conversations and leads to valuable relationships that 

enable law enforcement and public safety to do their jobs 

more effectively. Overall, tasks for the national project are to 

provide information, training, materials, technical support, and 

outreach to local law enforcement agencies and citizens to 

support and expand local community prevention programs 

throughout America.
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 11

NSA accomplished the following during FY 2011:

■ Distributed 11 monthly UOW e-newsletters to approximately 

7,000 people.

■ Maintained the UOW web site (www.usaonwatch.org), 

which features a searchable library that includes nearly 

200 community/law enforcement-related publications. In 

FY 2011, UOW’s web site received more than 310,000 total 

page views. An additional 1,350 watch groups have been 

added to the database, which now has more than 23,000 

programs listed.

■ Developed a Facebook and Twitter presence to better 

reach out to citizens and law enforcement. Posts focus on 

DOJ and White House projects, program materials, tips, 

helpful resources, and program partners. 

■ Conducted 7 training sessions across the country, training 

more than 280 officers/deputies from 100 law enforcement 

agencies, which brought the total number of law 

enforcement personnel trained through this BJA project to 

more than 3,500, representing more than 1,900 agencies. 

■ With The Partnership® at Drugfree.org, created and 

released the Neighborhood Watch–PACT360 Module for 

the Neighborhood Watch Toolkit. The PACT360 Module 

content—which consists of Meth360®, Parents360, Latino360, 

and Padres360—was developed to address the specific 

needs of parents, parent/teacher organizations, and 

neighborhood watch groups.

■ Distributed 1,500 UOW Action Packs, 5,000 program 

brochures, 3,000 Neighborhood Watch Manuals, and 250 

Neighborhood Watch Toolkits. 

Celebrate Safe Communities

NCPC partners with BJA on Celebrate Safe Communities 

(CSC). CSC takes a local approach to crime prevention—

local people working with local law enforcement to 

address local issues. CSC was created in 2008 by NCPC in 

partnership with NSA to increase crime prevention capacity 

in local communities nationwide. Each year, CSC provides 

downloadable community education and engagement 

tools, TTA, and a kit of crime prevention publications and 

resources to local sites that register a public safety event. For 

law enforcement and other agencies struggling with cuts in 

crime prevention budgets nationally, CSC’s tools offer a costeffective way to engage the public in addressing specific 

local trends, such as home burglaries, or to increase crime 

prevention awareness in their communities. BJA has provided 

$1 million to support CSC.

Program accomplishments for FY 2011 include the following:

■ Overall, there has been a 73 percent increase in 

participation since CSC began. In 2011, 287 sites in 40 

states participated in CSC. Fifty-four percent of 2011 sites 

also participated in 2010.

■ CSC highlighted four themes that emerged from a 2010 

program evaluation for October’s Crime Prevention Month: 

home safety, crime reporting and community engagement, 

school and campus safety, and drug abuse prevention. 

Eight national organizations partnered with NCPC to 

provide web-based resources highlighting these themes.

■ More than 250 local crime prevention practitioners received 

TTA. 
12 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

■ The enhanced CSC web site (www.celebratesafe

communities.org) was launched, and since October 1, 

2009, more than 100,000 people have viewed and 

downloaded resources from the CSC web site. 

■ Twenty-two publications were developed and distributed to 

more than 50,000 partners. 

■ CSC received more than $1 million in donated media time. 

Campus Safety

Campus safety services vary greatly on the nation’s college 

and university campuses. Campus law enforcement agencies 

include full-service police departments (both armed and 

unarmed), private security operations, contractual services, 

and more. Campus police departments also vary greatly 

in how they relate to and share information with local and 

state public safety agencies. Working with organizations in 

the field such as the International Association of College Law 

Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA) as well as with federal 

partners such as the Office of Community Oriented Policing 

Services (COPS Office) and the FBI, BJA identifies gaps in 

training and resources and then addresses those needs.

Under this campus safety initiative, in FY 2011 Margolis Healy & 

Associates began Phase Two of its “Develop Evidence-Based, 

Modern Crime Prevention Strategies for Institutions of Higher 

Education” project by examining and identifying successful, 

evidence-based, and age-appropriate crime prevention 

programming suitable for institutions of higher education. 

Margolis Healy organized the research team; launched a 

web site and online forums for focus group participants; 

conducted a summit of diverse national stakeholders in 

campus public safety in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and 

conducted a second focus group of IACLEA campus public 

safety leaders at the IACLEA National Conference in Charlotte, 

North Carolina. 

Gang Resistance Education 

And Training Program

The Gang Resistance Education And Training (G.R.E.A.T.) 

Program is a school-based classroom curriculum taught by 

law enforcement officers. It is intended to immunize youth 

against delinquency, youth violence, and gang membership. 

Currently, 468 law enforcement agencies around the country 

teach the G.R.E.A.T. Program. 

Unlike most efforts to reduce gang problems, which are 

directed at active gang members and target high-risk youth, 

the G.R.E.A.T. Program is presented to various school-age 

populations to prevent students from engaging in some of the 

risk factors that lead to gang involvement. Uniformed officers 

teach students to set positive goals, resist negative pressures, 

resolve conflicts peacefully, and understand how gangs affect 

the quality of their lives. 

In FY 2011, the G.R.E.A.T. Program enabled BJA to train 385 

law enforcement professionals to teach the curriculum 

in elementary and middle schools. In addition, 110 law 

enforcement professionals were trained to facilitate the 

G.R.E.A.T. Families component. In FY 2011, a total of 221,088 

middle school students and 125,391 elementary school 

students in 46 states, the District of Columbia, and the 

territories of Guam and Puerto Rico completed the G.R.E.A.T. 

Program. Since the program’s inception in 1991, almost 11,000 

law enforcement officers and law enforcement professionals 

have been certified as G.R.E.A.T. instructors, and almost 

6 million students have graduated from the G.R.E.A.T. Program.
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 13

Statewide Automated Victim Information 

and Notification Program

Victims of crime have a great need for information about 

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

dates, and other information can reduce the risk of repeat 

incidents and help prevent further victimization. The Statewide 

Automated Victim Information and Notification (SAVIN) 

Program, administered by BJA, was created to assist states 

in building, implementing, and improving victim notification 

capacity. By providing registered victims with timely and 

accurate information about any important dates and 

developments relating to the criminal proceedings at issue 

in their case, SAVIN helps protect victims of crime from further 

victimization and ensures that their rights are secured.

During FY 2011, BJA worked collaboratively with its national 

partners to produce the following resources and services to 

the field:

■ In April 2011, BJA—in partnership with the National Criminal 

Justice Association (NCJA), Justice Solutions, and the 

IJIS Institute—held a SAVIN training workshop, attended 

by 96 SAVIN program managers, information technology 

professionals, victim advocates and survivors, and other 

criminal justice professionals. 

■ In April 2011, the SAVIN Online Community (www.

savinonline.org) was formally launched. This web site 

provides a peer-to-peer forum for SAVIN administrators to 

communicate, exchange ideas and solutions, and access 

program resources.

■ Technical assistance and peer-to-peer mentoring occurred 

in nine states, providing targeted assistance on topics such 

as strategic planning and sustainability. 

■ In collaboration with OVC, the SAVIN program conducted a 

national web forum addressing stalking. 

■ BJA, in partnership with the IJIS Institute, launched a new 

effort to create a national SAVIN Information Sharing 

Standard to assist with dissemination of victim information 

and notification and improve delivery of victim services. 

Missing Alzheimer’s Disease 

Patient Assistance Program

Law enforcement agencies expend countless hours annually 

searching for missing persons with Alzheimer’s disease, 

who, if not found quickly, are at high risk of serious injury 

or even death. In addition, law enforcement officers may 

not be trained or equipped to handle the special needs 

of those with Alzheimer’s disease once they are found. BJA 

partners with the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders 

Association, IACP, and Project Lifesaver, Inc. (PLI) to develop 

guidance and training programs that help educate law 

enforcement agencies and their officers about the special 

needs of persons with Alzheimer’s disease and related 

dementias and provide techniques and tools that officers can 

use when approaching and dealing with them.

FY 2011 accomplishments include the following: 

■ The Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association 

enrolled more than 9,000 new persons and 1,100 caregivers 

into the MedicAlert + Safe Return system and processed 

more than 8,000 renewals. They achieved a 98.8 percent 

successful return rate for those reported missing who were 

enrolled in the program. 

■ IACP developed a concepts and issues paper, training key, 

and model policy. It also promoted Alzheimer’s resources 
14 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

through articles and advertisements in its monthly The 

Police Chief magazine and conducted presentations 

and trainings at six State Associations of Chiefs of Police 

meetings and at IACP’s annual conference.

■ PLI approved and completed 52 applications from law 

enforcement agencies and public safety organizations for 

the tracking equipment and training provided by BJA grant 

funds. Grant funds also covered the distribution of more 

than 650 individual transmitter units to persons meeting 

the program criteria (i.e., those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s 

disease or other related dementia). PLI reported that 

participating agencies conducted more than 200 searches 

for individuals enrolled in the PLI program and, because of 

the technology, were able to successfully locate all of the 

missing persons within 30 minutes of the time they were 

reported missing.

Witness Intimidation

AEquitas’ Improving the Justice System Response to Witness 

Intimidation (Initiative on Witness Intimidation [IWI]) is a 

BJA-funded field-initiated project to improve the criminal 

justice system’s response to intimidation. The project seeks to 

develop, evaluate, and refine justice system practices that 

identify, prevent, and suppress all forms of intimidation to 

increase victim safety and offender accountability.

In FY 2011, IWI’s goals were to identify and partner with three 

pilot sites to conduct safety audits, focusing on an assessment 

of each community’s responses to witness intimidation. 

The FY 2011 program accomplishments include:

■ Identifying three pilot sites—Knoxville, Tennessee; Duluth, 

Minnesota; and San Diego, California—to receive training 

on the safety audit process, and initiating safety audit/data 

collection at each site. For each site, IWI will prepare a final 

report with the findings and recommendations of the safety 

audit and help to develop a strategy for implementing the 

recommendations. 

■ Beginning development of performance measures 

to evaluate the impact of each site’s effort to reduce 

intimidation.

■ Completing additional trainings on witness intimidation and 

responding to 147 requests for technical assistance.

Real Crimes in Virtual Worlds Training 

and Technical Assistance Program

The Real Crimes in Virtual Worlds Training and Technical 

Assistance Program helps the law enforcement and criminal 

justice community investigate and respond to crimes 

occurring in or facilitated by online games (such as Second 

Life or World of Warcraft) and gaming consoles (Xbox, 

Playstation, and Wii). Gaming platforms and virtual worlds are 

generally unmonitored by the law enforcement community, 

and recent trends indicate that crimes—including online 

enticement of minors and child pornography, identity theft, 

money laundering, and coordination of prostitution and gang 

activities—are increasingly prevalent in these environments. 

Many members of the law enforcement community charged 

with responding to these crimes are unaware that criminals 

are using these new technologies, and they lack the proper 

training to respond to reported incidents involving new 

technologies. 

In FY 2011, Drakontas, the program’s TTA provider, developed 

a unique in-person classroom and a web-based, distance 

learning training curriculum with support from Drexel 

University’s Criminal Justice Department. The team conducted 
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 15

10 1-day in-person trainings at sites across the country, 

training nearly 250 law enforcement professionals on crimes 

in virtual worlds. Further, two webinars were attended by 165 

people representing the practitioner, private industry, and 

academic communities. 
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 17

C H A P T E R 2 

HONORING AMERICA’S PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS

T

hroughout the country, public safety officers watch over 

neighborhoods and work to make communities safer. BJA 

respects these officers’ devotion and their willingness to 

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

BJA is honored to administer the following programs, which 

recognize the nation’s public safety heroes and their selfless 

dedication to their communities. More information on these 

initiatives can be found in the online annual report, available 

at www.bja.gov/AR.

Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program

The Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program provides 

death and education benefits to survivors of fallen law 

enforcement officers, firefighters, and other first responders, as 

well as disability benefits to officers catastrophically injured 

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

state, tribal, and federal public safety organizations; and 

national organizations.

As of September 30, 2011, BJA’s PSOB Office received 345 new 

death claims and 62 new disability claims. With the exception 

of the year in which death cases were filed for public safety 

officers killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, 

FY 2011 represents the second highest year for new death 

cases since the PSOB law was enacted in 1976.

Of the death claims filed in FY 2011, 91 of the cases have 

already been reviewed and determined; of these, 76 have 

been approved and benefits paid. Also in FY 2011, 294 

education claims were approved for funding to spouses and 

children of America’s fallen and catastrophically injured law 

enforcement officers, firefighters, and first responders to enable 

family members to pursue their dreams of higher education 

and obtain meaningful employment in the future. 

In FY 2011, the PSOB Office coordinated with the Officer Down 

Memorial Page, the Concerns of Police Survivors, and the 

National Fallen Firefighters Foundation to implement grants 

to conduct proactive outreach to public safety agencies 

nationwide to increase awareness about the PSOB death, 

disability, and education programs and provide effective 

technical assistance to the field when filing PSOB death 

claims. 

TYPE OF CLAIM CLAIMS FILED CLAIMS APPROVED

Death 345 201

Disability 62 25

Education 294 294

Looking back on 2011, the PSOB Office offered the following 

services: 

■ A call center that was open Mondays through Fridays from 

7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., so that individuals could connect 

with a “live voice” when they called.

■ PSOB Outreach Specialists who assisted with collecting all 

required basic documents to enable cases to move forward 

for review.
18 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

■ PSOB Benefits Specialists who reviewed ever-challenging 

and complex cases in accordance with the PSOB Act and 

its regulations.

Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor

Every day, public safety officers risk their lives to protect 

America’s citizens and communities. To honor that 

commitment, Congress passed the Public Safety Officer 

Medal of Valor Act of 2001, which created the Public Safety 

Officer Medal of Valor (MOV), the highest national award 

for valor by a public safety officer. BJA oversees the National 

Medal of Valor Office, which manages the MOV Review Board 

and the award process that culminates in a presentation 

ceremony presided over by the President or the Vice President 

and the Attorney General and is attended by local and 

national media, national public safety organizations, and 

other stakeholders. 

The major tasks accomplished in FY 2011 include holding 

two MOV Review Board meetings; continued outreach to the 

public safety community to inform them about the program 

and encourage their participation; opening the annual 

application period; receiving 163 applications from 30 states, 

leading to 11 recommendations for the MOV award being 

submitted to the Attorney General for his final approval; and 

initiating a plan with the Institute of Heraldry to modernize 

the MOV design to ensure that the award is reflective of its 

position as the highest national award for valor in the public 

safety field.

Law Enforcement Congressional 

Badge of Bravery Program

In 2008, Congress passed the Law Enforcement Congressional 

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

Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery and the State 

and Local Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery 

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

federal, state, and local law enforcement officers. The badges 

are awarded annually by the Attorney General and are 

presented by the recipients’ congressional representatives. 

BJA was tasked in 2009 with establishing the CBOB Office and 

enacting the program called upon by the act. 

The major tasks accomplished in FY 2011 include convening 

the first joint meeting of the two CBOB Review Boards 

(members were briefed on the program and voted to approve 

the medal designs, bylaws, and other critical operational 

procedures); receiving a total of 194 CBOB applications from 

29 states, 1 U.S. territory, and 1 foreign country; holding 2

separate Review Board meetings; holding a joint federal/

state and local review committee meeting (which deliberated 

on a group of applications involving both federal and local 

law enforcement team members); and finalizing the 21 

recommendations of the Review Boards and obtaining the 

Attorney General’s approval of the inaugural CBOB recipient 

class.
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 19

CHAPTER 3

SUPPORTING INNOVATION IN ADJUDICATION

P

rosecutors, judges, and court personnel are looking for 

fresh approaches to adjudicating offenders that will lower 

recidivism rates as well as clear cases and decrease 

court dockets. Crimes involving violent and nonviolent 

offenders require special efforts to ensure that these offenders 

are held accountable and that they are returned to the 

community with the help and supervision they need to avoid 

re-offending. BJA is committed to providing prosecutors, 

judges, and court personnel with the resources, training, 

and support they need to test new ideas. More information 

on these initiatives and success stories can be found in the 

online annual report, available at www.bja.gov/AR.

Problem-Solving Justice Training 

and Technical Assistance

The overall goal of the Problem-Solving Courts Training 

and Technical Assistance Project is to help judges, court 

administrators, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and other 

innovators around the country gain the knowledge and 

the confidence they need to plan, implement, sustain, and 

coordinate problem-solving courts, which accommodate 

specific needs and problems that are not adequately 

addressed in traditional courts (e.g., drug abuse and mental 

illness). Under this project, the Center for Court Innovation 

(CCI) provides a wide range of technical assistance services 

to promote the implementation of community-based 

criminal justice reform, focusing the energies of the justice 

system on achieving more meaningful outcomes for victims, 

communities, litigants, and defendants. 

The following list includes just a few of the project’s 

accomplishments in FY 2011:

■ Hosting nearly 600 community justice reformers for 

structured site visits to CCI’s problem-solving court projects 

in New York.

■ Convening the first-ever international conference of 

community courts in Dallas, Texas on October 19–20, 2010.

■ Building the capacity of three “mentor” community courts in 

Dallas, Texas; Hartford, Connecticut; and Seattle, Washington 

to serve as regional resources for jurisdictions seeking to 

improve their handling of low-level criminal cases. 

■ Supporting the planning, launch, and enhancement of 

community-based, problem-solving justice programs, 

including Newark Community Solutions in New Jersey, 

the Milliken Community Court in Colorado, and the 

“neighborhood court” diversion program in San Francisco, 

California. 

■ Developing four publications and a video designed to 

provide concrete tools to aid practitioners and spark reform 

efforts: Reentry Courts: Looking Ahead—A Conversation 

About Strategies for Offender Reintegration; Statewide 

Coordination of Problem-Solving Courts: A Snapshot of 

Five States; What is a Community Court? How the Model is 

Being Adapted Across the United States; Community Court: 
20 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

The Research Literature; and Testing New Ideas: Evidence, 

Innovation, and Community Courts (video).

■ Responding to more than 300 additional requests for 

technical assistance via e-mail, mail, and telephone. 

■ Hosting a roundtable discussion at which community 

justice practitioners from around the United States were 

invited to share ideas about their work.

Community Prosecution

BJA’s Innovations in Criminal Justice Summit & Community 

Prosecution Technical Assistance Initiative provides 

prosecutors with the skills they need to strengthen links 

between the criminal justice system and the community. 

Community prosecution encourages prosecutors’ offices to 

build partnerships with and define a role for the community in 

public safety. This initiative is administered by the Association 

of Prosecuting Attorneys (APA), whose goal in FY 2011 was to 

identify innovative cost-saving programs that are leading to a 

more efficient and effective justice system. APA accomplished 

this goal by hosting the Innovations in Criminal Justice 

Summit and assisting state and local jurisdictions with the 

implementation/replication of the 10 innovative initiatives 

highlighted at the summit. 

During FY 2011, APA’s accomplishments included: 

■ Hosting the Innovations in Criminal Justice Summit in 

Chicago, Illinois from September 28–30, 2011, which was 

attended by more than 140 registered participants. 

■ Drafting and disseminating Choosing Performance 

Indicators for Your Community Prosecution Initiative, a report 

that examines setting goals, objectives, and performance 

measures for prosecutors’ offices. 

■ Maintaining its web site (www.APAinc.org), which features 

searchable publications and community prosecution 

resources. APA also maintains a listserv to address technical 

assistance questions over the Internet. 

■ Drafting and disseminating two community prosecution 

monographs: Community Prosecution: A Decade into 

the 21st Century and A Framework for High Performance 

Prosecutorial Services. 

Southwest and Northern Border 

Prosecution Initiatives

The Southwest Border Prosecution Initiative (SWBPI) and the 

Northern Border Prosecution Initiative (NBPI) provide funds 

to eligible jurisdictions in the 4 Southwest border and 14 

Northern border states for qualifying federally initiated and 

referred criminal cases. The programs’ goal is to reimburse 

jurisdictions for the prosecution and pretrial detention costs 

of cases that the federal government declined and referred 

to the local or state jurisdiction. SWBPI and NBPI are different 

from many other BJA programs, as they are reimbursement 

programs for costs incurred by state and local jurisdictions, 

rather than grants.

In FY 2011, 44 SWBPI payments were made for a total of 

nearly $24.8 million, and 7 NBPI payments were made for a 

total of more than $2.2 million. The SWBPI and NBPI programs 

reimbursed the costs associated with 6,576 cases that were 

federally declined and referred to the local jurisdictions. 

Without this funding, the state and local jurisdictions would 

most likely be unable to prosecute these federal cases.

In FY 2012, BJA plans to continue its close partnership with 

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

enhance the guidance on this program.
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 21

Capital Case Litigation Initiative

Created in 2005 by BJA after the President’s State of the 

Union address, the Capital Case Litigation Initiative (CCLI) 

provides high-quality TTA on death penalty issues to attorneys 

and judges who litigate these cases. Capital case litigation 

consists of two trials (a guilt phase and a penalty phase) 

and is governed by unique evidentiary rules and processes. 

BJA recognizes that proper legal training is essential to help 

ensure reliable jury verdicts and minimize post-conviction 

litigation. In FY 2011, BJA made five state-based awards 

totaling approximately $1.06 million and three TTA awards 

totaling nearly $887,000.

During FY 2011, BJA’s national TTA partners produced the 

following deliverables:

■ The National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology and 

the Law held two 3-day trainings—one for defense attorneys 

(June 6–8, 2011 in Plano, Texas) and one for prosecutors 

(August 29–31, 2011 in Tampa, Florida). Both conferences 

focused on multiple topics in forensic science to expose the 

attendees to national experts in a variety of disciplines. 

■ The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers 

(NACDL) hired an expert capital defense consultant to help 

update and refine NACDL’s curriculum in accordance with 

the latest professional and training guidelines, including 

standards promulgated by the American Bar Association, 

the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, and other 

leading organizations. 

■ NDAA responded to 27 requests for technical assistance 

from prosecutors. These mainly took the form of requests 

for training materials; however, eight requests were for 

information on defense experts in capital cases.

Wrongful Conviction Review Program

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

Wrongful Conviction Review Program to provide grant funds 

to public and nonprofit entities that work to exonerate people 

who have been wrongfully convicted in cases of postconviction claims of innocence. The goals of this initiative 

are to (1) provide high-quality and efficient representation 

for defendants who may be factually innocent and 

wrongfully convicted; (2) alleviate burdens placed on the 

criminal justice system through costly and prolonged postconviction litigation; and (3) identify, whenever possible, 

the actual perpetrator of the crime. The program supports 

the expenditure of funds to evaluate and litigate claims 

of innocence and may be used to help defray the costs 

of forensic re-analysis, expert consultation and testimony, 

screening/evaluation, and litigation services, including hiring 

qualified attorneys. Through this program in FY 2011, BJA 

made 10 awards totaling more than $2.5 million. 

In addition to funding entities that work to exonerate people 

who have been wrongfully convicted, BJA provided grant 

funds to a national TTA provider, NACDL, to provide support 

and training to grantees and non-grantees. 

In FY 2011, NACDL accomplished the following:

■ Presented a national training event, Righting Wrongful 

Convictions: Challenging Flawed Forensics, in Cincinnati, 

Ohio on April 7, 2011. A total of 179 participants from 37 

states and the District of Columbia attended and received 

cutting-edge instruction on forensic evidence and postconviction litigation strategies. In 2011, 21 lawyers handling 

post-conviction cases received full travel scholarships and 2 

received partial scholarships, an increase over the 11 travel 

scholarships awarded the previous year. 
22 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

■ Lawyers not able to attend the national training event 

received a DVD and CD–ROM of the materials. Additional 

DVDs and CD–ROMs were produced to fulfill another 130 

requests. The materials are reaching defense lawyers who 

handle post-conviction cases across the country in all types 

of practice settings; 60 Innocence Network organizations 

received the materials.

Criminal Courts Technical 

Assistance Project

The Criminal Courts Technical Assistance Project (CCTAP) 

offers a wide range of free and cost-share services to criminal 

courts and related judicial system agencies. The goal of this 

initiative is to help criminal courts and related agencies at the 

state and local levels improve the capacity, efficiency, and 

quality of the judicial system’s response to increases in the 

volume and complexity of criminal caseloads, particularly 

those addressing violent crime and gang activity. Client 

agencies served by CCTAP include general and limited 

jurisdiction courts, indigent defense delivery agencies, 

prosecuting attorney offices, pretrial services and court 

services agencies, State Administrative Offices of the Courts, 

and general government agencies responsible for criminal 

justice system policy development. 

CCTAP supports the efforts of criminal courts to constructively 

respond to the fiscal crisis that has been affecting the 

available resources of both the court and the justice and 

other agencies upon which the court depends. In addition, 

the project will promote the adoption of proven and 

promising operational practices by criminal courts and 

justice agencies, as these practices relate to due process, 

efficiency, modern concepts of court and case management, 

interagency relations, and the image of the judicial system in 

the community.

During FY 2011, BJA’s national partner, American University 

(AU), completed the following:

■ Handled 41 assignments entailing requests for onsite 

services in 13 states plus the District of Columbia.

■ Assisted 8 State Administrative Offices of the Courts, 16 local 

courts, 2 state public defender agencies, 1 local public 

defender office, 1 county commission, and 3 national 

organizations.

■ Undertook a special initiative to provide state and local 

courts with technical assistance to develop caseflow 

management improvement programs designed to reduce 

case processing delays and promote more efficient use of 

judicial resources. 

According to AU’s evaluation and followup with client 

agencies receiving CCTAP services, client evaluation ratings 

continue to be 4.5 (out of 5.0) for each onsite assignment 

conducted during FY 2011. Followup with client agencies 

during the 3- to 6-month period following provision of 

technical assistance services indicates that client agencies 

have adopted and/or implemented approximately 80 

percent of the technical assistance recommendations 

submitted.

Court Communication Project

BJA launched a new national demonstration project 

that aims to test the impact that improved courtroom 

communication can have on defendant compliance and 

perceptions of fairness in a criminal court context. The goal 
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 23

of the project is to enhance perceptions of fairness and 

trust in the justice process by improving the oral, written, and 

nonverbal communication used by all of the major players in 

criminal courtrooms.

Research indicates that litigant perceptions of fairness play 

a key role in increasing compliance with court orders and 

improving public confidence in justice. Comprehensibility—

the degree to which court procedures and decisions 

are clearly understood and perceived as reasonable—is 

particularly important. Yet, for victims, litigants, and members 

of the public, the reaction to a trip to court is all too often one 

of confusion. Technical jargon, abbreviations, and acronyms 

are routinely employed by judges, attorneys, clerks, probation 

officers, and court officers alike. 

To combat the perception of incomprehensibility in the court 

system, CCI and the National Judicial College, in partnership 

with BJA, developed a curriculum with guidance from a 

multidisciplinary advisory group of judges, researchers, 

and linguistics and communications experts. BJA’s partner 

jurisdiction for pilot testing the curriculum is Milwaukee, 

Wisconsin, which will work with BJA and CCI to implement 

the training for judicial and nonjudicial criminal courtroom 

staff. After the training, court staff will employ the new 

communication strategies in their courtrooms while project 

researchers monitor any changes in defendant perceptions 

and/or compliance with court orders. 

Holistic Advocacy

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

Defense, a project of the Bronx Defenders. The center was 

created as a resource for public defender offices, individual 

advocates, policymakers, and other criminal justice 

stakeholders who seek information and guidance in adopting 

a more holistic model of public defense representation. 

Holistic defense is a client-centered and interdisciplinary 

model of public defense that combines aggressive legal 

advocacy with a broader recognition that, for most indigent 

people arrested and charged with a crime, the criminal 

case is only one of the many devastating consequences of 

criminal justice involvement. The key insight of holistic defense 

is that, to be truly effective advocates for clients, defenders 

must broaden the scope of their representation to address 

not only criminal representation but also related legal 

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

and advocacy in the client community. 

Accomplishments for FY 2011 included:

■ Releasing a request for proposals in January 2011 for 

applicants seeking to receive 8 months of intensive 

technical assistance in implementing holistic defense. 

Three sites were selected in March 2011.

■ Delivering a presentation on holistic defense at NCJA’s 

conference in August 2011 and at APA’s Innovations in 

Criminal Justice Summit in September 2011.

■ Designing and implementing an evaluation of the 

effectiveness of holistic defense as practiced by the Bronx 

Defenders, and drafting a preliminary report.

Animal Cruelty

In FY 2009, BJA awarded funds to APA, in partnership with 

the Animal Welfare Institute, to implement the National 

Animal Cruelty and Fighting Initiative for the Prevention 

and Reduction of Violent Crime. The goal of this initiative 

is to provide prosecutors and law enforcement with the 

training and resources necessary to raise awareness of the 
24 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

connection between animal abuse and domestic violence, 

children exposed to violence, elder abuse, and gangs, and 

to enhance prosecutors’ ability to successfully identify and 

prosecute animal cruelty and animal fighting cases. 

During FY 2011, APA’s accomplishments included: 

■ Hosting the 2nd National Conference on Prosecuting 

Animal Cruelty and Fighting Cases on October 27–29, 2010, 

attended by more than 80 registered participants. 

■ Hosting and moderating four 1-hour webinars (certified 

for continuing legal education credit) for 265 registrants 

and viewers who had downloaded the trainings. The 

topics included search warrants in animal cruelty cases, 

prosecuting cockfighting, veterinarian forensics, and 

prosecuting dogfighting. 

■ Maintaining www.APAinc.org, which features searchable 

publications and prosecution resources on animal cruelty 

and fighting. The web site also includes a listserv for 

technical assistance, Lex Canis (APA’s newsletter), and other 

training materials. 

■ Drafting, with George Mason University’s Center for 

Evidence-Based Crime Policy, Developing an EvidenceBase for the Understanding and Prevention of Dog Fighting 

Crimes. 
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 25

C H A P T E R 4 

COUNTERING TERRORISM AND ADVANCING 

INFORMATION SHARING AND TECHNOLOGY TO 

FIGHT CRIME AND PROTECT THE HOMELAND

B

JA continued its support of terrorism awareness training 

for law enforcement agencies and communities as well 

as its partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland 

Security (DHS) in support of the nation’s network of state 

and major urban area fusion centers. BJA also remained 

committed to information sharing, reflecting its support to 

improving the operation of the criminal justice system as a 

whole. The Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) 

Initiative (NSI) Program Management Office (PMO) created 

national standards, policies, and processes that enable law 

enforcement agencies to effectively and efficiently share 

information to help prevent terrorist attacks. Other programs 

discussed below also represent important components of 

justice information sharing: some relate to policy and legal 

issues, some to program/project management, and others 

to technical standards and software. Collectively, BJA hopes 

to support a body of work that, based on recommendations 

of the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global), 

will incrementally and steadily improve the use of information 

sharing and technology in the justice community to put 

the right information in the right hands at the right time. 

More information on these initiatives and success stories 

can be found in the online annual report, available at 

www.bja.gov/AR.

State and Local Anti-Terrorism 

Training and the Communities 

Against Terrorism Programs

The purpose of BJA’s State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training 

(SLATT®) Program is to provide law enforcement personnel 

with specialized pre-incident information training and the 

resources needed to combat terrorism and extremist criminal 

activities. Since the program’s inception, more than 111,800 

law enforcement professionals have participated in SLATT’s 

onsite training programs.

The SLATT Program delivers a comprehensive set of 

educational programs and tools to state, local, and tribal 

agencies, both onsite and via its web site (www.SLATT.org). 

Each course is delivered by certified subject-matter expert 

instructors and is specifically designed to meet the needs 

of the target audience—from the street-level officer to the 

executive. 

Additionally, the SLATT Train-the-Trainer Program leverages 

our nation’s limited law enforcement resources by providing 

trainers with a comprehensive anti-terrorism curriculum. 

Participants receive teaching aids, video resources, and 

student materials to use in their training. Since the inception of 

the Train-the-Trainer Program in 2003, more than 2,700 trainers, 
26 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

including approximately 320 FBI representatives, have trained 

more than 228,260 individuals using this curriculum. 

During FY 2011, the SLATT Program:

■ Delivered nearly 60 workshops upon request to more than 

5,500 law enforcement professionals. 

■ Distributed more than 80,500 counter-terrorism publications, 

CD–ROMs, and DVDs to law enforcement. 

■ Employed its subject-matter experts to address the 

increased threat from radicalized individuals and groups 

and from domestic extremist groups that target law 

enforcement. 

■ Commenced a review and restructuring of the 

Train-the-Trainer Program.

In FY 2011, SLATT also supported the Communities Against 

Terrorism (CAT) program, which offers law enforcement 

agencies a resource tool to engage members of the local 

community by providing industry-specific information on 

activities associated with the planning and preparation of a 

terrorist attack. 

During FY 2011, the CAT program:

■ Distributed nearly 13,000 CD–ROMs containing program 

materials to law enforcement agencies. 

■ Made program materials available on the SLATT web site 

(www.SLATT.org); more than 1,700 files were downloaded 

from the site. 

■ Distributed fliers and tutorials targeted to bus and train 

terminals.

■ Launched a robust Training Impact Assessment 

Methodology study. The program worked with a team of 

academicians and subject-matter experts to develop 

stronger, scientifically based measurements that objectively 

assess the effectiveness of SLATT’s training programs. The 

measurement tools include indepth pre- and post-testing 

qualitative surveys, as well as a 90-day impact assessment 

of the overall training and the individual blocks of 

instruction. Feedback about the SLATT Program thus 

far has been overwhelmingly positive.

Fusion Center Training and 

Technical Assistance

To facilitate the development of a national fusion center 

capability, BJA and DHS’s National Preparedness Directorate 

(NPD) partnered in 2007 to develop the Fusion Process 

Technical Assistance Program and Services. DHS and DOJ, 

through both BJA and Global, have partnered with several 

other agencies and organizations to provide additional TTA to 

fusion centers. This program has played a key role in helping 

fusion centers implement the Global Fusion Center Guidelines

and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s 

(ODNI’s) Information Sharing Environment Implementation 

Plan, as well as meet the capabilities identified in the Baseline 

Capabilities for State and Major Urban Area Fusion Centers

and critical operational capabilities. 

In FY 2011, the program delivered more than 30 services to 

fusion centers, including fusion process orientation technical 

assistance; fusion liaison officer program development 

and implementation; and training for executives in criminal 

intelligence and in protecting privacy, civil rights, and civil 

liberties. Staff also made 35 site visits, including onsite 

peer-to-peer privacy policy evaluations.
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 27

In addition, approximately 30 representatives from federal, 

state, and local agencies—including High Intensity Drug 

Trafficking Areas (HIDTAs), fusion centers, DHS, the White House 

Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), DOJ, and the 

FBI—convened to explore how best to position fusion centers 

and HIDTAs as uniquely valuable resources and partners for 

their customers and participating entities. 

On March 15–17, 2011 in Denver, Colorado, BJA, DHS, Global, 

the FBI, ODNI, the Program Manager for the Information 

Sharing Environment (PM–ISE), ATF, and the COPS Office 

sponsored the 2011 National Fusion Center Conference, 

which attracted more than 800 attendees. 

Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting 

Initiative Program Management Office

The NSI PMO initiated operations in March 2010 with the 

challenge of ensuring that regardless of where in the country 

suspicious activity is reported, these potential indicators of 

terrorist activity can be analyzed and compared with other 

SAR information nationwide. 

NSI has developed a comprehensive program that includes 

community and law enforcement outreach, standardized 

processes, training, a privacy framework, and enabling 

technology—all of which are essential for successful 

implementation of the initiative. The NSI PMO has continued 

working with key partners at the state, local, tribal, territorial, 

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

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

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

civil liberties are protected throughout the implementation 

and institutionalization of these processes.

Some of the highlights of the progress made by the NSI PMO 

in FY 2011 include the following:

■ Increased the number of NSI operational sites from 15 to 53. 

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

Officer Training DVD from 11,256 to 188,976—representing 

almost 25 percent of total line officers trained in the United 

States.

■ Delivered 27 SAR Analytic Trainings to fusion center analysts 

across the country.

■ Held a federal train-the-trainer session for the FBI and DHS.

■ Entered more than 16,000 SARs in the NSI Federated Search, 

with nearly 28,000 searches conducted.

Building Communities of Trust

The Building Communities of Trust (BCOT) initiative focuses 

on developing relationships of trust among law enforcement, 

fusion centers, and the communities they serve—particularly 

immigrant and minority communities—to help prevent crime 

and terrorist-related activities and keep communities safe. In 

FY 2011, NSI worked with local law enforcement agencies and 

state and major urban area fusion centers to hold several 

roundtables across the country. NSI also partnered with 

IACP and DHS’s Federal Emergency Management Agency 

to develop Building Communities of Trust: A Guidance for 

Community Leaders, a resource for community leaders 

that complements the previously published Guidance for 

Building Communities of Trust. The information for this updated 

resource was provided by community leaders who attended 

the roundtable events held in summer 2011. 

In FY 2011, BCOT initiative staff worked more closely with U.S. 

Attorneys to better coordinate community outreach efforts. 
28 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

BCOT was highlighted as a best practice in Empowering 

Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United 

States, the White House strategy that was released in August 

2011. This strategy outlines the President’s plan for how the 

federal government will support and help empower American 

communities and their local partners to prevent violent 

extremism.

Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative

DOJ’s Global contributed numerous recommendations to BJA 

to support DOJ’s information-sharing mission. Global (www.

it.ojp.gov/global) serves as the formal vehicle for local, state, 

and tribal justice entities to provide recommendations to 

the Attorney General promoting standards-based electronic 

information sharing and interoperability throughout the justice 

and public safety communities. 

Several hundred representatives from leading organizations 

within the justice community volunteered countless hours of 

support to DOJ through participation on the Global Advisory 

Committee (GAC) and Global’s five working groups—the 

Global Infrastructure/Standards Working Group (GISWG); 

Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council (CICC)/Global 

Intelligence Working Group (GIWG); Global Outreach Working 

Group; Global Privacy and Information Quality Working Group 

(GPIQWG); and Global Security Working Group (GSWG). 

In FY 2011, Global continued to support BJA’s efforts of 

developing national standards and promoting information 

sharing in the areas of privacy, intelligence, infrastructure, 

and security. BJA produced many valuable products 

and influenced many positive outcomes based on the 

recommendations made by Global members, GAC, and 

Global working groups. Some key examples are:

■ GISWG contributed significant recommendations 

supporting development of the Global Reference 

Architecture (GRA)—a technical framework based on 

service-oriented architecture standards attuned to the 

needs of the justice and public safety communities. 

As a result, detailed specifications were refined and/or 

developed to facilitate the sharing of fingerprints, warrants, 

terrorist screening center encounters, inmate release 

information, SARs, and other information.

■ BJA finalized two significant publications (the Global 

Privacy Resources booklet and An Introduction to Familial 

DNA Searching: Issues for Consideration) intended to help 

local, state, and tribal agencies protect individual privacy, 

civil liberties, and civil rights. This work was made possible 

through recommendations made by GPIQWG.

■ BJA continued to provide guidance on the safe and 

secure transmission of data between jurisdictions. This 

work is intended to promote agency comfort with sending 

data outside its sphere of direct control through tools that 

secure data protection and through policies that help 

ensure that shared information is not misused or handled 

improperly. Progress in this area was made possible through 

recommendations of GSWG.

■ GSWG continues to provide recommendations supporting 

BJA’s production and refinement of a reference library 

consisting of a comprehensive set of standards, guidelines, 

and specifications for technical implementers and 

policymakers that provides for a national federated identity 

and privilege management capability.

■ BJA addressed a multitude of issues relating to the 

collection, handling, and dissemination of criminal 

intelligence information, including the protection of privacy, 

civil rights, and civil liberties related to this information. This 
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 29

progress was made based on recommendations and 

support of CICC/GIWG, along with other local, state, tribal, 

and federal partners.

28 C.F.R. Part 23 Training and 

Technical Assistance Program

In FY 2011, BJA partnered with IIR to support the Criminal 

Intelligence Systems Operating Policies (28 C.F.R. Part 23) 

Training and Technical Assistance Program (https://www.iir.

com/Home/28CFR_Program). The program outlines privacy 

guidelines for law enforcement agencies that operate 

federally funded, multijurisdictional criminal intelligence 

systems. Understanding and conforming to these guidelines 

is critical to advancing information sharing across disciplines 

and jurisdictions. In addition to the 4-hour training that 

specifically covers the 28 C.F.R. Part 23 regulation, the 

program offers a 1-day training—Criminal Intelligence 

Sharing: Protecting Privacy, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties—

that addresses national information-sharing trends and the 

value of protecting the privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties of 

individuals.

During FY 2011, more than 6,000 law enforcement 

professionals were trained on 28 C.F.R. Part 23. Specifically, 

classroom-based training was delivered to more than 900 

law enforcement professionals, and more than 5,700 people 

completed the 28 C.F.R. Part 23 online training.

National Information Exchange Model

The National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) was 

launched in 2005 to bring together key stakeholders from 

federal, state, local, and tribal governments to develop 

and deploy a national model for information sharing and 

the organizational structure to govern it. In FY 2011, the 

NIEM National Training Event took place in Philadelphia, 

Pennsylvania on August 23–25, 2011. More than 500 registrants 

attended from 4 different countries, 38 states, and the District 

of Columbia. These registrants represented more than 15 

federal agencies, 78 private industry organizations, and 

numerous state and local agencies. 

FY 2011 saw the release of a new NIEM web site (www.

niem.gov) where users can learn about NIEM and connect 

and collaborate with experts and others in their respective 

domains. Users also can register for events or training, attend 

online trainings and webinars, access the latest versions 

of NIEM and tools for working with NIEM, and create NIEMconformant XML exchanges. 

In FY 2011, the global expansion and adoption of NIEM 

continued. Through efforts in several domain areas, both 

Canada and Mexico are looking at adopting NIEM. 

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

Netherlands to brief Europol law enforcement and law 

enforcement information technology partners in Europe 

on NIEM.

Domestically, NIEM continued to expand to new domains 

throughout the government. As a result of a recent Office 

of Management and Budget passback request, more than 

a dozen federal agencies are adopting NIEM. The three 

program sponsors—DOJ, DHS, and the U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services—participate in intergovernmental 

forums such as the Information Sharing Environment (ISE), the 

Federal CIO Council, and others. Through support of strategic 

partner organizations such as the National Association of 

State Chief Information Officers, NIEM is beginning to bridge 

information-sharing capabilities with other communities, 

including health, financial management, and transportation. 
30 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

National Motor Vehicle Title 

Information System

Vehicle theft and cloning have too often become lucrative 

illegal activities for organized criminals, with the profits often 

used to support other violent crime. In an effort to combat 

automobile fraud and theft, the National Motor Vehicle Title 

Information System (NMVTIS) (www.vehiclehistory.gov) was 

established and is overseen by BJA. BJA implements NMVTIS 

in partnership with the American Association of Motor Vehicle 

Administrators (AAMVA), which is the system operator. 

NMVTIS is an electronic system designed to assist states and 

law enforcement in deterring, investigating, and preventing 

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

system is intended to protect consumers from fraud and 

unsafe vehicles and to keep stolen vehicles from being resold.

Designed to prevent vehicle histories from being concealed 

from consumers, NMVTIS captures into one system specific 

data from state motor vehicle titling agencies, automobile 

recyclers, junk and salvage yards, and insurance carriers. It 

is the only publicly available system in the United States to 

which all of these parties are required under federal law to 

report on a regular basis. 

Consumers can obtain a NMVTIS Vehicle History Report 

to access critical nationwide total loss, odometer reading, 

brand history, title, and salvage information about a vehicle 

to make an informed car-buying decision. NMVTIS ensures 

that key information about a vehicle’s condition and history is 

available, accessible, and affordable to consumers. 

Program accomplishments during FY 2011 include the 

following:

■ The program reached a major milestone by facilitating the 

participation of all states and the District of Columbia.

■ The number of salvage or total loss records received 

increased to 38 million. 

■ AAMVA maintained 99.9 percent system availability. 

■ An enforcement strategy and process were developed 

to ensure that junk yards, salvage yards, and insurance 

carriers are reporting specific information to NMVTIS on 

a monthly basis, as required by the NMVTIS regulations. 

The enforcement strategy and process added more than 

100,000 previously unreported vehicles to NMVTIS. 

■ The NMVTIS Law Enforcement Search Tool was made 

available to law enforcement through Law Enforcement 

Online (LEO) hosted by the FBI at www.LEO.gov. Law 

enforcement access to NMVTIS data continues to be 

available through the Regional Information Sharing Systems.

The entire system has produced remarkable results in 

protecting consumers from fraud and unsafe vehicles, 

increasing the ability to identify cloned vehicles prior to 

title issuance, and improving theft and fraud investigative 

abilities for law enforcement. When fully implemented, the 

Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates that 

NMVTIS will save taxpayers $4–$11 billion each year. 

Regional Information Sharing 

Systems and RISSafe Program

The Regional Information Sharing Systems® (RISS) Program 

offers secure information sharing and communications 

capability, investigative support services, and technical 
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 31

assistance that directly support and positively affect our 

nation’s public safety mission. RISS consists of six regional 

centers and a national technology support center. The 

program serves thousands of local, state, federal, and 

tribal law enforcement and public safety agencies in all 

50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, Australia, 

Canada, England, and New Zealand. RISS’s services and 

programs ultimately affect nearly 1 million law enforcement 

officers, analysts, and public safety personnel who have 

the responsibility for protecting our nation from crime and 

terrorism.

In FY 2011, RISS developed 40,550 analytical products, 

opened 155 digital forensics cases, and answered 816 audio/

video enhancement requests to assist law enforcement. More 

than 4,600 pieces of equipment were loaned by the RISS 

centers. RISS sponsored or cosponsored 1,164 events that 

trained 68,064 criminal justice professionals. Over the past 3 

years, member agency cases that used RISS services resulted 

in 14,547 arrests and more than $85 million in narcotics, 

property, and currency seizures.

The RISS Secure Intranet (RISSNET) is a secure law 

enforcement cloud-computing platform that hosts and 

provides access to millions of pieces of data, offers 

bidirectional information sharing, connects disparate systems, 

and acts as the communications infrastructure for a number 

of critical resources and investigative tools. Currently, 86 

agency systems are connected or pending connection 

to RISSNET. Authorized users can access the RISS Criminal 

Intelligence Databases (RISSIntel), the RISSGang resources, 

the RISS Automated Trusted Information Exchange, and the 

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

as other critical resources and tools. More than 350 resources 

are available to authorized users via RISSNET; the owners of 

these resources rely on RISSNET for its proven and secure 

infrastructure.

RISSIntel enables members to inquire about and search for 

suspected criminal information. In FY 2011, RISSIntel contained 

more than 3.1 million intelligence records, and member 

agencies made more than 4 million inquiries in the RISSIntel 

databases. The RISSIntel user interface provides real-time, 

online federated search capabilities to 15 RISS partner system 

intelligence databases, including state systems and the 

California gang intelligence system (known as CalGang), 

and it enables RISSNET users to access partner systems with a 

single user account. 

RISSafe is the only comprehensive and nationwide 

deconfliction system that can be accessed by all law 

enforcement agencies on a 24/7, 365-day basis. RISSafe 

stores and maintains data on planned law enforcement 

events—such as undercover operations—with the goal of 

identifying and alerting agencies of potential conflicts that 

may affect law enforcement efforts. RISSafe was first deployed 

in 2008. Since its inception, more than 408,500 operations 

have been entered, resulting in more than 132,000 identified 

conflicts. 

National Criminal Intelligence 

Resource Center

The National Criminal Intelligence Resource Center (NCIRC), 

a partnership effort between BJA and IIR, provides criminal 

justice professionals with a multitude of resources for law 

enforcement intelligence operations. NCIRC provides a 

centralized location for TTA resources, including criminal 
32 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

intelligence standards, policies, guidelines, and 28 C.F.R. Part 

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

for implementing the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing 

Plan, privacy information relating to intelligence systems, 

information on NSI, a Criminal Intelligence Training Master 

Calendar, fusion center resources, and information on new 

resources and initiatives. 

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

public site provides criminal justice professionals with access 

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

law enforcement intelligence operations and practices. The 

secured site—accessible through RISSNETTM, the FBI’s LEO, 

and the Homeland Security Information Network–Intel—

provides additional law enforcement and homeland security 

resources, including policies, techniques, best practices, and 

lessons learned; TTA opportunities; resources for fusion centers 

via the DHS/DOJ Fusion Process Technical Assistance Program; 

and contact information for intelligence units, fusion centers, 

organizations, and associations.

During FY 2011, NCIRC accomplishments included the 

following:

■ The NCIRC web site continues to be one of the few 

resources that can be accessed by multiple secure-butunclassified networks. 

■ NCIRC continued to make additional resources available to 

all of its users and became the central access point for NSI 

and Global’s CICC.

■ The NCIRC secure site received 11,264 visits, 195,069 page 

views, 540,099 hits, and 52,785 downloads. The NCIRC 

nonsecure web site received 120,562 visits, 927,310 page 

views, 2,080,028 hits, and 40,553 downloads.

Public Safety Data Interoperability Program

BJA partners with the IJIS Institute and the Association of 

Public-Safety Communications Officials–International (APCO) 

to address several critical information-sharing needs for the 

public safety community in general and for first responders 

in particular. The Public Safety Data Interoperability Program 

is a collaborative effort among multiple public safety 

communities, including law enforcement, fire services, 

emergency medical services, and transportation. This project 

helps public safety professionals at all levels of government 

to explore, define, plan, and implement standards that will 

further data interoperability in this realm. 

Led by a steering committee composed of both government 

practitioners and private industry representatives, and 

supported by technical working teams and subject-matter 

experts, the project resulted in several key milestones in 

FY 2011:

■ Assembled the project committee for the initiative, which 

included representatives from emergency communications, 

law enforcement, fire services, emergency medical services, 

and industry.

■ Developed the Unified Computer-Aided Dispatch Functional 

Requirements (UCADFR) document, which is expected 

to be released in 2012. Drafted a strategy for UCADFR 

document maintenance and technical support for 

agencies implementing the recommendations. Partnered 

with the American National Standards Institute and APCO 

to formalize the UCADFR document as a fully fledged 

standard that will be recognized by the entire public safety 

community following release.
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 33

■ Upgraded the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol exchange 

standard to include fields that will provide full video 

attachments and metadata.

■ Conducted outreach at several major conferences/events, 

including the 2011 IACP Law Enforcement Information 

Management Conference, the APCO 2011 Conference, 

and the 2011 Virginia APCO/National Emergency Number 

Association Conference. Placed an article in RadioResource 

Media Group’s MissionCritical Communications.

Economic, Electronic, and High-Tech Crime

In FY 2011, NW3C partnered with BJA to offer 26 high-quality 

training courses that address cutting-edge technology and 

techniques in cybercrime, financial crime, and intelligence 

analysis, which were attended by more than 8,100 state, 

local, and tribal law enforcement officers. NW3C offers 14 

digital evidence/cybercrime/cyber security and hightech investigations courses, as well as training in vehicle 

identification number cloning and motor vehicle title fraud 

investigations. NW3C also published a series of publicly 

available papers addressing different aspects of economic 

and high-tech crime, including cyberbullying, embezzlement, 

electronic pickpocketing, health care reform scams, and 

overviews of trademark, trade secret, and patent laws. Further, 

NW3C supports IP crime and mortgage fraud prevention 

efforts (see Chapter 1). 

Another facet of BJA’s electronic crime strategy is the Internet 

Crime Complaint Center (IC3®), an alliance between BJA, 

NW3C, and the FBI that provides a convenient and easy way 

for citizens to report Internet crime. IC3 (www.ic3.gov) uses 

a referral mechanism that quickly analyzes and processes 

complaints for agency enforcement and investigation. 

During the reporting period, IC3 received 310,889 complaints. 

Working with law enforcement, IC3 analysts created 1,142 

cases, which contained a combined 31,836 complaints.

NW3C has created a web-based mechanism, known as the 

Internet Complaint Search and Investigation System (ICSIS), 

which helps state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies 

to remotely access all complaints in the system, as well as 

search, sort, and combine the complaints into cases and 

collaborate with other agencies. NW3C delivers an ICSIS 

training course to help law enforcement personnel better 

use this system. NW3C also provides agencies with technical 

assistance in the form of case analysis, database information 

services, and supplemental case funding. In the past year, 

NW3C created analytical products for law enforcement 

agencies that resulted in a total of 2,132 months in criminal 

sentences imposed and more than $23 million in restitution. 

Justice Information Exchange Model

The Justice Information Exchange Model (JIEM) is an 

important tool for those seeking to develop informationsharing capacity. Created by SEARCH (the National 

Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics) in 

partnership with BJA, JIEM greatly simplifies the process of 

translating business and information exchange requirements 

into reusable models and exchange specifications that 

greatly expedite implementation and enable reusability.

During the past year, JIEM has been used for two notable 

activities. First, JIEM was employed to develop reference 

Service Specification Packages (SSPs) in support of DOJ’s 

GRA and BJA’s Services Task Team (STT). The STT is charged 

with enabling rapid adoption of GRA through development 

of reference SSPs that focus on the more significant and 

recurring information-sharing challenges in criminal justice, 
34 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

thereby providing a foundation for practical implementers to 

adapt in local settings. The use of JIEM to develop these SSPs 

improved the speed, completeness, and accuracy of the SSPs 

and ensured that they fully accounted for the business needs 

of potential users.

Second, JIEM has been used to develop specific GRA 

service specifications, such as those used in the Warrants 

and Disposition Management Improvement project being 

managed by the National Center for State Courts in 

collaboration with SEARCH as well as SEARCH’s public safety 

subscription/notification capability for the arrest of offenders 

in Hawaii. Recent improvements in JIEM—the ability to 

produce NIEM-conformant Information Exchange Package 

Documents and SSPs—enable the tool to provide a single 

mechanism to address most of the steps in the information 

exchange development process, including requirements 

gathering, mapping and modeling, building and validation, 

and assembly of the exchange packages.

Cross-Boundary Information Sharing 

Competitive Grant Program

In FY 2010, BJA used a competitive grant process to identify 

and support innovative cross-boundary information-sharing 

implementation projects. These projects employ emerging 

and established justice information-sharing practices and 

leverage BJA’s accomplishments made possible through 

Global’s recommendations and support. Priority was given 

to projects that develop and implement strategies that 

leverage promising regional or national information-sharing 

solutions and improve information-sharing capacity, agency 

coordination, and operational practices across multiple 

jurisdictions and lines of business. 

Because of the time needed for grant approval, project 

activities for this FY 2010 funding program began in FY 2011. 

A brief summary of each cross-boundary award recipient is 

included below:

■ The Hawaii Integrated Justice Information Sharing Program 

is developing a federated search capability to query its 

statewide criminal history repository and the state judiciary’s 

case management system. 

■ The CONNECT South Dakota project is developing a secure 

web-based master search engine that will link data from 

record management systems, computer-aided dispatch 

systems, and criminal history databases via a single access 

point for law enforcement regardless of jurisdiction. It will 

also facilitate sharing of criminal justice data through the 

National Data Exchange (N–DEx) operated by the FBI.

■ The Maryland State Police, in partnership with the University 

of Maryland Capital Wireless Information Network (known 

as CapWIN) program, is seeking to implement a foundation 

for an extensible, standards-based set of “intelligent” 

information exchanges for statewide use within and across 

the criminal justice, public safety, homeland security, and 

transportation domains in support of core law enforcement 

activities (ticketing, queries, alerts, etc.).

■ The Colorado Division of Criminal Justice, Colorado 

Department of Public Safety, in partnership with the 

Colorado Children and Youth Information Sharing 

Collaboration and the Center for Network Development, is 

working to provide access to timely and reliable information 

to determine and coordinate appropriate services for 

children, youth, and families across youth-serving agencies. 

■ The California Judicial Branch is seeking to replace 75 

legacy court systems with a single system—the California 
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 35

Courts Case Management System—using data-sharing 

services based on GRA and 63 NIEM services. 

■ The Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and 

Criminal Justice is seeking to build on the successful 

CONNECT Project based on law enforcement portal-sharing 

technologies by enhancing the CONNECT privacy and 

security architecture, enhancing usability, packaging the 

enhanced capability, and deploying the application across 

five states (i.e., expanding the CONNECT Project to include 

a fifth state). 

■ The Dallas County (Texas) Department of Information 

Technology is expanding on a successful informationsharing pilot in the county by completing the rollout of 

incident information sharing to remaining Dallas County 

police agencies, thereby expanding both the governance 

model in place and the deployment of NIEM. 

■ The Iowa Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning, 

Iowa Department of Human Rights, is supporting the 

exchange of incident information among Iowa law 

enforcement agencies in real time, implementing the 

FBI’s N–DEx program statewide, and using the existing 

architecture as the backbone of the exchange. The 

objectives are to leverage the incident-reporting function 

in the state’s Traffic and Criminal Software (known as TraCS) 

and law enforcement agencies’ records management 

systems to participate in N–DEx.
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 37

C H A P T E R 5 

MANAGING OFFENDERS 

S

upervising offenders in the community and preparing 

them to return to their neighborhoods are critical to 

protecting public safety. An effective approach is the 

use of reentry programs, which provide a broad range of 

services for offenders while ensuring their accountability. 

BJA supports numerous reentry initiatives that focus on 

partnering with correctional, law enforcement, and social 

service agencies, as well as faith-based and community 

organizations. In addition, BJA supports programs that work to 

reduce recidivism and promote coordinated efforts among 

reentry stakeholders, reduce corrections and related criminal 

justice spending, promote information sharing, and reimburse 

jurisdictions for expenses they incur when they incarcerate 

undocumented criminal aliens. More information on these 

initiatives and success stories can be found in the online 

annual report, available at www.bja.gov/AR.

Second Chance Act Programs 

The Second Chance Act of 2007 provides a comprehensive 

response to the increasing number of incarcerated adults 

and juveniles who are released from prison, jail, and juvenile 

residential facilities and returning home to communities. 

Currently, more than 2.3 million individuals are serving time 

in our federal and state prisons, and millions of people cycle 

through local jails every year. Approximately 94,000 youth 

are in residential confinement within the juvenile justice 

system on any given day. Ninety-five percent of all offenders 

incarcerated today will eventually be released and will return 

to communities. The Second Chance Act will help ensure that 

the transition individuals make from prisons, jails, or juvenile 

facilities to the community is successful and that it promotes 

public safety. 

In FY 2011, BJA and OJJDP awarded approximately $49 million 

in competitive grants under the Second Chance Act. More 

than 120 awards were made to grantees that included both 

local and state governments and nonprofit organizations. 

The selection process was highly competitive, and more 

than 1,000 applications were received, 760 of which were 

specifically for BJA-funded Second Chance Act programs. 

BJA solicited applications under the following areas: 

■ Adult Offender Program for Planning and Demonstration 

Projects 

■ Adult Mentoring Grants to Nonprofit Organizations

■ State, Local, and Tribal Reentry Courts 

■ Family-Based Offender Substance Abuse Treatment Program

■ Technology Careers Training Demonstration Projects for 

Incarcerated Adults and Juveniles 

■ Reentry Program for Adult Offenders with Co-Occurring 

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders 

■ Honest Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) 

Demonstration Field Experiment

■ Demonstration Field Experiment: Fostering Desistance 

through Effective Supervision 
38 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

In FY 2011, BJA made 99 competitive awards, totaling more 

than $41 million. Also, in FY 2011, FY 2009 and FY 2010 

grantees reported the following:

■ Adult Demonstration and Mentoring grantees admitted 

nearly 16,000 participants to pre- or post-release programs 

(8,495 and 7,416, respectively).

■ For participants of FY 2009-funded demonstration programs, 

1,605 received employment services, 90 percent obtained 

some form of employment, and 25 percent were employed 

for more than 6 months.

■ Through FY 2009-funded mentoring programs, 1,609 

mentors were successfully trained; through FY 2010 

programs, 1,099 mentors were trained.

National Reentry Resource Center

In FY 2009, BJA competitively awarded a cooperative 

agreement to the Council of State Governments Justice 

Center to launch the National Reentry Resource Center 

(NRRC), a first-of-its-kind technical assistance center 

dedicated to advancing the reentry field through the 

transfer and dissemination of knowledge that promotes 

the application of evidence-based best practices. 

Established by the Second Chance Act, NRRC (www.

nationalreentryresourcecenter.org) serves as the TTA provider 

for the Office of Justice Programs’ (OJP’s) Second Chance 

Act site-based grantees. It also provides distance learning, TTA, 

and other reentry resources to the field that includes states, 

tribes, territories, local governments, service providers, nonprofit 

organizations, corrections institutions, and ex-offenders 

returning home. 

NRRC’s objectives are to (1) provide a one-stop, interactive 

source of current, user-friendly reentry information; (2) identify, 

document, and promote evidence-based practices; 

(3) deliver individualized, targeted technical assistance to 

the Second Chance Act grantees; and (4) advance 

the reentry field through training, distance learning, and 

knowledge development. 

During FY 2011, NRRC accomplished and completed the 

following activities:

■ Helped states develop comprehensive strategic plans using 

evidence-based practices to improve offender outcomes 

and support the use of public resources. 

■ Assisted in improving and strengthening connections 

between community-based grantees and their corrections 

and community supervision partners. 

■ Hosted the Making the Most of Second Chances 

conference, the second national grantee conference, in 

February 2011.

■ Assisted in the development of new grantee performance 

measures that are better aligned with grantees’ abilities to 

collect and report data. 

■ Developed a set of tools to help reentry and workforce 

development policymakers and practitioners identify and 

invest in reentry and employment services and strategies 

that are likely to improve employment outcomes and 

reduce recidivism.

■ Launched the Lessons Learned and Ask the Experts 

conference call series.
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 39

State and Local Justice Reinvestment

In the past 20 years, state and local spending on corrections 

has grown at a rate faster than nearly any other budget item. 

Yet despite increasing corrections expenditures, recidivism 

rates remain high, with half of all persons released from prison 

returning within 3 years. Furthermore, every state has high-risk 

communities to which most formerly incarcerated individuals 

return, placing significant burdens on local jurisdictions that 

are already experiencing financial hardship. 

“Justice reinvestment” represents a data-driven approach to 

reducing spending on corrections and reinvesting identified 

savings in evidence-based strategies designed to increase 

public safety and hold offenders accountable. States and 

localities engaging in justice reinvestment collect and 

analyze data on the drivers of criminal justice populations 

and costs, identify and implement changes that address 

costs and achieve better outcomes, and measure both the 

fiscal and public safety impacts of those changes.

JUSTICE REINVESTMENT INITIATIVE ACTIVE SITES

AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

Phase 1 State Phase 2 State Phase 1 Locality Phase 2 Locality

LEGEND

Santa Cruz County

Denver City 

and County Alachua County

Anderson County

Mecklenburg County

Charlottesville and 

Albemarle County

New York City

Los Angeles County

Allegheny

County

Johnson

County

Milwaukee

County

Grant

County

Yamhill County

San Francisco

City and County
40 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

Launched in October 2010, the Justice Reinvestment Initiative 

(JRI) is supported by BJA in coordination with the Pew Center 

on the States (Pew), an independent nonprofit organization. 

Prior to the launching of JRI, BJA and Pew separately 

supported justice reinvestment and similar approaches to 

corrections and sentencing issues. With JRI in place, BJA and 

Pew have developed a process for more closely aligning their 

efforts that enables participating states to receive support 

through one or both organizations. Although the funding and 

programmatic efforts of BJA and Pew remain independent, 

the organizations are closely coordinating efforts to better 

leverage resources in support of jurisdictions. 

The purpose of JRI is to provide technical assistance 

and financial support to states, counties, cities, and tribal 

authorities that would like to engage in justice reinvestment 

as either a Phase I or Phase II Site:

■ Phase I Sites: These sites receive intensive, onsite technical 

assistance to start the justice reinvestment process, 

which involves engaging leaders and key stakeholders, 

conducting a comprehensive analysis of criminal justice 

data, and identifying strategies to reduce costs and 

increase public safety. 

■ Phase II Sites: These sites receive targeted technical 

assistance and are eligible for “seed” funding to support the 

implementation of justice reinvestment strategies. Sites that 

apply to be Phase II sites must have already completed all 

of the steps associated with Phase I. 

By the end of FY 2011, 13 states had received Phase I 

technical assistance, and 6 states advanced to Phase II. In 

addition, 14 localities (cities and counties) received technical 

assistance under Phase I. 

Research-Based Smarter Sentencing 

to Reduce Recidivism

In FY 2008, the Justice Management Institute (JMI) received 

BJA funding to administer the Research-Based Smarter 

Sentencing to Reduce Recidivism initiative. The movement 

toward research-based practices in probation, parole, and 

the judiciary has yielded significant results demonstrating 

effective strategies for addressing offender needs and 

reducing the risk of re-offense. Unfortunately, much of the 

research is in academic texts or professional journals, which 

many justice practitioners may be unlikely to review on a 

regular basis. Practitioners also may be uncertain of how to 

translate the research into practice. To foster research-based 

smarter sentencing at the state and local level, however, 

it is important that the research be accessible to justice 

professionals. 

To address the public safety challenges posed by offenders 

returning to communities from jail or prison, criminal justice 

policymakers and practitioners in many jurisdictions are 

working to enhance offender reentry efforts and reduce 

recidivism by establishing multidisciplinary teams to inform 

sentencing decisions. The premise of this collaborative 

approach—which involves prosecutors, judges, public 

defenders, and community corrections—is that sentencing 

based on strategies that demonstrate effectiveness in 

addressing offender needs will facilitate offender rehabilitation 

and reentry efforts. This multidisciplinary strategy enables 

justice system officials to share knowledge and work 

collaboratively to achieve mutual goals. 

In FY 2011, JMI accomplished the following:

■ Conducted three Research-Based Smarter Sentencing to 

Reduce Recidivism trainings.
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 41

■ Produced two videos from the trainings in a series titled “The 

Practitioner’s Perspective,” in which interviewees discuss 

the importance of evidence-based practices and smarter 

sentencing.

■ Delivered technical assistance to two jurisdictions: the 13th 

Judicial District in Arkansas and the State of Minnesota.

■ Began development of an online, self-guided “basics” 

course and an advanced implementation workshop. 

■ Conducted a survey of training outcomes and 

implementation activities. 

■ Provided additional indepth training for all personnel 

involved in the Smarter Sentencing to Reduce Recidivism 

initiative for nine jurisdictions that requested assistance.

Corrections Information Sharing Program

The efforts of criminal justice system practitioners to promote 

public safety depend on their ability to share offender 

information across agency and discipline boundaries. This 

is particularly true in the context of offender reentry. The 

purpose of BJA’s Corrections Information Sharing Program 

is to leverage technology to enhance information sharing 

between the stakeholders—corrections and community 

corrections staff, community-based service providers, law 

enforcement officers, and others—who share responsibility for 

managing the transition of offenders from jail or prison back 

to the community in state and local jurisdictions across the 

nation. 

In order to address the public safety challenges posed by 

offenders returning to communities from jail or prison, criminal 

justice policymakers and practitioners in many jurisdictions 

are working to enhance offender reentry by building crosssystem partnerships and improving their offender informationsharing capabilities. These efforts help to ensure that these 

stakeholders have access to offender information that 

supports proactive, informed decisionmaking about offender 

management. 

Established in FY 2010, BJA originally selected three agencies 

to serve as pilot sites: the Maryland Department of Public 

Safety and Correctional Services, Rhode Island Department 

of Corrections, and Hampden County Sheriff’s Department 

(Massachusetts).In FY 2011, these three pilot sites continued 

to receive BJA technical assistance from a support team that 

included a unique combination of offender management, 

reentry, and technical subject-matter experts from the 

American Probation and Parole Association (APPA), the 

Association of State Correctional Administrators, SEARCH, 

and the IJIS Institute. Recognizing that collaboration across 

agencies and disciplines is an essential element of a 

successful approach to reentry, the work of each pilot site is 

being directed by a “local” collaborative policy team. 

Other program accomplishments in FY 2011 included 

creating a strategy to measure the outcomes of this initiative 

and implementing comprehensive project plans tailored to 

each pilot site’s information-sharing needs and challenges 

related to offender reentry. 

Resource Center for the 

Elimination of Prison Rape

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) of 2003 requires the 

Attorney General to promulgate regulations that adopt 

national standards for the detection, prevention, reduction, 

and punishment of prison rape. PREA established the National 
42 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

Prison Rape Elimination Commission (NPREC) to conduct a 

comprehensive legal and factual study of the impacts of 

prison rape in the United States and to recommend national 

standards to the Attorney General and Secretary of Health 

and Human Services. NPREC recommended four sets of 

national standards for eliminating prison rape and other 

forms of sexual abuse—one for each of the following four 

confinement settings: (1) adult prisons and jails, (2) juvenile 

facilities, (3) community corrections facilities, and (4) lockups 

(i.e., temporary holding facilities).

Funded in FY 2010, the National Council on Crime and 

Delinquency was awarded a $13 million cooperative 

agreement by BJA to establish the Resource Center for the 

Elimination of Prison Rape (PREA Resource Center). The PREA 

Resource Center provides TTA and other resources to help 

the field better identify and disseminate best and promising 

practices, assist correctional agencies in the implementation 

of the Attorney General’s national PREA standards, and 

further the overall goal of PREA for establishing zero-tolerance 

confinement cultures with respect to sexual assault and staff 

sexual misconduct.

The center embodies a unique collaborative partnership 

with a wide array of national stakeholder organizations 

representing the federal, state, local, and tribal corrections 

field, including adult prisons and jails, juvenile detention, 

community corrections, tribal facilities, lockups, and victim 

advocacy groups. In addition, federal partner agencies—

including BJA, OJJDP, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), 

OVC, the Office on Violence Against Women, and the National 

Institute of Corrections (NIC)—will collaborate to ensure that 

adult and juvenile PREA efforts are supported and that victim 

services are incorporated into comprehensive responses. 

During FY 2011, the PREA Resource Center accomplished the 

following:

■ Convened the PREA Resource Center kickoff meeting and 

established primary strategies for TTA delivery.

■ Began development of a web site and resource library. 

■ Convened discussions to determine the PREA Resource 

Center’s role in promoting research.

■ Continued outreach to other professional organizations for 

additional partnerships.

■ Began planning and preparation for the State PREA 

Coordinator Meeting that will represent adult prisons and 

juvenile facilities.

The PREA Resource Center will expand upon its activities 

moving forward and in anticipation of the final PREA 

Standards.

PREA Demonstration Projects

In FY 2011, BJA released its first Prison Rape Elimination Act: 

Demonstration Projects to Establish “Zero Tolerance” Cultures 

for Sexual Assault Program Solicitation. This site-based 

program provides funding to state and local governments 

and federally recognized tribes for demonstration projects 

within confinement settings, including adult prisons and 

jails, juvenile facilities, community corrections facilities, law 

enforcement lockups and other temporary holding facilities, 

and tribal detention facilities. Successful applicants must have 

successfully communicated a comprehensive approach to 

the prevention, detection, and response to the incidence of 

sexual abuse, and they must have clearly prioritized gaps not 

yet addressed, either programmatically or through changes 
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 43

in policy and procedures, as they relate to implementation of 

the PREA standards. The PREA Resource Center will provide TTA 

to applicants funded through this program.

During FY 2011, BJA awarded nearly $9.3 million to 18 eligible 

applicants.

National Parole Resource Center

The National Parole Resource Center (NPRC), a partnership 

of the Center for Effective Public Policy and the Association 

of Paroling Authorities International, in collaboration with 

BJA and NIC, is a training, technical assistance, and 

information resource for state paroling authority members. 

Prior to the inception of the center, there were no resources 

tailored specifically to the challenges faced by this group of 

decisionmakers—that is, a group of fewer than 200 individuals 

nationwide who are responsible for managing the prison 

release of more than 125,000 offenders, setting conditions 

of release and responding to offender violations, and 

handling more than 300,000 additional offenders released 

on mandatory parole each year. NPRC aims to communicate 

the lessons emerging from the research on recidivism 

reduction by tailoring that information into targeted technical 

assistance, training, and information resources for these 

decisionmakers. 

During FY 2011, NPRC completed the following:

■ Worked closely with four selected NPRC learning sites—in 

Connecticut, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota—

to assist them in assessing and improving their practices 

by providing intensive onsite technical assistance and 

supporting a strategic planning session at each site. 

■ Responded to a wide range of paroling authority requests 

for information and assistance, including requests from 

paroling authorities in Alaska, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, 

Washington, and Wyoming. 

■ Developed and delivered a curriculum on collaboration 

between paroling authorities and their key criminal justice 

partners.

■ Began work on a “self-assessment” toolkit for paroling 

authorities.

■ Conducted trainings at prominent national meetings 

involving parole.

■ Maintained, enhanced, and expanded the NPRC web site 

(http://nationalparoleresourcecenter.org), which provides 

specialized information for paroling authorities. The site 

received more than 53,000 hits in FY 2011.

Risk, Needs, and Responsivity 

Simulation Tool

BJA has provided funding for George Mason University 

(GMU) and the University of Massachusetts–Lowell (UML) to 

develop and implement the Risk, Needs, and Responsivity 

(RNR) Simulation Tool. This tool is being developed to help 

federal, state, and local jurisdictions define the types and 

nature of correctional options available in their jurisdictions. It 

will also help jurisdictions assess their current system, identify 

gaps, and prioritize both services and controls (drug testing, 

electronic monitoring, etc.) based on the desired outcome of 

reducing recidivism.

The RNR Simulation Tool is web-based, allowing jurisdictions 

to modify the parameters of the model based on the unique 

features of their jurisdictions. It will also complement efforts 

to advance the use of evidence-based practices by helping 

jurisdictions strategically review their existing correctional 
44 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

and treatment services and then make choices based on 

maximizing different outcomes (e.g., cost reduction, offender 

change, and public safety) in their jurisdictions.

The RNR team has produced and vetted an “underlying 

assumptions” document for the RNR tool. They are also in the 

process of completing meta-analyses on: 

■ Recidivism as a function of age, ethnicity, gender, offense 

type, or criminogenic needs. 

■ The use of risk assessment instruments and their relationship 

to recidivism. 

■ How offenders change and the impact of those changes 

on criminogenic needs and on reducing recidivism. 

■ Different programming options that affect changes in 

criminogenic needs. 

In addition, the GMU/UML team is in the process of 

developing a web site that will enable frontline individuals 

to use the RNR Simulation Tool to determine the type of 

programming and services that are likely to reduce recidivism. 

The RNR Simulation Tool will be piloted in 2012. 

State Criminal Alien Assistance Program

BJA’s State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) 

provides federal payments to states and localities that 

incurred costs for correctional officer salaries as a 

consequence of incarcerating undocumented criminal 

aliens who have at least one felony or two misdemeanor 

convictions for violations of state or local law for which they 

were incarcerated for at least 4 consecutive days during 

the reporting period. BJA works with DHS to verify the inmate 

records submitted by the grantees and with BJS to refine the 

data received from DHS. State and local governments benefit 

from this program, as it reimburses them for the costs incurred 

when detaining undocumented criminal aliens in their jails. 

In FY 2011, BJA received program funding totaling 

approximately $272 million for SCAAP and made 929 SCAAP 

payments to various states and localities. This is critical 

funding to jurisdictions that depend on SCAAP dollars to 

meet their corrections needs. Several jurisdictions receiving 

SCAAP funds have submitted numerous examples of how 

funding enhances their ability to effectively manage their 

inmate populations and how SCAAP maintains or creates 

jobs in jurisdictions that might have otherwise removed officer 

positions due to budget cuts. 

Discover Corrections

BJA is addressing workforce development issues in corrections 

by providing funds to APPA to develop and implement the 

Discover Corrections web site (www.discovercorrections.

com). This project is a collaborative effort overseen by a core 

project team of major corrections stakeholders, including 

APPA, the American Correctional Association, the American 

Jail Association, and the Center for Innovative Public Policies. 

The web site will focus on promoting corrections as a 

profession and presenting the correctional field in a positive 

and comprehensive manner. In addition, the web site will 

provide detailed information about the field and specific job 

opportunities that can serve as a resource for anyone seeking 

a better understanding of this dynamic profession.

Discover Corrections will establish a central Internet location 

for job seekers and students seeking information about 
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 45

entry-level and advanced careers in corrections, and it 

will identify job opportunities available for correctional 

employees. 

FY 2011 activities focused primarily on the development of 

the Discover Corrections web site. In March 2011, an “alpha” 

version of the site depicting its basic architecture was created 

and released for testing to project partners, project advisory 

group members, and funders. Results were compiled in April 

2011, and feedback was used to drive the development of 

the “beta” version; feedback on this version was obtained 

from more than 110 individuals in the corrections field. The site 

was officially launched at the APPA Winter Training Institute in 

February 2012. 

National Resource Center on 

Justice-Involved Women

According to research, women are one of the fastest growing 

populations entering the criminal justice system. Although 

they make up only about 17 percent of the total criminal 

justice-involved population, the implications of women’s 

experiences in jail, prison, or community supervision are 

far reaching, affecting their children, family members, and 

neighborhoods. 

In response to these issues, BJA, in partnership with NIC, 

established the National Resource Center on Justice-Involved 

Women (NRCJIW)—available at www.cjinvolvedwomen.org—

to address the unique and complex needs of adult women 

involved in the criminal justice system. NRCJIW is administered 

by the Center for Effective Public Policy through a BJA FY 2010 

Field-Initiated Program competitive grant of nearly $750,000. 

The mission of NRCJIW is to provide guidance and support to 

criminal justice professionals and promote evidence-based, 

gender-responsive policies and practices to reduce the 

number of, and improve the outcomes for, women involved in 

the criminal justice system. Specifically, the goals of NRCJIW 

include:

■ Promoting the safety of the public, justice-involved women, 

and the professionals who work with them.

■ Synthesizing and disseminating evidence-based and 

gender-responsive research and knowledge.

■ Promoting the implementation of innovative, evidencebased, and gender-responsive approaches that build on 

women’s strengths and address their risks and needs. 

■ Promoting gender-informed policy and management 

practices that have systemic impacts and improve 

outcomes. 

■ Highlighting critical issues confronting this population. 

■ Building a community of professionals to encourage the 

exchange of ideas and information, and advancing 

gender-informed practices nationally.
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 47

C H A P T E R 6 

BREAKING THE CYCLES OF MENTAL HEALTH, 

SUBSTANCE ABUSE, AND CRIME

B

JA oversees numerous initiatives to assist communities 

in planning, implementing, and enhancing criminal 

justice system diversion and intervention for offenders 

with substance abuse disorders, mental health disorders, 

and co-occurring disorders. BJA supports cross-system 

collaboration and partnerships among the criminal justice 

system and substance abuse and mental health agencies 

through grants, TTA, and policy development to help them 

address situations where substance abuse and mental illness 

are the root or contributing cause of criminal behavior. BJA 

provides this support in contexts such as first encounters with 

law enforcement, adjudication, incarceration, and reentry. 

BJA also helps communities track prescriptions for controlled 

substances to prevent fraud and abuse and assist children 

who are endangered by drug manufacturing, sales, and 

abuse. More information on these initiatives and success 

stories can be found in the online annual report, available at 

www.bja.gov/AR.

Justice and Mental Health Partnerships

The purpose of the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration 

Program (JMHCP) is to increase public safety and public 

health by supporting innovative cross-system collaborations 

between criminal justice and mental health professionals 

to improve access to effective treatment for justice-involved 

individuals with mental illnesses or co-occurring mental 

health and substance abuse disorders. The JMHCP grant 

program enables eligible applicants from state, local, 

and tribal jurisdictions to plan, implement, or expand a 

collaborative initiative between criminal justice and mental 

health agencies. 

JMHCP: 

■ Encourages early intervention for individuals who are 

involved with both justice and behavioral health systems. 

■ Maximizes diversion opportunities for nonviolent, justiceinvolved individuals with mental illnesses or co-occurring 

mental health and substance abuse disorders. 

■ Promotes training for justice and treatment professionals. 

■ Facilitates communication, collaboration, and the 

coordinated delivery of support services among justice 

professionals, treatment and related service providers, and 

governmental partners.

To support both JMHCP grantees and non-grantees, BJA 

provides intensive, hands-on TTA. In FY 2011, BJA provided 

more than $1.5 million to the Council of State Governments 

Justice Center for two of its TTA programs: the Justice 

and Mental Health Collaboration Training and Technical 

Assistance Program and the Justice and Mental Health 

Collaboration State-Based Capacity Building Program.
48 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

In FY 2011, BJA’s JMHCP TTA provider accomplished the 

following: 

■ Conducted 14 site visits with FY 2010 grantees and 6 site 

visits with FY 2009 grantees.

■ Developed eight webinars on topics related to justice 

and mental health issues, including child trauma and 

juvenile justice, specialized policing responses, juvenile 

risk assessment, cognitive behavioral interventions, and 

performance measurements in mental health courts. 

■ Identified six law enforcement agencies from across 

the nation—Los Angeles, California; University of Florida; 

Portland, Maine; Houston, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; and 

Madison, Wisconsin—as potential Law Enforcement/Mental 

Health Learning Sites that would foster peer-to-peer learning 

and enable law enforcement agencies to share expertise 

on how to improve responses to people with mental 

illnesses in their jurisdictions. 

■ Hosted an orientation event for FY 2010 JMHCP grantees 

and a national TTA event to benefit non-grantee 

jurisdictions. The event was well attended: 260 practitioners 

attended the grantee orientation, and 445 attended the 

national event. During the orientation, grantees were 

provided with in-person technical assistance to help 

them initiate grant plans, identify key questions, and 

form networks to support their ongoing work. For the 

national event, the Justice Center convened practitioners, 

researchers, and public officials to make presentations 

on three major themes: assigning the right people to the 

right programs, maximizing health care resources, and 

measuring and communicating outcomes. 

Preventing Prescription Drug Abuse

The nonmedical use of controlled substances is a serious 

public health concern and one that continues to grow. 

Prescription drug abuse poses a unique challenge, requiring 

a balance between the need for prevention, education, 

and enforcement and the need for legitimate access to 

controlled substances. The Harold Rogers Prescription Drug 

Monitoring Program focuses on providing assistance to states 

that want to plan, establish, or enhance a prescription drug 

monitoring program (PDMP). Program objectives include 

building a data-collection and analysis system, enhancing 

the ability of existing programs to analyze and use collected 

data, facilitating the exchange of collected prescription 

data between states, and assessing the efficiency and 

effectiveness of the programs funded under this initiative. 

Specific activities include grants, support for collaborations 

between state and local jurisdictions, and TTA in the areas 

of performance measurement, accountability, and capacity 

building to both competitively awarded states and states that 

are planning to establish a PDMP.

BJA made 12 awards to states to implement or enhance a 

PDMP. In addition, BJA awarded two cooperative agreements 

to Brandeis University to continue to provide the field with 

TTA and best practice guidance through the National PDMP 

TTA Center (TTAC) and the PDMP Center of Excellence at 

the Schneider Institutes for Health Policy. Through these TTA 

providers, BJA continued to provide intensive, hands-on 

technical assistance to the 15 FY 2010 grantees in FY 2011. 

TTAC provided guidance and assistance to states that were 

implementing PDMPs and others that were introducing PDMP 

legislation, including a major review of Oregon’s laws and 

regulations and its PDMP Policy and Procedures Manual
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 49

and assistance to Maryland and Georgia with their PDMP 

legislation. During the reporting period, TTAC responded and 

provided assistance to more than 300 requests from state, 

federal, and other stakeholders and organizations.

Drug Courts

BJA’s Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program 

(ADCDGP) provides training, financial assistance, and related 

programmatic guidance and leadership to communities 

interested in establishing and enhancing drug courts. Through 

ADCDGP, communities are able to leverage the coercive 

power of the criminal justice system to reduce recidivism and 

substance abuse among nonviolent offenders and increase 

the likelihood of successful rehabilitation through early, 

continuous, and intensive judicially supervised treatment; 

mandatory drug testing; appropriate sanctions; and 

other rehabilitative services. Through the FY 2011 ADCDGP 

solicitation, BJA made 75 grant awards for a total of nearly 

$21 million.

In FY 2011, one of the priorities for ADCDGP was to build the 

capacity of existing drug courts to increase participation 

rates among appropriate target populations and to combine 

court and treatment resources. To that end, BJA partnered 

with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 

Administration’s (SAMHSA’s) Center for Substance Abuse 

Treatment (CSAT) to issue a joint solicitation to enhance the 

court services, coordination, and substance abuse treatment 

capacity of adult drug courts. One advantage of this initiative 

is that it allows applicants to compete for access to both 

criminal justice and substance abuse treatment funds with 

one application. Under this solicitation, BJA awarded 10 

grants totaling more than $3.6 million.

ADCDGP priorities also included meeting the needs of special 

populations—in particular, returning veterans. In partnership 

with SAMHSA and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), 

BJA recommends that drug courts, mental health courts, 

and other problem-solving courts aggregate their veteran 

participants so that the full services of the VA may be utilized. 

Since 2009, BJA has recognized that an increasing number 

of returning service members with co-occurring substance 

abuse and mental health issues were becoming involved 

in the criminal justice system. In response to this growing 

problem, BJA expanded the component of its Drug Court 

Planning Initiative—which trains teams on starting new drug 

courts—that focuses specifically on training for Veterans’ 

Treatment Courts (VTC) and provided an increase in funding 

for an additional 20 teams. Currently, more than 90 VTC hybrid 

drug and mental health courts use the drug court model to 

serve veterans struggling with addiction, serious mental illness, 

or co-occurring disorders, including serious undertreated 

ailments like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 

traumatic brain injuries, both of which may put people at 

greater risk of drug abuse, domestic violence, and other 

criminality. 

BJA continued its formal partnership with OJJDP, the National 

Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and CSAT via a 

memorandum of understanding (MOU). This MOU provides a 

framework for these federal agencies to plan, coordinate, and 

share the design and implementation of interagency efforts 

that will improve the response to people with substance 

abuse disorders who are involved or at risk of involvement 

with the criminal and juvenile justice systems. Another strong 

federal partner is ONDCP, which continues to support this 

problem-solving court approach as part of its National 

Drug Control Strategy. To gauge the needs of and provide 

responsive TTA to the drug court field, BJA continues to work 
50 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

with its national partners, including the National Association 

of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP), AU, CCI, the National 

Center for State Courts, the Tribal Law and Policy Institute 

(TLPI), and the National Development and Research Institute. 

Second Chance Act: Substance 

Abuse Treatment Programs

The Second Chance Act of 2007 (see Chapter 5 for 

more information on the Second Chance Act) provides 

a comprehensive response to the increasing number of 

incarcerated adults and juveniles who are released from 

prison, jail, and juvenile residential facilities and returning 

to communities. In this context, “reentry” is not envisioned 

as a specific program, but rather it is a process that begins 

when the offender is first incarcerated and ends with his or 

her successful community reintegration, as evidenced by 

lack of recidivism. This process should provide the offender 

with appropriate evidence-based services—including those 

addressing individual criminogenic needs—based on a 

reentry plan that relies on a risk/needs assessment that 

reflects the risk of recidivism for that offender. BJA administers 

two Second Chance Act programs that focus on substance 

abuse treatment: the Family-Based Offender Substance Abuse 

Treatment (Family-Based) Program and the Reentry Program 

for Adult Offenders with Co-Occurring Substance Abuse and 

Mental Health Disorders (Co-Occurring Disorders) Program.

Family-Based Program: Section 113 of the Second Chance 

Act authorizes grants to states, units of local government, and 

tribes to improve the provision of substance abuse treatment 

within prisons and jails and after reentry for inmates who 

have minor children. It also includes outreach to families 

and the provision of treatment and other services to children 

and other family members of participant inmates. To address 

the intent of Section 113, BJA seeks eligible grant applicants 

to plan, implement, or expand such treatment programs. 

During FY 2011, BJA made 12 awards under the Family-Based 

Program for a total of more than $5.2 million. 

Co-Occurring Disorders Program: Section 201 of the 

Second Chance Act authorizes grants to states, units of local 

government, territories, and tribes to improve the provision 

of drug treatment to offenders in prisons, jails, and juvenile 

facilities during the period of incarceration and through 

the completion of parole or other court supervision after 

release into the community. The intent of Section 201 is to 

provide support to eligible applicants for developing and 

implementing comprehensive and collaborative strategies 

that address the challenges that reentry poses to maintaining 

public safety and reducing recidivism. During FY 2011, BJA 

made 17 awards under the Co-Occurring Substance Abuse/

Mental Health Program for a total of nearly $9 million.

Residential Substance Abuse Treatment

Created by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement 

Act of 1994, the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for 

State Prisoners (RSAT) Program enhances the capacity of 

states and units of local government to provide incarcerated 

inmates with residential substance abuse treatment, 

incorporate this treatment into their reentry planning, and 

deliver community-based treatment and other broad-based 

aftercare services.

RSAT funds are used to support three types of correctional 

programs: 

1.Residential programs are required to (1) operate for at 

least 6 months and no more than 12 months; (2) provide 

residential treatment facilities set apart from the general 
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 51

correctional population; (3) focus on the substance abuse 

problems of the inmate and develop the inmate’s cognitive, 

behavioral, social, vocational, and other skills to resist 

drug use and criminal behavior; and (4) require drug and 

alcohol testing for program participants. 

2. Jail-based programs must (1) last at least 3 months and 

(2) focus on the substance abuse problems of the inmate 

and develop the inmate’s cognitive, behavioral, social, 

vocational, and other skills to resist drug use and criminal 

behavior. If possible, jail-based programs must separate 

the treatment population from the general correctional 

population, and program design should be based on 

practices scientifically demonstrated to be effective.

3.Aftercare services must involve coordination between the 

correctional treatment program and other social service 

and rehabilitation programs, such as education and job 

training, parole supervision, halfway houses, and self-help 

and peer group programs.

In FY 2011, BJA awarded RSAT formula grants totaling nearly 

$22.9 million to 55 states and U.S. territories. 

Improving Outcomes for Children 

Exposed to Substance Abuse

The mission of the National Alliance for Drug Endangered 

Children (National DEC), a BJA grantee, is to improve 

outcomes for children living with adults who manufacture, sell, 

possess, or use illicit drugs, or who abuse other substances. 

These children are an underserved population, and National 

DEC raises awareness about the risks this population 

faces, provides TTA in developing partnerships between 

law enforcement and other professionals, and works to 

institutionalize a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to 

breaking the cycle of abuse and neglect.

With BJA support, National DEC has created a national 

infrastructure that includes a network of 24 affiliated state 

DEC alliances and more than 100 volunteer DEC experts who 

work to develop and implement effective problem-solving 

techniques and promising practices. National DEC provides 

leadership, strategic planning, and TTA to its alliances and 

network members and hosts an online resource center 

(www.nationaldec.org) that features a searchable library of 

hundreds of research reports, articles, training presentations, 

and protocols. 

Program accomplishments for FY 2011 include the following:

■ Developed a draft drug-endangered children 

multidisciplinary training that builds on the existing Core 

DEC Training (which was developed to address the unique 

needs of practitioners who work with these children) and 

focuses specifically on law enforcement, child welfare, and 

prosecutors. 

■ Hosted monthly webinars, DEC Connect monthly calls, 

semiannual face-to-face DEC Leaders meetings, and a 

national conference; provided hands-on trainings and 

presentations; and developed state DEC alliances.

Women’s Pathways to Jail 

Evaluation Project

Jail administrators have reported that the presence of women 

with mental illness is an increasing problem in local jails, with 

many of the same inmates repeatedly cycling in and out of 

jails. The consequences of this problem extend beyond the 

offenders and their victims; they can include jail overcrowding, 
52 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

increased pharmacological costs, and stress for correctional 

personnel who may be ill-equipped to address mental illness. 

The purpose of the Women’s Pathways to Jail Evaluation 

Project, administered by Idaho State University, is to examine 

this issue and explore the pathways that lead to jail for 

women with and without mental illness. The sample will 

include approximately 400–500 women incarcerated in 

jails in Colorado, District of Columbia/Maryland, Idaho, and 

South Carolina. Research interviews will be conducted at the 

facilities, and measures will include structured interviews that 

address mental health, victimization, and criminal activity. 

This study will use a modified version of the Composite 

International Diagnostic Interview to assess depression, 

bipolar disorder, psychosis, PTSD, and alcohol and substance 

use. 

Preliminary findings from this study indicate that women in jail 

experience significant mental health problems that may have 

an impact on crime and rehabilitation. The study’s preliminary 

data from 219 women incarcerated in rural and urban jails 

indicate that 55 percent of the women meet the criteria for 

lifetime PTSD and 60 percent have histories of substance 

dependence; both rates are five times or more as high as 

those of women in the general population. Incarcerated 

women also showed increased rates of serious mental illness 

compared with women in the general population: major 

depression (31 percent), bipolar disorders (16 percent), 

schizophrenia spectrum (5 percent), and brief psychotic 

disorder (13 percent). In many instances, these illnesses were 

co-occurring, such as when a woman experiences PTSD 

in conjunction with major depression and substance use 

disorder. Such comorbidity creates complex problems that 

often require multiple forms of treatment (e.g., medication 

in addition to diagnosis-specific therapies and addiction 

treatment). 

This project has important implications for mental-health 

screening at jails and for gender-responsive programming 

during incarceration and reentry. The recommendations from 

this project may also help improve the capacity of state and 

local justice systems in areas including law enforcement 

response, court competency determinations, mental 

health diversion programs, and training and resources for 

correctional staff. Interviews for the study will continue through 

March 2012, with the final results expected to be released in 

June 2012. 
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 53

C H A P T E R 7 

ADDRESSING CRIME AND JUSTICE FOR 

AMERICAN INDIANS AND ALASKA NATIVES

B

JA works with tribes to provide leadership, management, 

TTA, and services in grant administration and policy 

development. The tribal programs administered by BJA 

help these communities prevent and control crime, violence, 

and substance abuse. These programs also improve the 

functioning of criminal justice systems in tribal communities 

and in collaboration with neighboring state, tribal, and local 

jurisdictions. More information on these initiatives and success 

stories can be found in the online annual report, available at 

www.bja.gov/AR. 

Tribal Law and Order Act Implementation

Tribal Justice Plan

In FY 2011, BJA responded to the passage of the Tribal Law 

and Order Act of 2010 (TLOA), which seeks to enhance 

and empower tribal justice systems across the United 

States. Specifically, in FY 2011, BJA—in partnership with the 

U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs—

coordinated outreach between federal agencies and 

Indian Country to develop and release the Long Term Plan 

to Build and Enhance Tribal Justice Systems (Tribal Justice 

Plan). The Tribal Justice Plan (www.bja.gov/Publications/

FinalTLOATribalJusticePlan.pdf) is a long-term detention and 

alternatives to detention plan for American Indian adults and 

juveniles. The plan was further enhanced to include offender 

reentry. The plan responds to sections 211, 241, and 244 of the 

TLOA. 

BJA held a consultation session in Scottsdale, Arizona to 

gather input from tribal leaders to develop the plan. BJA 

also conducted four webinars and three focus groups in 

Scottsdale, Arizona; Billings, Montana; and Rapid City, South 

Dakota. More broadly, BJA gathered comments from tribes 

and the public across the nation. 

Intergovernmental Collaboration

The TLOA directs the Attorney General to provide technical 

assistance on strategies to promote intergovernmental 

collaboration and relationships among state, tribal, and local 

partners that effectively combat crime in Indian Country and 

nearby communities. To offer assistance in these efforts, BJA 

continues to work with other federal partners and TTA partners 

such as the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), 

NCJA, CCI, and TLPI. 

Tribal-State Collaboration and 

Justice Capacity Building Project

Through BJA funding, NCAI and NCJA initiated the TribalState Collaboration and Justice Capacity Building Project.

The project’s initial focus was Minnesota—a Public Law 280 

(known as PL280) jurisdiction—and the tribes therein. This 
54 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

effort involved creating and compiling material for a core 

curriculum that will train tribes in other PL280 jurisdictions to 

coordinate with local, state, and federal partners to develop 

action plans. The project will also offer access to an online, 

interactive toolkit with examples of promising practices and 

practical applications. The project’s next step is to focus on a 

non-PL280 jurisdiction. 

TLPI launched the Walking on Common Ground web site 

(www.walkingoncommonground.org), which provides 

resources for promoting and facilitating tribal, state, and 

federal collaborations. The site includes an interactive, 

searchable map with links to cooperative agreements, tribal 

state forums, and relevant legislation.

Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation

In FY 2011, DOJ continued its Coordinated Tribal Assistance 

Solicitation (CTAS) initiative, which enables tribes to submit 

a single application for all DOJ tribal government-specific 

competitive solicitations. This approach provides federally 

recognized tribes and tribal consortia the opportunity to 

develop a comprehensive approach to public safety and 

victimization by responding to multiple “purpose areas.” BJA 

funds projects in two of the CTAS purpose areas: 

■ Develop and enhance the operation of tribal justice 

systems and prevent and reduce alcohol- and substance 

abuse-related crimes.

■ Plan, renovate, or construct correctional and/or correctional 

alternative facilities.

In FY 2011, 236 tribes submitted applications, and more than 

280 DOJ grant awards were approved for funding, totaling 

more than $118 million. 

In FY 2011, BJA also funded six Tribal Justice System Capacity 

Building TTA awards totaling nearly $2.8 million. These awards 

are designed to fill identified gaps in the capacity of tribal 

justice systems—for both CTAS grantees and non-CTAS 

tribes—to address issues of crime, violence, and substance 

abuse. Deliverables under these awards include the Tribal 

Drug Courts TTA, Tribal Probation Academy, and Tribal Justice 

System Strategic Planning. 

Develop and Enhance the Operation 

of Tribal Justice Systems

The Tribal Courts Assistance Program (TCAP) provides funding 

and TTA to federally recognized tribal governments to develop, 

implement, and enhance court services and programs that 

meet the needs of tribal communities. TTA is available to 

both BJA grantee tribes and non-BJA grantee tribes, which 

increases the reach of TCAP. 

In FY 2011, BJA awarded 37 TCAP site-based grants totaling 

more than $15.6 million through CTAS, and one TCAP TTA 

award for $1.3 million. In addition, BJA funding enabled the 

University of North Dakota’s Tribal Judicial Institute to conduct 

28 TCAP training events for more than 1,640 individuals. TCAP 

funding also supported 16 onsite TTA visits to tribes and more 

than 106 scholarships that enabled BJA grantees and nonBJA grantees to attend national TTA events. 

In FY 2011, BJA funding enabled the National Tribal Judicial 

Center (NTJC), at the National Judicial College, to conduct 

10 TCAP training events for more than 400 individuals; provide 

financial assistance in the form of travel/lodging/per diem 

assistance to 253 BJA grantees and non-grantees to attend 

NTJC and partner events; provide financial assistance to 58 

judges and court personnel to attend NTJC courses that are 

tuition based; and provide financial assistance to 149 judges 
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 55

and court personnel to attend grant-funded courses or 

events.

Prevent and Reduce Alcohol and 

Substance Abuse-Related Crimes

The Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program (IASAP) 

helps federally recognized tribal governments to plan, 

implement, or enhance culturally appropriate strategies for 

addressing crime related to alcohol and substance abuse. 

In FY 2011, BJA awarded 21 IASAP grants totaling nearly

$9 million through CTAS and one IASAP TTA award of $875,000.

Through Fox Valley Technical College’s Criminal Justice Center 

for Innovation (CJCI), BJA provided 26 training programs 

(including regional trainings and national conferences) for 

more than 1,000 individuals. IASAP also funded 25 TTA site 

visits and 185 scholarships to attend national TTA events for 

officials from BJA grantees and tribes that do not currently 

have a grant with BJA.

Plan, Renovate, or Construct Correctional 

and/or Correctional Alternative Facilities

The Correctional Systems and Correctional Alternatives on 

Tribal Lands (CSCATL) Program—formerly the Correctional 

Facilities on Tribal Lands Program—provides site-based grants 

and funding for TTA projects to assist tribes with adult and 

juvenile detention and rehabilitative efforts. In FY 2011, BJA 

awarded 23 site-based grants—totaling more than $8.2 

million—for the planning, renovation, and construction of 

correctional and correctional alternative facilities. Additionally, 

BJA awarded an $850,000 cooperative agreement to the 

National Indian Justice Center to provide TTA to FY 2011 

CSCATL grant recipients and to tribes that do not currently 

have a grant with BJA. 

In FY 2011, BJA continued to partner with Justice Solutions 

Group to offer onsite and offsite TTA to tribes receiving grants 

under this program—including onsite TTA to 30 tribes and 

offsite TTA to 11 tribes. In May and June 2011, Justice Solutions 

Group provided three 1-week workshops for recipients of FY 

2010 CSCATL planning grants; 13 tribes participated in these 

events. In November 2011, BJA and Justice Solutions Group 

delivered a Tribal Jail Administrator’s Forum in collaboration 

with the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Office of Justice Services 

Detention Summit. 

In FY 2011, BJA also extended a logistical and support 

services contract with Alpha Corporation, which works with 

CSCATL grantees to ensure that projects are using cost and 

schedule strategies efficiently and effectively to achieve 

project goals. In FY 2011, Alpha provided logistical and 

support services to 44 CSCATL projects in 16 states, totaling 

$230 million in grant awards. Alpha completed 30 site visits 

and provided detailed site visit reports on project scope, 

design, construction schedule, and budget status as well as 

an indepth analysis of the grantee’s ability to fulfill project 

goals. Alpha also assisted 22 grantees in obtaining National 

Environmental Policy Act clearance.

Tribal Probation Academy

BJA currently funds a 4-week Tribal Probation Academy (TPA), 

conducted through a partnership between APPA and CJCI. 

TPA provides up-to-date information to new and experienced 

probation officers serving in tribal communities and teaches 

them the skills they will need for effective case management, 

officer safety, and career development.
56 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

Tribal Drug Courts

In FY 2011, BJA provided funding to 10 tribes through the 

Tribal Healing to Wellness Court Planning Initiative, including 

funding for two tribes to implement ($700,000) and four 

tribes to enhance ($673,804) their Tribal Healing to Wellness 

Courts. Additionally, one tribe received support with planning 

resources to create a VTC. 

In FY 2011, TLPI and the National Drug Court Institute (NDCI) 

coordinated resources to provide TTA for these efforts. TLPI 

performed six onsite TTA visits to review the implementation 

of Tribal Adult Wellness Court program policies, services, and 

operations; posted TLPI publications on the web site (www.tlpi.

org); and developed the Healing to Wellness Court web site, 

which received more than 3,500 hits. NDCI performed one 

5-day training for 10 Tribal Healing to Wellness Court planning 

teams at the Fort McDowell Tribe in Arizona; maintained the 

Tribal Healing to Wellness Court database (available at www.

ndcrc.org), including a map of operational Tribal Healing to 

Wellness Courts and other drug courts; and continued to 

conduct a Tribal Healing to Wellness Court symposium and a 

training track at the NADCP annual conference. 

Tribal Civil and Criminal Legal 

Assistance Program

The Tribal Civil and Criminal Legal Assistance (TCCLA) 

Program provides nonprofit organizations with grants, 

policy leadership, and TTA to support federally recognized 

tribal nations in enhancing their tribal justice systems and 

improving access to those systems. The grants are, by statute, 

limited to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. The goal of TCCLA 

is to strengthen and improve the representation of indigent 

defendants in criminal cases and indigent respondents in 

civil causes of action under the jurisdiction of American 

Indian tribes.

In FY 2011, the TCCLA Program received 28 applications 

and made 6 awards totaling more than $3 million: 2 awards 

for Civil Legal Assistance for nearly $900,000, 2 awards for 

Criminal Legal Assistance totaling more than $1.5 million, and 

2 awards for TTA totaling $600,000. 

Tribal Reentry

In 2011, BJA led and coordinated the eight-part “Offender 

Reentry in Indian Country & Native Communities” webinar 

series. More than 620 attendees participated in at 

least one of the eight webinars, which are available on 

the National Reentry Resource Center web site (www.

nationalreentryresourcecenter.org).

Tribal Justice Information Sharing System

With BJA support, the National Center for Rural Law 

Enforcement of the University of Arkansas Criminal Justice 

Institute developed and administers the Tribal Justice 

Information Sharing System (TJISS) to provide TTA resources to 

tribal criminal justice practitioners nationwide. In FY 2011, TJISS 

delivered three 2-day courses titled Crime Data Collection 

and Reporting. Designed to instruct tribal practitioners on the 

Uniform Crime Reports/National Incident-Based Reporting 

System and various methods available to report crime data, 

the course blends classroom lectures with hands-on exercises, 

using a mobile computer training lab. 

During FY 2011, the TJISS web site (www.tjiss.net) delivered the 

following resources:
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 57

■ Tools to collect and report crime data, including a video 

tutorial and electronic manual. 

■ Model law enforcement policies and procedures, job 

descriptions, work schedules, and mutual aid agreements. 

■ Mentoring for newly appointed chiefs of police and public 

safety directors. 

■ The TribalShare listserv, which facilitates information sharing 

between tribes and across jurisdictional boundaries and 

disciplines.

■ A TTA needs survey. 

Expanding Anti-Gang Training 

Into Indian Country

In 2011, BJA—in partnership with the Executive Office for 

U.S. Attorneys and through the National Gang Center—

conducted a series of anti-gang training courses in Indian 

Country: at the Menominee Reservation in Wisconsin, Santa 

Ana Pueblo in New Mexico, and the Confederated Tribes of 

Warm Springs in Oregon. The courses include an overview 

of gang activity in the region, instruction on the intelligence 

process and the role of gang investigators in the process, 

strategies and tactics that are effective in suppressing gang 

activity, and advice on the use of gang-specific legislation in 

the investigation and prosecution of gang crime. The trainings 

were attended by 166 tribal, state, county, or federal law 

enforcement officers as well as representatives from the four 

U.S. Attorneys’ Offices. 

Prison Rape Elimination Act 

Resources for Indian Country

BJA, through a cooperative agreement with APPA, addresses 

PREA by developing products that offer policy and practice 

guidance to tribal detention personnel (see Chapter 5 for 

more information on PREA). In 2011, this project developed, pilot 

tested, and delivered a training curriculum for frontline tribal 

detention staff: Preventing and Addressing Sexual Abuse in Tribal 

Detention Facilities: The Impact of PREA. The training package is 

available on the APPA web site at www.appa-net.org.

Other resources developed through this project include 

a policy development guide for Tribal Detention Facility 

Administrators (Preventing and Addressing Sexual Abuse 

in Tribal Detention Facilities: A Policy Development Guide); 

a PREA bulletin to serve as a primer for tribal detention 

professionals and tribal leaders; and a PREA brochure for 

tribal leaders. 
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 59

C H A P T E R 8 

EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES 

AND BUILDING CAPACITY 

I

n FY 2011, BJA introduced a new initiative—Building 

Neighborhood Capacity—and continued to expand upon 

TTA for the field, support evidence integration into program 

development, provide meaningful data on the performance 

of BJA programs, enhance knowledge management, and 

support and facilitate policymaker collaboration. More 

information on these initiatives and success stories can 

be found in the online annual report, available at 

www.bja.gov/AR.

Building Neighborhood Capacity Program

In September 2011, BJA awarded a $2.5 million cooperative 

agreement to the Center for the Study of Social Policy to 

enable the launch of the Building Neighborhood Capacity 

Program (BNCP), a component of the Neighborhood 

Revitalization Initiative (NRI). NRI is a White House-led federal 

partnership that supports the transformation of distressed 

neighborhoods into neighborhoods of opportunity—places 

that provide the choices, resources, and environments that 

children, youth, and adults need in order to thrive.

BNCP is designed to help low-income neighborhoods build 

the infrastructure and resources needed to ensure that 

families experience better results in education, employment, 

safety, housing, and more; and to illustrate how communities 

around the country can build and harness capacity to 

transform tough neighborhoods into neighborhoods of 

opportunity.

This project is a partnership between all the agencies 

involved with NRI—the U.S. Departments of Justice, Education, 

Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human 

Services, and Treasury—as they work to organize federal 

resources and develop policies that more effectively support 

neighborhood transformation efforts. 

Integrating Evidence

BJA recognizes the importance of integrating research, 

evidence, and data into the program and policy 

development process in order to ensure that staff are 

supporting the development of strategies and initiatives that 

are innovative, promising, evidence based, and effective. 

BJA is developing a dynamic plan to more systemically 

integrate and translate research knowledge and methods, 

as well as data, in issue identification and prioritization and 

in strategy development and implementation. This plan is 

based upon innovative approaches that BJA has piloted, 

especially in the areas of drug courts, reentry, and smart 

policing. In addition, BJA has been developing programrelated logic models to drive program accountability and 

performance measurement. BJA staff use the data resulting 

from performance measures to determine whether a program 
60 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

is meeting the intended goals and objectives. On the basis 

of these findings, staff assess the program design and 

implementation strategies and identify TTA needs, monitoring 

priorities, and refinements to the program design and 

approach. 

BJA is also working with staff from the OJP Assistant Attorney 

General’s Evidence Integration Initiative Team, and staff from 

NIJ, to examine the research and evidence in criminal justice 

and incorporate these findings into the BJA decisionmaking 

process. BJA staff also play critical leadership roles in projects 

such as the Evidence Integration Teams, the Crime Solutions 

web site, and the new Diagnostic Center to be launched in 

2012, which will assist state, tribal, and local policymakers in 

using data and research to address critical issues facing their 

jurisdictions. 

Generating New Knowledge

In an effort to produce new knowledge in the areas of 

probation and community supervision for returning offenders, 

BJA is coleading two demonstration field experiments 

(DFE). The probation DFE will replicate Hawaii’s Opportunity 

Probation with Enforcement (Hawaii HOPE) probation 

model, and the post-release community supervision model 

will be tested as part of BJA’s Second Chance Act Honest 

Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) DFE reentry 

initiative. 

DFEs are designed to generate new evidence and continue 

to build a knowledge base. In a DFE, an existing program 

model with some accumulated evidence of effectiveness is 

tested in multiple locations to determine the model’s general 

effectiveness. This DFE includes a randomized controlled trial 

(RCT), in which people are allocated at random (by chance 

alone) to receive one of several interventions. One of these 

interventions will be the standard of comparison (or “control”). 

The control may be a standard practice (“business as usual”) 

or no intervention at all. RCTs seek to measure and compare 

the outcomes after the participants receive the interventions. 

Hawaii’s HOPE DFE Model

On the basis of recent research, Hawaii HOPE has been 

identified as a promising program that may be a solution 

to what can become a “revolving door” for offenders on 

probation in the criminal justice system. BJA and NIJ are 

supporting the multisite HOPE DFE in an effort to enhance 

public safety and improve the outcomes of probationers. 

The HOPE DFE will combine a multisite replication and 

demonstration of the Hawaii HOPE model—a probation 

modification program—along with a rigorous experimental 

evaluation in an applied setting. The HOPE DFE will consist 

of an RCT for which the costs associated with program 

implementation will be funded by BJA and costs associated 

with the evaluation will be funded by NIJ. BJA has been 

collaborating with NIJ staff and Pepperdine University—the TTA 

partner—to develop and implement this DFE. 

In FY 2011, BJA selected four sites to participate in its HOPE

DFE: Clackamas County, Oregon; Essex County, Massachusetts; 

Saline County, Arkansas; and Tarrant County, Texas. The initial 

planning and training phase of this DFE will begin in spring 

2012, with full implementation beginning in fall 2012. 

Second Chance Act DFE

As part of a collaborative effort with NIJ and NIC, BJA will 

implement and rigorously test important criminal justice 

interventions and programs as part of a multisite DFE on 

prisoner reentry. This DFE will address motivation to change 
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 61

as well as criminal thinking—two areas that need more 

scientific information. In addition, parole officers and service 

providers will work collaboratively to improve delivery of the 

DFE interventions. This DFE will use an RCT research method 

and will answer critical questions about the impact of 

providing criminal thinking to alter offender outcomes. It 

will also provide a rigorous test of a specific reentry model 

intended to improve offender outcomes post-release. Some 

of the outcomes of interest include, but are not limited to, 

re-offending and re-incarceration (recidivism). 

The sites for this DFE will be selected in FY 2012, and the 

planning and training phase for the DFE sites will begin in 

fall 2012, with implementation beginning in winter 2013. 

Performance Management 

Through Data and Research

Effective program management starts with sound data 

collection using a reliable tool. BJA has continued to invest 

in the Performance Measurement Tool (PMT) for its grantees 

to use for reporting program results. In FY 2011, BJA began 

tracking successes, using new measures in the PMT for 10 

programs; the measures for 2 Second Chance Act programs 

also were revised in FY 2011. 

Support for Grantee Reporting

To support grantees with their reporting of program results, 

BJA offered online training through webinars on the use 

of PMT, the content and definitions of the performance 

measures, and best practices for good data collection. 

The training these grantees received complemented the 

ongoing training and outreach that PMT staff conduct, on a 

quarterly basis, for all grantees with programs in PMT. Since the 

start of PMT reporting, 2,341 grantees have attended these 

webinars or in-person trainings. BJA also provides a help desk 

to offer reporting assistance; during FY 2011, the help desk 

received more than 6,700 requests for assistance on a wide 

range of topics, including data output, technical issues, and 

performance measure definitions. 

The process for gathering performance measures data 

is not always clear. BJA strives to make this process more 

transparent for the criminal justice community by describing 

the purpose for the measures and the uses for the data. 

BJA conducts several webinars, conference calls, and inperson workshops to increase grantee understanding of 

the performance measures data-collection process. This 

information sharing is expected to lead to better reporting 

compliance and improved understanding of program 

measurement. 

BJA works to simplify data collection for grantees by reducing 

the number of duplicative or unclear measures. BJA also 

customizes program measures to reduce the reporting 

burden on grantees. As a result of these efforts, grantees now 

report only on measures that pertain to their specific award 

category.

Analysis

BJA is determined to take full advantage of the rich data that 

have been collected. In FY 2011, BJA provided analysis in the 

following new areas:

■ Developing program logic models.

■ Creating data dictionaries and business rules to increase 

the quality of the reported data.

■ Authoring research summaries for the criminal justice field 

to use. 
62 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

■ Publicizing fact sheets about program successes (such 

as mortgage fraud and southern border law enforcement 

activities). 

■ Providing research and analysis to inform benchmarks and 

target setting to better gauge grantee performance.

■ Coordinating with program-specific TTA providers to provide 

targeted technical assistance based on grantee-level 

performance data. 

■ Providing content analysis on the narrative data to target 

technical assistance and identify trends. 

■ Developing quarterly performance updates for every 

program in PMT that provide analysis of both aggregated 

and individual-level performance data. 

■ Documenting the content of stakeholder feedback during 

the performance measure revision process.

■ Contributing to BJA’s GrantStat process with meaningful 

core measures that are analyzed against program 

averages. 

■ Developing new tools and resources for grantee reporting, 

such as FAQs for measures, data-collection spreadsheets, 

and recorded trainings for viewing at any time.

Results

As a result of these investments in collecting and processing 

performance data, BJA is better positioned to analyze and 

report programmatic performance data to stakeholders. In 

FY 2011, BJA presented performance data at several grantee 

conferences and through BJA’s Justice Today e-newsletter. BJA 

also positively responded to Office of the Inspector General 

and GAO audits, published grantee results on the BJA web 

site, and improved the ability to quickly answer calls for data. 

With these grantee data and improved data analysis, BJA can 

more quickly identify grantee performance issues and direct 

targeted technical assistance to grantees in need. This also 

facilitates BJA’s ability to efficiently and effectively document 

programmatic successes and learn from weaknesses, 

enabling BJA to make better programmatic decisions. BJA 

will continue to participate in OJP- and DOJ-wide initiatives to 

support a strategic approach to performance measurement. 

Training and Technical 

Assistance Coordination

BJA has supported the National Training and Technical 

Assistance Center (NTTAC) since FY 2008. NTTAC coordinates 

BJA’s TTA activity and delivers direct technical assistance 

services in those areas not already addressed by a specific 

TTA provider. NTTAC supports criminal justice agencies, 

organizations, and practitioners through training, information 

dissemination, technical assistance, and conference 

facilitation. 

BJA’s NTTAC had many significant accomplishments in 

FY 2011: 

■ Conducted 12 “Second Tuesdays at 2” webinars, which 

highlight BJA activities, programs, and TTA providers. Each 

webinar had from 70 to more than 700 participants. 

One session—“Dealing with Gang Members”—was also 

translated into Spanish. 

■ NTTAC expanded and updated its web site (bjatraining.

org) to make TTA services more readily available, easier to 

access, and more efficiently managed.
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 63

■ The monthly e-newsletter series provides information to the 

field on critical issues, success stories, and resources. More 

than 5,600 individuals have subscribed to the e-newsletter. 

■ NTTAC continued to promote and encourage collaboration 

and communication among BJA TTA providers. These 

providers are regularly highlighted on the NTTAC web site, 

participate in the webinar series, and link to the NTTAC 

web site. Monthly provider meetings, facilitated by NTTAC, 

promote ongoing communication among providers, 

resource sharing, and collaboration on technical assistance 

requests and special projects. 

During FY 2011, NTTAC received 329 inquiries, which resulted 

in 81 funded technical assistance projects and 48 referrals 

to existing TTA providers. NTTAC’s services will be greatly 

expanded, beginning in FY 2012 with the award of a multiyear 

contract.

Policymaker Collaboration

National Governors Association

BJA, in partnership with the National Governors Association 

(NGA), provides assistance to governors’ offices on a variety 

of criminal justice issues that require synthesizing current 

research, identifying promising practices and available 

resources, and recommending strategies to overcome 

potential challenges. 

NGA performs the following roles:

■ Convenes meetings of leading policymakers, program 

officials, and subject-matter experts in states to assist 

policymakers in achieving state criminal justice priorities. 

■ Disseminates need-to-know updates and other important 

information to ensure that governors and their staff 

meet federal deadlines and take advantage of funding 

opportunities. 

■ Produces confidential, quick-response memoranda on 

specific policy requests. 

■ Facilitates strategic problem solving within states by 

matching experts and peers across state boundaries to 

share common experiences and effective responses.

In FY 2011, with BJA support, the NGA Center for Best Practices 

held the 2011 Institute for Governors Criminal Justice Policy 

Advisors in Annapolis, Maryland. Governors’ senior criminal 

justice policy advisors from 29 states gathered for a 2-day 

summit to explore critical state public safety issues, identify 

emerging statewide trends, learn about current research and 

best practices in criminal justice policy, and network with their 

peers from other states. The topics and themes covered at the 

institute included: 

■ Best practices related to governance of state criminal 

justice and public safety systems, including information 

sharing and use of data for decisionmaking, funding and 

budgeting, crisis management, and communication with 

governors, state policymakers, and other stakeholders. 

■ Emerging state and federal legislative trends, navigating 

the legislative process, and lessons learned by governors’ 

criminal justice advisors.

■ Evidence-based approaches for reducing prison 

populations and recidivism, including community-based 

sanctions and parole and probation reform. 
64 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

Criminal Justice Coordinating Council Network

With BJA support, JMI, the Pretrial Justice Institute (PJI), 

and the National Association of Counties (NACo) brought 

together leaders and top-level staff from 12 criminal justice 

coordinating councils (CJCCs) across the country to form 

the CJCC Network. CJCCs have major roles in shaping 

decisions regarding criminal justice. Although CJCCs vary in 

size, structure, and membership, they generally are the entities 

responsible for local-level criminal justice planning and policy 

development. The Network provides a central place for the 

leaders and senior CJCC staff to share information and ideas 

about common problems and promising approaches to 

addressing these problems. 

The Network members, who were determined by a 

competitive application process, identified the priority 

theme for the year: local criminal justice planning in tough 

economic times. Topics addressed at the Network meetings 

included assessing the costs and benefits associated with 

different justice strategies; creative uses of technology for 

planning and management of justice system operations; 

and evidence-based practices and decisionmaking in local 

criminal justice systems. 

In FY 2011, with BJA support, JMI, NACo, and PJI: 

■ Held two CJCC Network meetings, attended by all 12 

network jurisdictions. Topics discussed included cost-benefit 

analyses, evidence-based decisionmaking, reducing 

pretrial jail populations, information management, serving 

the needs of mentally ill offenders, and combating illegal 

prescription drug sales.

■ Produced two publications: 

− Improving Criminal Justice System Planning and 

Operations: Challenges for Local Governments 

− Criminal Justice Coordinating Councils and Fostering 

and Sustaining Criminal Justice System Reform: The Role 

of Criminal Justice Coordinating Councils

■ Developed a secure web site to serve as an online portal 

where Network members can post requests for information, 

upload documents for other Network members, hold online 

“chats,” and share calendar information. 

■ Created a National CJCC Network Facebook page to share 

information about upcoming training events, the release of 

new reports that might be relevant to them, and Network 

news.

■ Developed a matrix of programs implemented by Network 

members.

Evidence-Based Practices Technical 

Assistance Project

With BJA support, the Justice Research and Statistics 

Association (JRSA), in partnership with NCJA, is developing a 

tool—the Research Evidence Self-Assessment Tool (RESAT)—

for State Administering Agencies (SAA) to use to assess their 

current and future plans regarding evidence-based programs 

and practices, and the use of research evidence. 

JRSA conducted 43 interviews with SAA directors or their 

designees, between June and September 2011, to learn 

more on how evidence-based practices are being facilitated 

and implemented within the state funding agencies. The 

preliminary findings were presented at the American Society 

of Criminology conference in November 2011.

JRSA and NCJA will produce a report on the current role of 

funding agencies in promoting, implementing, and sustaining 

evidence-based practices and will provide the RESAT for SAAs 
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 65

to use to evaluate their current strategies and improve their 

implementation of evidence-based practices.

Building Sustainable Capacity To Engage in 

Community and Evidence-Based Strategic Planning

With BJA support, NCJA provides technical assistance to 

SAAs through staff and peer-to-peer assistance from former 

SAA directors and leaders in the field of criminal justice 

planning. NCJA offers TTA throughout the strategic planning 

process, starting with community engagement through key 

stakeholder groups and constituencies.

NCJA promotes and enhances justice planning by using 

the community engagement model to establish priorities 

and ensure accurate problem identification and strategy 

development. In its second year of the project, NCJA identified 

creative ways to bring in new partners, created broader 

stakeholder communities, and used technology in innovative 

ways to make the strategic planning process more inclusive 

and cost-effective. NCJA brought national leadership to 

justice planning processes with the following notable results:

■ Provided nine webinars in FY 2011 as part of the ongoing 

NCJA webinar series on evidence-based programs and 

practices.

■ Made major enhancements to the National Center for 

Justice Planning web site (www.ncjp.org), which includes 

profiles on all SAA agencies and their work, up-to-date 

information on cutting-edge research and evaluations 

done nationally and by the Statistical Analysis Centers 

(SAC), promising programs and practices in all areas 

of criminal and juvenile justice, and strategic planning 

information and assistance.

■ Facilitated working collaborations between SAAs and the 

SACs in their states. The SACs assist the SAAs by providing 

various kinds of data, gathering data and input from 

the field, and providing information and training to their 

stakeholders on evidence-based programs. 

Tools for the Field

Skills for Offender Assessment and 

Responsivity in New Goals

BJA is funding a collaborative team from GMU and Carleton 

University to develop the Skills for Offender Assessment and 

Responsivity in New Goals (SOARING–2) project. SOARING–2 

will create a suite of web-based tools that can facilitate 

criminal justice professionals’ development of knowledge and 

skills to sustain evidence-based practices. Being web based, 

SOARING–2 tools will supplement traditional correctional 

and judicial academies; that is, they will provide in-office skill 

development for the individual staff and agencies to facilitate 

the sustainability of evidence-based practices and to provide 

innovative tools to assist staff in managing offender outcomes. 

This project is designed to increase declarative knowledge 

(“what”), procedural knowledge (“how”), and strategic 

knowledge (“when”) for professionals in a manner that 

involves cognitive, interpersonal, and psychomotor skills, 

or tasks, and to evaluate its impact on outcomes in select 

probation settings. The project has three phases: developing 

the interactive, web-based system; training coaches and 

correctional agencies to use the system; and assessing the 

effects of the mastery of skills on offender outcomes. 

Cost–Benefit Knowledge Bank for Criminal Justice 

BJA has been working with the Vera Institute of Justice to 

develop and enhance a Cost-Benefit Knowledge Bank 

(http://cbkb.org) to assist jurisdictions with criminal justice 
66 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

planning and policymaking in order to reduce costs and use 

resources more effectively. The Knowledge Bank consists of 

a web site that serves as a clearinghouse for resources and 

ongoing research on cost-benefit analysis, thereby reducing 

the time that jurisdictions spend on finding relevant resources. 

The site contains references to more than 400 cost-benefit 

related studies and articles on different criminal justice 

functions. It also provides original materials (including blogs, 

podcasts, videos, and a cost-benefit toolkit) and updates on 

new studies and important topics related to the economic 

pros and cons of justice policies and programs.

In FY 2011, Vera staff conducted conferences and 

presentations on cost-benefit analysis, provided useful and 

timely content to the Knowledge Bank web site, continued to 

assist jurisdictions with the cost-benefit analysis issues, and 

held cost-benefit analysis roundtables focused on capacity 

building and law enforcement. They also facilitated webinars 

focused on the following topics:

■ Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) and Justice Policy for State 

Legislators

■ Demystifying Victim Costs

■ Estimating Marginal Costs for CBA in Criminal Justice

■ Linking Evaluation and CBA in Criminal Justice

■ CBA for Justice Policy 

Center for Program Evaluation and 

Performance Measurement

BJA is funding JRSA to manage its Center for Program 

Evaluation and Performance Measurement, which provides 

evaluation, performance measurement, and logic model 

development information to criminal justice practitioners and 

policymakers. The Center (www.bja.gov/evaluation) helps 

translate evaluation, research, and evidence-based findings 

into understandable language that can help develop sound 

and effective policies and practices. 

JRSA also provides technical assistance for direct evaluation 

and performance measurement to requesting jurisdictions. 

Examples of this technical assistance include the following:

■ Assisting staff from a municipal court to develop 

performance measures to track their effectiveness. 

■ Facilitating a webinar on criminal justice evidence-based 

practices. 

■ Reviewing jurisdictions’ evaluation plans. 

In addition, JRSA issues a monthly e-newsletter that 

summarizes important evaluations for the field (Evaluation 

News) and developed a document to help practitioners 

review and digest outcome-evaluation reports (Assessing 

Outcome Evaluation Research: A Guide for Practitioners).
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 67

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

AAMVA American Association of Motor Vehicle 

Administrators

ADCDGP Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program

APA Association of Prosecuting Attorneys

APCO Association of Public-Safety Communications 

Officials

APPA American Probation and Parole Association

ATF Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and 

Explosives

AU American University

BCOT Building Communities of Trust Initiative

BJA Bureau of Justice Assistance

BJS Bureau of Justice Statistics

BNCP Building Neighborhood Capacity Program

BVP Bulletproof Vest Partnership

CAT Communities Against Terrorism

CBA cost-benefit analysis

CBOB Congressional Badge of Bravery

CCI Center for Court Innovation

CCLI Capital Case Litigation Initiative

CCTAP Criminal Courts Technical Assistance Project

CenTF Center for Task Force Training

C.F.R. Code of Federal Regulations

CICC Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council

CJCC Criminal Justice Coordinating Council

CJCI Criminal Justice Center for Innovation

COPS Community Oriented Policing Services

CSAT Center for Substance Abuse Treatment

CSC Celebrate Safe Communities

CSCATL Correctional Systems and Correctional

Alternatives on Tribal Lands

CTAS Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation

DEC drug-endangered children

DFE Demonstration Field Experiment

DHS U.S. Department of Homeland Security

DMI Drug Market Intervention

DOJ U.S. Department of Justice

FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation

FY fiscal year

GAC Global Advisory Committee

GISWG Global Infrastructure/Standards Working Group
68 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

GIWG Global Intelligence Working Group

Global Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative

GMU George Mason University

GPIQWG Global Privacy and Information Quality Working 

Group

GRA Global Reference Architecture (formerly Justice 

Reference Architecture)

G.R.E.A.T. Gang Resistance Education And Training

GSWG Global Security Working Group

HIDTA High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area

HOPE Honest Opportunity Probation with Enforcement

IACLEA International Association of College Law

Enforcement Administrators

IACP International Association of Chiefs of Police

IASAP Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program

IC3 Internet Crime Complaint Center

ICSIS Internet Complaint Search and Investigation 

System

IIR Institute for Intergovernmental Research

IP intellectual property

ISE Information Sharing Environment

IWI Initiative on Witness Intimidation

JAG Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance 

Grant

JIEM Justice Information Exchange Model

JMHCP Justice and Mental Health Collaboration 

Program

JMI Justice Management Institute

JRI Justice Reinvestment Initiative

JRSA Justice Research and Statistics Association

LEO Law Enforcement Online

MOU memorandum of understanding

MOV Medal of Valor

NACDL National Association of Criminal Defense

Lawyers

NACo National Association of Counties

NADCP National Association of Drug Court Professionals

NBPI Northern Border Prosecution Initiative

NCAI National Congress of American Indians

NCIRC National Criminal Intelligence Resource Center

NCJA National Criminal Justice Association

NCPC National Crime Prevention Council

NDAA National District Attorneys Association

NDCI National Drug Court Initiative

N–DEx National Data Exchange

NFA National Forensic Academy

NFSTC National Forensic Science Technology Center
FY 2011 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS • 69

NGA National Governors Association

NGC National Gang Center

NIC National Institute of Corrections

NIEM National Information Exchange Model

NIJ National Institute of Justice

NMVTIS National Motor Vehicle Title Information System

NPD National Preparedness Directorate

NPRC National Parole Resource Center 

NPREC National Prison Rape Elimination Commission

NRRC National Reentry Resource Center

NRCJIW National Resource Center on Justice-Involved 

Women

NRI Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative

NSA National Sheriffs’ Association

NSI Nationwide SAR Initiative

NTJC National Tribal Judicial Center

NTTAC National Training and Technical Assistance 

Center

NW3C National White Collar Crime Center

ODNI Office of the Director of National Intelligence

OJJDP Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

Prevention

OJP Office of Justice Programs

ONDCP Office of National Drug Control Policy

OVC Office for Victims of Crime

PDMP Prescription Drug Monitoring Program

PJI Pretrial Justice Institute

PLI Project Lifesaver, Inc.

PM–ISE Program Manager for the Information Sharing 

Environment

PMO Program Management Office

PMT Performance Measurement Tool

PREA Prison Rape Elimination Act

PSN Project Safe Neighborhoods

PSOB Public Safety Officers’ Benefits

PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder

RCT randomized controlled trial

RESAT Research Evidence Self-Assessment Tool

RISS Regional Information Sharing Systems

RISSIntel RISS Criminal Intelligence Databases

RISSafe RISS Officer Safety Event Deconfliction System

RISSNET RISS Secure Intranet

RNR Risk, Needs, and Responsivity

RSAT Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State 

Prisoners

SAA State Administering Agency
70 • SOLUTIONS FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES

SAC Statistical Analysis Centers

SAMHSA Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 

Administration

SAR Suspicious Activity Reporting

SAVIN Statewide Automated Victim Information and 

Notification

SCAAP State Criminal Alien Assistance Program

SLATT State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training

SOARING–2 Skills for Offender Assessment and Responsivity 

in New Goals

SPI Smart Policing Initiative

SSP Service Specification Packages

STT Services Task Team

SWBPI Southwest Border Prosecution Initiative

TCAP Tribal Courts Assistance Program

TCCLA Tribal Civil and Criminal Legal Assistance

TJISS Tribal Justice Information Sharing System

TLOA Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010

TLPI Tribal Law and Policy Institute

TPA Tribal Probation Academy

TTA training and technical assistance

TTAC Training and Technical Assistance Center

UCADFR Unified Computer-Aided Dispatch Functional 

Requirements

UML University of Massachusetts–Lowell

UOW USAonWatch

U.S.C. United States Code

UT–LEIC University of Tennessee’s Law Enforcement 

Innovation Center

VA U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 

VALOR Preventing Violence Against Law Enforcement 

Officers and Ensuring Officer Resilience and 

Survivability

VIPS Volunteers in Police Service

VTC Veterans’ Treatment Courts
Bureau of Justice Assistance Information

BJA’s mission is to provide leadership and services in grant administration and criminal justice policy to 

support local, state, and tribal justice strategies to achieve safer communities. For more information about 

BJA and its programs, contact:

Bureau of Justice Assistance

810 Seventh Street NW.

Washington, DC 20531

Phone: 202–616–6500

www.bja.gov/contactus.aspx

Web site: www.bja.gov

The BJA Clearinghouse, a component of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, shares BJA 

program information with local, state, tribal, and federal agencies and community groups across the country. 

Information specialists provide reference and referral services, publication distribution, participation and 

support for conferences, and other networking and outreach activities. The clearinghouse can be contacted at:

Bureau of Justice Assistance Clearinghouse

P.O. Box 6000

Rockville, MD 20849–6000

Toll free: 1–800–851–3420

Fax: 301–519–5212

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

Web site: www.ncjrs.gov

Clearinghouse staff are available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. eastern time. Ask to be placed on 

the BJA mailing list.
U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Assistance

Washington, DC 20531

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

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POSTAGE & FEES PAID

DOJ/BJA

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