U.S. Department of Justice 

Office of Justice Programs 

Bureau of Justice Assistance 
 

 

 

 

U.S. Department of Justice
 

Office of Justice Programs
 

810 Seventh Street NW. 

Washington, DC 20531 

Eric H. Holder, Jr. 

Attorney General 

Laurie O. Robinson 

Assistant Attorney General 

James H. Burch, II 

Acting Director, Bureau of Justice Assistance 

Office of Justice Programs 

Innovation • Partnerships • Safer Neighborhoods 

www.ojp.usdoj.gov 

Bureau of Justice Assistance 

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA 

NCJ 228734
 

The Office of Justice Programs (OJP), headed by Assistant Attorney General Laurie O. 

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

control crime, administer justice, and assist victims. OJP has seven 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; 

the Community Capacity Development Office; and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, 

Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking. More information about OJP can be 

found at http://www.ojp.gov 
the President Pro Tempore of the Senate: 

Pursuant to the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as amended by
 

the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-690), in accordance with Section 522,
 

I am pleased to transmit the Bureau of Justice Assistance Annual Report for Fiscal
 

Year 2008.
 

Respectfully submitted, 

James H. Burch, II 

Acting Director 

Bureau of Justice Assistance 

Washington, D.C. 

November 2009 

To the Speaker of the House of Representatives and 

iii 

Contents 

FY 2008 At-A-Glance...................................................................................................................1 

FY 2008 Programs.......................................................................................................................5
 

Preventing Crime ................................................................................................................................... 5
 

Emergency Planning ............................................................................................................................ 11
 

Violent Crime and Gangs..................................................................................................................... 13
 

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

Problem-Solving Justice Initiatives..................................................................................................... 19
 

Combating Drug Crime and Abuse...................................................................................................... 24
 

Protecting Vulnerable Populations ...................................................................................................... 29
 

Correctional Options ............................................................................................................................ 30
 

Tools for Criminal Justice .................................................................................................................... 34
 

Justice Information Sharing ................................................................................................................ 36
 

Leadership and Building Capacity ...................................................................................................... 47
 

Acronyms and Abbreviations ............................................................................................................... 51
 

Appendixes.................................................................................................................... CD-ROM
 

v 

 

 

 

FY 2008 At-A-GlAnCe 

Created in 1984, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) strengthens the nation’s criminal justice system 

BJA Priorities 

n	 Emphasize Local Control 

n	 Develop Collaborations and 

Partnerships in the Field 

n	 Promote Capacity Building 

Through Planning 

n	 Streamline the Administration 

of Funding and Resources 

n	 increase Training and Technical 

Assistance 

n	 Create Accountability of Projects 

n	 Encourage innovation 

n	 Communicate the value of 

Justice Efforts 

and helps America’s local, state, and tribal governments reduce and prevent crime and violence. 

In FY 2008, BJA focused its programmatic and policy efforts on providing a wide range of resources to law 

enforcement, courts, corrections, treatment, justice information sharing, and community-based partners to 

address emerging and chronic crime challenges nationwide. 

A brief look at a few of the many programs administered by BJA in FY 2008 reveals 

the following: 

Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant funds provided more than $159
 

million to 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 5 territories for local, state,
 

and tribal justice initiatives.
 

Targeting Violent Crime Initiative funding, which was awarded in FY 2007,
 

allowed the 103 participating local law enforcement agencies to seize more than
 

4,600 firearms and disrupt or dismantle more than 600 gangs.
 

Gang Resistance Education And Training Program funds provided nearly
 

$7.7 million for 85 local law enforcement agencies to implement the school-based
 

law enforcement officer-instructed classroom curriculum for thousands of elementary
 

and middle school students nationwide.
 

Public Safety Officers’ Benefits were approved for more than 375 claims to
 

provide benefits to survivors of America’s fallen heroes.
 

Tribal Initiatives were bolstered through three programs totaling more than
 

$11 million for courts, treatment, and corrections efforts.
 

Prescription Drug Monitoring funds totaling more than $7 million allowed
 

states to enhance their capacity to collect and analyze controlled substance data.
 

1 
 

Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification Program funds totaling 

$7.8 million allowed states to build, implement, and improve their victim notification capacity. 

Prisoner Reentry Initiative funds of more than $10 million allowed communities to provide critical 

services to returning offenders and to ensure necessary accountability. 

Bulletproof Vest Partnership awards supported law enforcement throughout the country with more than 

$20 million for new and replacement vests. 

Justice Information Sharing initiatives assisted states and local communities nationwide in overcoming 

obstacles to sharing information appropriately and securely. 

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. 

2 F Solutions for Safer Communities 
FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 3 

FY 2008 Appropriations for BJA-Administered Programs (in $ millions) 

FY 2008 Appropriations for BJA-Administered Programs, by Program Areas (in $ millions) 

Justice Assistance 

Grant Program, $170.4 

Tribal Assistance, $22.4 

Byrne Discretionary 

Grant Program, 

$187.5 Other Programs, 

$164.0 Bulletproof Vest 

Partnership, $24.0 

Public Safety 

Officers’ Benefits 

Program, $74.8 

Drug Court Grant 

Program, $15.2 

Payment Programs, $435.0 

Tools for Criminal 

Justice, $25.0 

Justice Information 

Sharing, $97.4 

Leadership and Building Capacity, $6.0 

Honoring America’s Public 

Safety Officers, $74.8 

Correctional Options, 

$462.5 

Violent Crime 

and Gangs, $222.3 

Problem-Solving Justice 

Initiatives, $92.0 

Combating Drug Crime and Abuse, $51.6 

Preventing Crime, $48.8 

Protecting Vulnerable Populations, $19.7 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FY 2008 ProGrAms 

Preventing Crime
 

The actions of community members are extremely important to preventing crime; law enforcement 

and justice agencies can guide and strengthen those actions. Preventing crime means not only that 

citizens secure their own homes and take precautions to be safe, but also that they look out for the 

safety of their neighbors and other community members. BJA is committed to providing the tools, 

information, and resources that communities need to join together, learn what to do, and take action. 

To reduce and prevent crime, BJA partners with citizens and justice agencies to support neighborhood 

volunteer efforts, youth outreach programs, and identity theft and gang prevention initiatives. 

usA Freedom Corps 

A national program that promotes community service, 

USA Freedom Corps includes Citizen Corps, a locally 

driven initiative that promotes safer and stronger 

communities prepared to respond to the threats of 

terrorism, crime, public health issues, and disasters. 

BJA administers two components of Citizen Corps: the 

Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) Program and the 

USAonWatch/National Neighborhood Watch Program. 

Volunteers in Police Service Program 

Managed by the International Association of Chiefs 

of Police (IACP) on behalf of BJA and the White House 

Office of the USA Freedom Corps, VIPS enhances 

the capacity of local and state law enforcement to 

use volunteers. The foundation of this national 

initiative is its web site, www.policevolunteers.org, 

which has received more than 30 million hits. In FY 

2008, VIPS added two features to the site: a calculator 

that allows volunteer managers to calculate the 

national or state value of volunteer time, and Send to 

a Friend, which allows visitors to send a specific web 

page to another user or to add that page to a social 

networking site or blog. 

In FY 2008, VIPS hosted three policy forums with 

representatives from state associations of chiefs of 

police, state sheriffs’ associations, and state crime 

prevention associations. The program also released 

five new issues of the VIPS in Focus publication 

series, covering topics such as coping with the death 

of volunteers, the role of volunteers in a disaster, 

and how volunteers work with officers to prevent 

crime. VIPS also conducted five basic courses for 

those starting a program, eight advanced courses, 

and six disaster response courses. These courses 

5 
6 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

provided participants with the knowledge and skills 

to implement or enhance a law enforcement volunteer 

program, and informed them about integrating 

volunteers into a law enforcement agency’s plan 

for natural disasters, public health crises, and 

other emergencies. Additionally, VIPS continued to 

provide technical assistance (TA) to local and state 

law enforcement agencies, giving them the tools 

and guidance to develop and maintain successful 

volunteer programs. FY 2008 also marked a major 

milestone for VIPS; by May, as a result of the training 

courses, TA and mentor programs, other resources, 

and peer-to-peer network, more than 1,700 law 

enforcement volunteer programs had registered with 

the national VIPS Program. 

USAonWatch 

USAonWatch was established in partnership with 

Citizen Corps as an expansion of the National 

Neighborhood Watch (NW) program to empower 

citizens to become directly involved for the purposes 

of homeland security and emergency preparedness. 

In FY 2008, USAonWatch completed 18 trainings in 

16 states, preparing more than 600 personnel from 

273 departments to conduct outreach and training 

among the citizens in their communities. NW also 

developed new resources including 14 newsletters, 

meeting tips, a business watch manual, 10 FAQs for 

officers, a publication focused on resources for 

American Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages, 

and a revised NW manual. Information about NW 

was disseminated in a variety of ways, including 

participation at more than 20 conferences and 

distribution of 718 toolkits and more than 5,000 

brochures. In addition, NW was featured in more than 

50 publications and newspapers at the national level, 

handled more than 2,000 TA requests via phone or email, and received more than 2 million hits on its web 

site, www.usaonwatch.org. 

For the past 5 years, USAonWatch has recognized 

the efforts of law enforcement agencies, neighborhood 

watch groups, states, and organizations that are doing 

extraordinary things to promote NW programs in their 

communities. At the National Sheriffs’ Association 

(NSA) Annual Conference, USAonWatch and BJA 

recognized the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office, 

Louisiana; the Hermiston Police Department, Oregon; 

and the Toledo Neighborhood Block Watch, Ohio; as 

well as the Waste Management Corporation, based in 

Houston, Texas, which trains its drivers to recognize 

and report suspicious activity on their routes. 

Identity theft 

BJA is an active partner in the Office of Justice 

Programs (OJP) Identity Theft Working Group, 

which gathers information and contributes to the 

President’s Identity Theft Task Force. The workgroup 

meets periodically to share updates on identity theft 

publications, trainings, and TA resources for the 

field, such as trainings for prosecutors and computer 

forensics investigators in economic and high-tech 

crimes. In FY 2008, the working group oversaw 

a survey conducted to establish baseline data on 

incidence rates and victim profile information. 

BJA, in partnership with the National White Collar 

Crime Center (NW3C), also provides national 

trainings for agencies involved in preventing, 

investigating, and prosecuting economic and high-tech 

crimes, and for other entities in addressing homeland 

security initiatives as they relate to economic 

and high-tech crimes. In FY 2008, NW3C offered 
 

 

FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 7 

“Identity Theft Investigations,” a 3-day course for 

law enforcement professionals, criminal intelligence 

analysts, and prosecutors who may be involved with 

identity theft cases that promotes multiagency and 

private-sector collaborations and teaches investigative 

best practices that lead to successful prosecutions. 

Participants learned to recognize identity theft 

indicators and the crime’s potential nexus to terrorism 

and larger scale criminal activity. 

national Crime prevention Council 

McGruff ® Neighborhood Initiative 

In FY 2008, using BJA FY 2007 funding, the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) piloted 

the McGruff ® Neighborhood Initiative in seven 

elementary schools. These schools will use the 

McGruff ® Club program to teach children how to 

stay safe from bullying, strangers, and drugs. In 

partnership with local law enforcement agencies, 

the schools also will recruit volunteers for the 

McGruff ® House program—in which neighbors 

volunteer their homes to be marked as safe havens 

and available to children along their routes to 

school and play—so that children can access the 

help of a caring adult if they encounter dangers in 

their neighborhood. Representatives from the sites 

attended an implementation training event in August 

2008 and began teaching McGruff ® Club to first and 

second grade students in the fall. New publications 

featuring McGruff ® complement the McGruff ® 

Club curriculum. The sites have held community 

presentations and been featured in local media in 

efforts to recruit McGruff ® House volunteers. 

Be Safe and Sound in School 

NCPC is helping 12 middle schools implement the Be 

Safe and Sound in School program to address their 

safety concerns and develop action plans to increase 

school safety and security. Representatives from 

the sites attended a 2-day implementation training 

event in August 2008, and have recruited school 

safety action teams comprising school administrators, 

educators, parents, students, and law enforcement 

officers. The sites have conducted safety audits and 

surveys of educators, parents, and students to identify 

their top safety concerns, including bullying and 

vandalism. Plans to address these concerns include 

installing additional security cameras and holding 

events to educate students about safety. The results 

of a survey of 1,400 parents conducted in July 2008 

inspired NCPC to develop recommendations for 

increasing parent involvement in school safety efforts. 

Rapid Response 

When serious crimes instill fear in residents and 

threaten communities’ peace and security, the public 

demands a response and leadership. To meet this 

demand, NCPC and BJA have created Rapid Response, 

a public service initiative that addresses issues that 

law enforcement personnel ranked as important in 

an NCPC needs assessment. Thirty- and sixty-second 

prerecorded radio public service announcements, live 

announcer scripts, and posters, palm cards, and other 

materials provide safety tips specific to crimes such as 

burglary, fraud, home invasion, theft, workplace crime, 

school violence, senior fraud, sexual assault, and 

threats to children. Since the launch of the initiative, 

NCPC has distributed more than 500 kits to radio 

stations nationwide and nearly 300 radio kits to law 
8 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

enforcement and community outreach personnel, 

and has generated 5 news story placements sharing 

prevention tips. Through the end of FY 2008, the 

initiative had received nearly $19 million in donated 

media support. 

Safer Cities 

NCPC, in partnership with BJA, developed the Safer 

Cities project to provide tailored crime prevention 

assistance to law enforcement and their community 

partners. McGruff ® -focused fliers, tip cards, and 

posters designed to complement Rapid Response 

public service ads for radio were created to provide 

practitioners with crime prevention tools and 

messages that could be localized and implemented in 

response to a variety of emerging crime trends. The 

National League of Cities used a television webcast 

to promote these tools to its members, who include 

elected city officials, law enforcement executives, 

and others working to enhance public safety. The 

Philadelphia Police Department partnered with NCPC 

to launch a “Safer Seniors” campaign in response to 

increasing victimization of seniors through scams and 

assaults. NCPC also helped the District of Columbia 

Metropolitan Police Department to customize and use 

Safer Cities tools in response to emerging crime trends 

and to support the implementation of NCPC programs 

for children and youth in local Boys & Girls Clubs. 

Celebrate Safe Communities 

BJA partnered with NSA and NCPC to develop the 

Celebrate Safe Communities (CSC) program, which 

provides free online information, products, resources, 

and training to assist local law enforcement and 

communities in holding CSC events. Each community 

designs its own CSC events, which may include safety 

fairs, block parties, school events, educational events, 

and law enforcement and fire services demonstrations. 

Communities may hold their events at any time 

during the year, but the program encourages them to 

hold events in October as a means of commemorating 

Crime Prevention Month and helping to encourage 

community engagement in preventing crime 

and promoting safety. The CSC web site, www. 

celebratesafecommunities.org, provides information, 

training, publications, marketing materials, and crime 

prevention and public safety informational resources. 

Through 2008, 153 communities have registered their 

events on the site. 

law enforcement and Youth partnerships 

for Crime prevention Initiative 

The Law Enforcement and Youth Partnerships for 

Crime Prevention Initiative is a partnership among 

BJA, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and more 

than 20 national law enforcement and youth-oriented 

organizations to promote the value of engaging 

youth in crime prevention activities. In December 

2008, the 4th National Conference was held with 21 

youth-serving and crime prevention organizations 

conducting workshops for more than 700 participants 

from 213 community teams from 49 states, the 

District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 34 American 

Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages. These teams 

received training and then developed blueprint action 

plans to best serve the youth in their communities; 

each community received $20,000 in seed money to 

develop and implement crime prevention programs 

tailored for its area. The participating organizations 

will provide training and TA to the communities over 

the following 12 months. 
 

 

FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 9 

project Childsafe 

A component of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), 

Project ChildSafe teaches firearms owners how to 

properly store and safely handle their weapons and 

distributes safety kits that include gunlocks and gun 

safety information to prevent children from accessing 

loaded firearms in the home. In partnership with BJA, 

the National Shooting Sports Foundation administers 

the program and works with governors, lieutenant 

governors, and local officials to raise awareness 

of firearms safety and promote the safety kits’ 

availability. In FY 2008, Project ChildSafe distributed 

350,000 firearm safety kits to every requesting agency, 

which included 650 local and state law enforcement 

agencies in 48 states. Though these 650 agencies had 

requested 850,000 safety kits, the project was not able 

to deliver such a large quantity because of reduced 

resources. 

Mothers Against Drunk Driving 

In FY 2008, with support from BJA, Mothers Against 

Drunk Driving (MADD) enhanced its prevention 

and deterrence programs to eliminate drunk driving 

and prevent underage drinking throughout the 

country, and served 20 percent more victims of drunk 

driving crashes than in FY 2007, for a total of 55,000 

victims. MADD expanded its efforts to reach the 

African American, Hispanic, and American Indian 

tribes and Alaska Native villages with appropriate 

deterrence messages by hosting diversity trainings 

in five locations to facilitate coalition building. 

MADD furthered its underage drinking programs by 

increasing the number of Youth In Action sites by 

20 percent and by developing a culturally tailored 

Youth In Action manual for American Indian tribes 

and Alaska Native villages and implementing the 

program in six pilot sites. In addition, extensive 

training was developed and implemented in eight 

states, including a specialized training created for 

select participants, “Advanced Strategies for Underage 

Drinking Prevention.” 

Locally, MADD piloted the new Take the Wheel 

program in Harris County, Texas, which has more 

drunk driving deaths per capita than any other U.S. 

county. The comprehensive pilot implements all of 

MADD’s core programs in conjunction with extensive 

support for law enforcement’s efforts in preventing 

drunk driving and underage drinking. As a result, 

50 agencies came together to address this problem 

collectively in Harris County. 

On a national scale, funding from BJA enabled 40 

law enforcement officers to attend a specific law 

enforcement training track at MADD’s national 

conference in Dallas, Texas. MADD also developed 

and implemented a national volunteer management 

model, which includes management tools for 

planning, recruitment, intake, screening, supervision, 

evaluation, and recognition of volunteers. Finally, the 

MADD training institute certified 60 new community 

volunteers and staff representing 28 states. The 

training enhanced the volunteers’ knowledge of the 

organization, its history, and the research-based 

programs it has adopted to prevent impaired driving 

and underage drinking. 

gang Resistance education 

And training program 

In FY 2008, BJA awarded nearly $7.7 million to 85 

local law enforcement agencies in 28 states to 

implement the Gang Resistance Education And 
10 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

Training (G.R.E.A.T.) Program. G.R.E.A.T. is a schoolbased, law enforcement officer-instructed classroom 

curriculum intended as an immunization against 

delinquency, youth violence, and gang membership. 

In July 2008, the G.R.E.A.T. National Training 

Conference, “Building Bridges to a G.R.E.A.T. Future,” 

convened in St. Louis, Missouri, drawing more than 

700 participants representing more than 200 agencies. 

During FY 2008, 1,398 certified officers taught the 

G.R.E.A.T. Program in elementary and middle schools, 

with 134,104 elementary students and 273,130 middle 

school students completing the two curricula. In 

addition, 703 additional officers were certified to 

deliver the G.R.E.A.T. curriculum to youth in their 

respective communities and 279 G.R.E.A.T. officers 

facilitated the G.R.E.A.T. Families component. Local 

agencies continued to establish connections with 

school officials, faith-based organizations, and family/ 

juvenile court agencies to promote the “families” 

approach in their communities. Since the program’s 

inception in 1991, more than 9,700 law enforcement 

officers and law enforcement professionals have been 

certified as G.R.E.A.T. instructors and nearly 5 million 

students have graduated from the G.R.E.A.T. Program. 

Communities Against terror 

The Communities Against Terror (CAT) program 

was initially conceived and created as part of the 

State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training Program 

(SLATT ® ), established in partnership with the 

Institute for Intergovernmental Research (IIR), but 

was eventually funded through its own BJA grant 

to IIR. Predicated on the theory that nearly all acts 

of terror are preceded by discernible behavior and 

activity that will bring members of terror cells into 

contact with service providers and neighborhood 

businesses, CAT outlines potential indicators of 

terrorism for various industries and offers templates 

of industry-specific fliers designed for distribution to 

businesses. Accompanying tutorials prepare officers 

to work with the community and an automated 

presentation outlines the program. During FY 2008, 

IIR updated CAT regularly with new business and 

industry information. CAT is accessible online and at 

no cost via the SLATT ® web site, www.slatt.org, or on 

CD by request to SLATT ® . 

national Crime prevention Association 

The National Crime Prevention Association (NCPA), 

incorporated in Virginia in August 2008, is the only 

national crime prevention individual membership 

association in the United States and serves as a 

national voice for crime prevention practitioners. In 

FY 2008, a new director and membership coordinator 

were hired, the nine-member interim NCPA board 

of directors was established, and the new board 

approved the NCPA bylaws. The updated NCPA 

web site, www.ncpc.org/programs/national-crimeprevention-association, provides information resources 

specific to crime prevention issues and programs and 

posts training events occurring throughout the nation. 
 

Emergency Planning 


FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 11 

BJA and its national partners recognize that public health emergencies—whether natural or 

manmade—can present critical challenges to America’s law enforcement, court, and corrections 

systems. BJA and its partners support efforts to prepare a multilevel response by local, state, and 

federal governments to ensure that the rule of law is upheld and maintained throughout any crisis. 

pandemic planning 

BJA’s pandemic planning initiative is coordinated 

through a consortium that includes representatives 

from the major components of the justice system—law 

enforcement, courts, corrections, and communities— 

and meets regularly to discuss findings and issues. 

In partnership with American University’s Courts 

Technical Assistance Project, BJA assists local and 

state courts in planning and implementing processes 

to ensure that state judicial systems have the ability 

to maintain the rule of law in a pandemic crisis. 

As part of this assistance, BJA facilitates regular 

information sharing with other technical assistance 

providers. Through the Courts Technical Assistance 

Project, BJA also: 

n	 Disseminated more than 2,500 copies of 

Guidelines for Pandemic Emergency Preparedness 

Planning: A Roadmap for Courts (the Roadmap), 

published in FY 2007. 

Conducted a training program in January 2008 on 

public health emergency preparedness for more 

than 100 Ohio judicial system officials. 

Provided continuing onsite and offsite technical 

assistance to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for 

its planning and development of a 3-day public 

health training curriculum for judges in the state, 

n	 

n	 

which will serve as the foundation for curricula to 

be used by other states in training their judge and 

court personnel during FY 2009. 

Conducted two workshops on public health 

emergency preparedness at the National 

Association for Court Management’s 24th Annual 

Conference in July 2008. 

Distributed a multimedia DVD to local, state, and 

federal agencies on the critical elements of the 

Roadmap and its potential use in court system 

emergency preparedness planning. 

n	 

n	 

Continuity of operations 

Courts develop a continuity of operations plan (COOP) 

to ensure that they know what to do if faced with an 

emergency that threatens the continuation of normal 

operations. During FY 2008, BJA partnered with the 

National Center for State Courts (NCSC) to continue 

efforts to disseminate the COOP Planning Guide. 

The guide was developed (and continues to be revised 

as new information is obtained) with the assistance 

of a national coalition of 16 leaders from all sectors 

of the justice system and other agencies involved in 

planning for business continuity. The guide walks 

a court through the process of developing a COOP, 

including planning for a pandemic, and provides 
 

 

12 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

worksheets, a COOP template, and numerous links to 

online resources on COOP. 

BJA and NCSC also created an online course to 

augment and reinforce the information provided 

in the guide, which is accessible to all judges and 

court professionals through the COOP web site, 

www.ncsconline.org/coop. The course includes 

an introduction, 12 modules related to different 

components of COOP, an evaluation, and a 

bibliography. Each of the modules includes resource 

materials and a video presentation by a subjectmatter expert. 

Information about NCSC’s COOP web site and 

products has been disseminated to 24 national 

organizations and groups associated with court 

COOP issues. In addition, NCSC has integrated the 

products into its revised curriculum on emergency 

preparedness; resources are free and available 

on the Internet. A DVD of the guide and course 

materials is being developed for use during in-person 

presentations and educational sessions. 

Centers for Disease Control and 

prevention/Department of Justice 

Workgroup on Justice and public 

Health emergencies 

BJA and the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention’s Public Health Law Program convened a 

workgroup to foster better coordination among public 

health and law enforcement agencies as they respond 

jointly to all-hazards public health emergencies. The 

23 workgroup members were drawn from the fields 

of public health, law enforcement, and the judiciary 

at the state, local, and national levels. In February 

2008, the workgroup met for the last time, and in 

August 2008, it published the following three resource 

documents/products: 

n	 A Framework for Improving Cross-Sector 

Coordination for Emergency Preparedness and 

Response: Action Steps for Public Health, Law 

Enforcement, the Judiciary, and Corrections— 

recommended strategies and actions that public 

health and law enforcement agencies can take 

to cooperate more effectively at every stage of a 

bioterrorist or other all-hazards emergency. 

n	 Joint Public Health–Law Enforcement 

Investigations: A Model Memorandum of 

Understanding—a model protocol for joint 

interagency bioterrorism investigations. 

n	 Coordinated Implementation of Community 

Response Measures (Including Social 

Distancing) to Control the Spread of Pandemic 

Respiratory Disease: A Guide for Developing 

a Memorandum of Understanding for Public 

Health, Law Enforcement, Corrections, and the 

Judiciary—a model protocol for implementing 

non-pharmaceutical and other social distancing 

interventions during a contagious epidemic (e.g., 

pandemic influenza). 
 

 

 

 

Violent Crime and Gangs
 

FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 13 

To combat violent crime and gang activity that pose a threat to local communities, BJA supports 

initiatives that address the prevention, suppression, and subsequent reduction of these crimes and 

provides resources, including training and technical assistance (TTA), to criminal justice agencies. BJA 

also provides specialized training for law enforcement professionals that addresses multijurisdictional 

crime, active shooter incidents, and anti-terrorism. 

targeting Violent Crime Initiative 

BJA began funding the Targeting Violent Crime 

Initiative (TVCI) in FY 2007. In February 2008, the 

103 participating agencies began providing monthly 

reports documenting their TVCI activities, and by 

the end of FY 2008, they had made nearly 50,000 

arrests, seized more than 4,600 firearms, and 

disrupted or dismantled more than 600 street and 

trafficking gangs. 

In January 2008, more than 300 law enforcement 

officers, managers, and analysts attended a BJAsponsored conference to discuss TVCI-related issues 

such as geo-mapping, intelligence-led policing (ILP), 

and performance measurement. Today, nearly all 

of the participating agencies are developing or 

maintaining a multijurisdictional, ILP approach 

to violent crime in coordination with a federal law 

enforcement agency or agencies. BJA also sponsors 

an ILP TTA program, which has provided assistance 

to the Department of Transportation’s Data-Driven 

Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety initiative, 

which seeks to demonstrate the value of enforcing 

traffic laws in suppressing serious crime. BJA’s ILP 

program plans to identify and assess more than 10 

TVCI agencies that attribute reductions in crime to 

TVCI ILP efforts; this assessment will be published 

to assist other agencies seeking practical, hands-on 

information about the suppressive effects that ILP 

has on violent crime. 

edward Byrne Memorial Justice 

Assistance grant program 

The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance 

Grant (JAG) Program is the leading source of federal 

justice funding to state and local jurisdictions. 

The JAG Program provides state, tribal, and local 

governments with critical funding for a broad 

range of program areas, including law enforcement, 

prosecution and problem-solving courts, crime 

prevention, community corrections, drug abuse 

treatment and prevention, planning, evaluation, 

technology improvement, information sharing, and 

crime victim and witness initiatives. More than 40 

percent of annual JAG funding is allocated to law 

enforcement initiatives and their basic needs such 

as multijurisdictional drug and gang task forces, 

police cruisers, and less-than-lethal devices. JAG 

awards are for 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. In FY 2008, BJA 

administered $159 million in JAG funding (nearly 

$118 million to states and territories and more than 
 

 

 

 

 

14 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

$41 million to local units of government), a decrease of 

nearly $294 million from FY 2007. 

project safe neighborhoods 

PSN is a nationwide initiative to reduce gun and 

gang crime by networking existing local programs 

that target these crimes and then supporting those 

programs with the additional tools they need to 

succeed. In FY 2008, BJA awarded 93 PSN grants 

totaling more than $13.6 million. 

Through PSN, BJA delivers substantial TTA. In 

2008, U.S. Attorneys’ Offices made 40 requests for 

TTA, compared with 15 requests in FY 2007. As a 

result of this increased interest, the Project Safe 

Neighborhoods Training and Technical Assistance 

Manual and Request Form were revised. A total of 

26,709 individuals received TTA during FY 2008. 

At the end of FY 2007, the PSN Anti-Gang Training 

was piloted in Dover, Delaware; due to the positive 

feedback and suggestions from attendees at that 

event, 10 trainings were scheduled in FY 2008. 

BJA and members of the U.S. Department of 

Justice’s (DOJ) federal law enforcement agencies 

(e.g., the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and 

Explosives; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the 

U.S. Marshals Service) and national partners (e.g., 

the National District Attorneys Association, IACP, 

the National Gang Center) delivered the training 

to more than 2,500 sworn and non-sworn personnel 

throughout the United States. The training features 

four distinct tracks for criminal justice professionals: 

Intervention/Prevention, Line Law Enforcement, 

Investigators/Prosecutors, and Executives. Attendees 

receive a resource CD that describes TTA and 

supplemental training available through PSN. 

BJA, in collaboration with the Justice Programs 

Office at American University, also developed a 

2-day training program to assist jurisdictions 

with combating violent crime in public housing 

communities. Specific topics of the training include 

the “Crime Free Multi-Housing Program”; “Crime 

Prevention through Environmental Design”; 

successful federal, state, and local partnerships in 

public housing; use of evictions and barring notices; 

assistance available through the Department of 

Housing and Urban Development’s Office of the 

Inspector General; prisoner reentry into public 

housing areas; performance measurement and 

program sustainability; and specific community, 

youth, and crime prevention programs in public 

housing. The training also addresses a particular 

challenge to law enforcement—the culture of 

“snitching.” More than 120 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, 

state and local law enforcement, and housing 

personnel attended the training, which was delivered 

twice; due to the feedback from attendees, additional 

trainings are being considered. 

Capital Case litigation Initiative 

The Capital Case Litigation Initiative provides highquality TTA to attorneys and judges who litigate 

death penalty cases. Capital case litigation consists of 

two trials (a guilty 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. 

Under third-year initiative funding, the National 

District Attorneys Association trained 57 Missouri 

prosecutors in April 2008 to use a curriculum 

developed under prior grant funds; and the National 
 

 

 

 

FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 15 

Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers conducted 

two bring-your-own-case capital defense trainings 

in Lexington, Virginia, in April 2008, and San 

Bernardino, California, in June 2008. Each program 

was attended by 35–38 participants from jurisdictions 

in the region and 14 senior faculty from across the 

country. In addition to national training programs, 

eight states were awarded grants to provide local 

training programs for prosecutors, defense attorneys, 

and judges: Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, 

Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, and Texas. 

In May 2008, the National Judicial College (NJC) 

hosted a curriculum and faculty development 

meeting. Fifteen judges from Alabama, California, 

and Louisiana participated in the meeting, which 

was conducted by NJC national faculty judges, staff, 

and consultants. Following the meeting, NJC staff 

worked with the judges to develop and present 

judicial education curricula in capital litigation 

tailored to their states’ needs. In July 2008, a second 

meeting, attended by judges and attorneys from 

Pennsylvania and Virginia, focused on developing 

two 2-day curricula on death penalty issues for judges 

and attorneys. The two states will present these 

trainings to an equal mix of judges, prosecutors, and 

defense attorneys. 

Attorney general’s 10-City 

Anti-gang Initiative 

In 2006, the Attorney General announced that six 

sites had been selected for the Comprehensive AntiGang Initiative: Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas; Tampa/ 

Hillsborough, Florida; Cleveland, Ohio; Milwaukee, 

Wisconsin; Los Angeles, California; and the Route 

222 Corridor of Eastern Pennsylvania. The initiative 

uses a three-pronged approach of suppression and 

law enforcement, prevention, and reentry services 

and supervision to address violent gang activities in 

these cities. The initiative utilizes community-based 

partnerships spearheaded by the U.S. Attorney’s 

Office in each of the sites to focus on specific 

communities within these cities. The partnerships 

include federal, state, and local law enforcement 

agencies and prosecutors; local and state corrections 

and probation agencies; faith-based and community 

organizations (FBCO); local and state service and 

prevention agencies; and community activist groups. 

In 2007, four additional sites were added: Oklahoma 

City, Oklahoma; Indianapolis, Indiana; Raleigh/ 

Durham, North Carolina; and Rochester, New York. 

Finally, two sites were added in FY 2008: Detroit, 

Michigan; and Cook County/Chicago, Illinois. 

The law enforcement component focuses on 

suppression, cooperation, collaboration, and 

intelligence sharing among federal, state, and local 

law enforcement agencies to combat gun violence and 

violent street gangs. The prevention component works 

at preventing children, teenagers, and young adults 

from becoming involved in gangs, and at deterring 

renewed gang involvement for those offenders 

returning to the community from jail or prison. The 

reentry component focuses on pre- and post-release 

services and supervision for gang members returning 

to the community following incarceration at the 

local or state level. Both prevention and reentry 

components can involve public agencies, FBCOs, or 

other private agencies. Each of the first 10 sites has 

established partnerships with a variety of FBCOs 

to provide services and to use vouchers, which is 

encouraged by the initiative. 
16 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

Center for task Force training 

Multiagency task forces assist state and local 

law enforcement agencies in sharing expertise, 

intelligence, and resources in their response to 

serious, multijurisdictional crime. Through the 

Center for Task Force Training (CenTF), BJA offers 

a 3-day “Task Force Commanders Workshop” that 

focuses on the administrative and operational 

aspects of multiagency enforcement. The training 

covers developing task force policies and procedures, 

personnel issues, informant supervision, undercover 

operations, raid planning, risk assessment, and 

critical incident management. In FY 2008, CenTF 

offered this course 8 times, training 355 participants. 

CenTF also offers a 3-day methamphetamine 

investigation course—which it offered twice in FY 

2008, training 59 participants—and provides a 

centralized source of current narcotics information, 

training opportunities, and other online resources at 

www.iir.com/centf. 

Advanced law enforcement 

Rapid Response training 

During FY 2007, BJA partnered with Texas 

State University (TSU) to fund its Advanced Law 

Enforcement Rapid Response Training initiative for 

campus, school, local, and tribal law enforcement 

nationwide. The “Basic Active Shooter” course trains 

first responders to safely and effectively respond 

to, address, and stop an active shooter (defined as 

one or more subjects who participate in a random 

or systematic shooting spree wherein the shooters 

exhibit the intent to continuously harm others). 

To continue the “Basic Active Shooter” efforts and 

develop a nationwide resource of active shooter 

trainers, BJA also provided funding for TSU to deliver 

train-the-trainer active shooter trainings. During the 

first 6 months of 2008, TSU conducted 7 train-thetrainer classes and 24 “Basic Active Shooter” classes. 

As a result, 175 trainers were certified, completing 

both the required pre- and post-training evaluations, 

and 720 law enforcement officers completed the preand post-training evaluations for the “Basic Active 

Shooter” course. 

In September 2008, BJA provided TSU with 

additional funding to train law enforcement patrol 

officers to respond to and stop an active shooter. 

TSU will use the funding to offer a national training 

program that includes “Basic Active Shooter” training 

(6 16-hour classes), train-the-trainer (11 40-hour 

classes), and full support for “Certified Instructor-Led 

Basic Active Shooter” training (15 16-hour classes). 

TSU will be able to educate more than 800 law 

enforcement officers throughout the nation with more 

than 19,400 hours of active shooter response training, 

and will certify approximately 275 trainers who can 

bring this vital training back to their agencies. 

state and local Anti-terrorism 

training program 

BJA provides valuable and timely anti-terrorism 

training to the nation’s law enforcement officers 

through SLATT®, established in partnership with 

the Institute for Intergovernmental Research. In 

FY 2008, more than 10,500 federal, state, local, and 

tribal officers received onsite training customized 

specifically to the needs of their jurisdiction. Events 

were frequently cohosted by multiple agencies, and 

workshops were well publicized so that area agencies 

could participate in appropriate events. The SLATT ® 

web site, www.slatt.org, provides basic training 
 

 

FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 17 

modules and other reference materials for officers who 

are unable to attend onsite training, and also offers 

continuing training. 

In FY 2008, SLATT ® hosted the new “Anti-Terrorism 

Workshop for Campus Law Enforcement,” which was 

offered 8 times on campuses nationwide and attended 

by 337 campus law enforcement professionals and 

local partner agencies. This 1- to 2-day specialized 

workshop provides terrorism awareness training to 

campus law enforcement personnel. As such, it serves 

an audience that has so far lacked the resources 

and training to protect our nation’s campuses from 

the threat posed by terrorist and criminal extremist 

individuals and groups. Course topics are tailored 

to the specific concerns of college and university 

campuses and include terrorism indicators, political 

extremism/terrorism on campus, radicalization on 

campus, and officer safety issues. The training also 

addresses the complexities of balancing individual 

liberty and privacy rights with safety and security 

in open and accessible environments. SLATT ® also 

hosted 2 “Tribal Lands Anti-Terrorism Briefings” in 

FY 2008, with 69 participants. 

Honoring America’s Public Safety Officers
 

BJA is honored to administer the following programs recognizing America’s public safety heroes and 

their selfless and unwavering dedication to their communities nationwide. 

public safety officer Medal of Valor 

The Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor Act 

establishes that the President may award up to five 

Medals of Valor annually to public safety officers 

for performing extraordinary acts of valor that are 

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

administers this program on behalf of OJP’s Office of 

the Assistant Attorney General. 

The recipients of the 2006–2007 Medal of Valor, 

honored in 2008, are: 

n	 Commander Miguel Galvez of the Opa-Locka 

Police Department, and Detective Raymond 

Robertson of the Miami-Dade Police Department 

(both of Miami, Florida), who were ambushed 

during a narcotics investigation and, despite 

Detective Robertson’s severe wounds, fatally 

wounded one of their assailants. 

Officer David Goitia of the Glendale Police 

Department (Glendale, Arizona), who was able to 

drag his fatally wounded partner to safety while 

under gunfire, and to wound and incapacitate 

their assailant, who was later taken into custody. 

DOJ Special Agent William Sentner, III 

(posthumous; Miami, Florida), who was shot while 

helping to arrest several federal prison guards, 

but returned fire, fatally wounding his assailant 

and thus preventing further injuries to his team 

members, before succumbing to his wounds, which 

were fatal. 

n	 

n	 
18 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

n	 Lieutenant Carlos Thompson of the Mobile County 

Sheriff’s Office (Alabama), who was critically 

wounded during a traffic stop of a robbery suspect 

armed with an assault rifle, but was able to return 

fire and fatally wound his assailant. 

public safety officers’ Benefits program 

Enacted in 1976, the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits 

(PSOB) Program: 

n	 Assists in the recruitment and retention of 

qualified public safety officers. 

Establishes the value communities place on 

contributions from those who are willing to serve 

their communities in dangerous circumstances. 

Offers peace of mind to men and women who are 

seeking careers in public safety. 

n	 

n	 

A unique partnership effort of DOJ; local, state, 

and federal public safety agencies; and national 

organizations, the 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. Benefits 

include the following: 

n Death. PSOB provides a one-time benefit to 

eligible survivors of public safety officers whose 

deaths were the direct and proximate result of 

an injury sustained in the line of duty on or after 

September 29, 1976. 

Disability. PSOB provides a one-time benefit 

to eligible public safety officers who were 

n

permanently and totally disabled as a result of a 

catastrophic injury sustained in the line of duty 

on or after November 29, 1990. Injuries must 

permanently prevent officers from performing any 

gainful work in the future. 

Education. PSOB provides support for higher 

education to eligible spouses and children 

of public safety officers who died in the line 

of duty on or after January 1, 1978, or were 

catastrophically disabled in the line of duty on or 

after October 3, 1996. 

n

The PSOB Office reviews nearly 700 death, disability, 

and education claims submitted each year. The 

office also collaborates with national firefighter, law 

enforcement, and first responder groups to provide a 

wide range of PSOB training and technical assistance 

resources—through conferences, seminars, and 

printed materials such as the PSOB Information 

Kit—and to offer vital information and support to 

survivors and agencies of America’s fallen public 

safety officers. 

FY 2008 At-A-glance 

type of Claim psoB Claims 

Filed 

psoB Claims 

Approved 

Death 315 377 

Disability 50 12 

Education 261 261 
 

 

 

FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 19 

To make the PSOB Program even more responsive to 

the needs of America’s public safety community, in FY 

2008, BJA: 

n	 Implemented a Case Management System. 

The database of active PSOB cases was 

incorporated into a new web-based PSOB case 

management system, enabling PSOB to track 

cases from initiation through final disposition. 

Increased Awareness. Although many law 

enforcement officers, firefighters, and other first 

responders know about the PSOB Program, too 

many agencies are still surprised to learn that the 

program has existed for more than 30 years. BJA 

is committed to “getting the word out” to those 

who should know, through presentations and 

trainings at national, regional, state, and local 

conferences and meetings. 

n	 

n	 Enhanced Communication. Agencies need 

accurate and consistent updates on PSOB 

benefits. The PSOB web site, www.psob.gov, 

continues to be updated to share practical details 

regarding the program, as well as to allow users 

to download forms and other information. 

Distributed Information Kits. PSOB 

finalized the PSOB Information Kit, which was 

distributed to approximately 60,000 public safety 

organizations throughout the country. The kit 

includes a copy of the new regulations, an easyto-use checklist for “Hometown Heroes” claims, 

updated PSOB forms, and an information card 

for loved ones of public safety officers to keep 

with other important papers. Additionally, DOJ 

finalized and PSOB disseminated nearly 60,000 

copies of the Attorney General’s Guide to the 

Hometown Heroes Survivors’ Benefits Act. 

n

Problem-Solving Justice Initiatives
 

Through problem-solving justice initiatives, BJA applies key problem-solving principles—links to 

social services, rigorous judicial monitoring, and aggressive community outreach—outside of the 

specialized court context. Research has demonstrated that, if implemented properly, the problemsolving approach can reduce crime, improve coordination among justice agencies, enhance 

services to victims, and increase public trust in justice. In partnership with federal, state, and local 

agencies, BJA supports problem-solving efforts that address the mental health and substance abuse 

issues of individuals involved in the criminal justice system. BJA also helps tribal and Alaska Native 

governments develop, implement, and enhance their judicial systems. 

Justice and Mental Health partnerships Program (JMHCP), which strives to increase public 

safety through innovative cross-system collaboration 

The Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime for individuals with mental illnesses or co-occurring 

Reduction Act, reauthorized in 2008, is the basis mental health and substance abuse disorders. In FY 

for the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration 2008, $6.5 million was appropriated for the program. 
 

 

20 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

With this funding, BJA awarded 23 JMHCP grants 

and provided funding for training and technical 

assistance for grantees and non-grantees. Of the 

23 grants awarded in 2008, 3 were for planning, 10 

were for planning and implementation, and 10 were 

for implementation and expansion. Fifteen of the 

grantees will focus on adults with mental illnesses 

and eight will focus on juveniles or young adults. In 

addition, three of the grantees will focus exclusively 

on female offenders with mental illnesses. 

To better serve JMHCP grantees, BJA worked with 

the Council of State Governments’ Justice Center (the 

Justice Center) to provide resources and technical 

assistance. During FY 2008, Justice Center staff 

and expert consultants developed and implemented 

TA plans for 26 grantees; conducted 2 site visits to 

grantees; organized a panel of grantees for the 2008 

National GAINS Center Conference; developed 2 new 

distance learning approaches for grantees, online peer 

group message boards, and teleconference training 

for grantees on “Identifying a Target Population”; 

and expanded the content of the Criminal Justice/ 

Mental Health Information Network web site, adding 

additional profiles of court-based and law enforcement 

programs developed in collaboration with the Police 

Executive Research Forum and the National Alliance 

on Mental Illness. 

The Act’s legislation also requires collaboration among 

federal partners on mental health and criminal justice 

issues. In FY 2008, BJA, together with the Office of 

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the 

National Institute of Corrections, and the Substance 

Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 

(SAMHSA) within the U.S. Department of Health 

and Human Services, renewed its memorandum 

of understanding for interagency efforts that will 

improve the response to people with mental health 

disorders, substance abuse disorders, or co-occurring 

disorders who are involved with or at risk of 

involvement with the criminal and juvenile justice 

systems. In March 2008, based on this memorandum, 

these federal partners participated in a panel at the 

National GAINS Center conference to discuss the 

individual and coordinated activities taking place 

regarding criminal justice and mental health issues. 

Further, the National Institute of Corrections and 

BJA, with input from SAMHSA, jointly funded TA 

to Florida, Kansas, Pennsylvania, and Texas. This 

TA, provided by the Justice Center, built on existing 

investments by the federal partners to achieve more 

comprehensive, statewide outcomes. 

law enforcement/Mental Health 

partnership program 

BJA, the Justice Center, and the Police Executive 

Research Forum have partnered to build on the 

successes of individual communities throughout the 

country in addressing law enforcement encounters 

involving people with mental illnesses. In FY 2008, 

these partners finalized, printed, and disseminated 

to the field the first law enforcement publication 

in the Improving Responses to People with Mental 

Illnesses series—Essential Elements of Specialized 

Law Enforcement-Based Programs. This publication 

identifies 10 key components found in any successful 

law enforcement initiative to achieve better outcomes 

from officers’ encounters with individuals with mental 

illnesses. BJA and Justice Center staff also finalized 

the second law enforcement publication in the 

Improving Responses to People with Mental Illnesses 

series—Strategies for Law Enforcement Effective 

Training—which was printed and disseminated in 
 

 

FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 21 

early FY 2009 and which guides law enforcement 

agencies in planning or enhancing a training initiative 

to support a crisis intervention team, co-responder, 

or other type of specialized law enforcement-based 

response program. Finally, the third law enforcement 

publication in the series, Tailoring Responses to 

Jurisdictional Needs and Circumstances, based on site 

visits and interviews, is being drafted and is expected 

to be completed in 2009. 

At the 2008 BJA regional conferences, the partners 

also sponsored workshops that highlighted the 

crisis intervention team and co-responder programs 

from Salt Lake City, Utah; Connecticut and the 

City of Hartford; Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Georgia. 

A presentation at each workshop highlighted the 

information that the Essential Elements of Specialized 

Law Enforcement-Based Programs provides its readers. 

Mental Health Court learning sites 

In FY 2008, using data gathered from the five mental 

health courts designated as learning sites by BJA, 

the Justice Center developed a data analysis of 

learning site participants, which formed the basis of 

a presentation that Justice Center staff gave together 

with the learning sites at the National GAINS Center 

Conference. In addition, the Justice Center and 

BJA released Improving Responses to People with 

Mental Illnesses: The Essential Elements of a Mental 

Health Court and finalized Mental Health Courts: 

A Primer for Policymakers and Practitioners, which 

was disseminated in FY 2009. The latter publication 

provides the field with a comprehensive overview 

and history of mental health courts and describes 

their goals and processes, how they differ from drug 

courts, research findings about their effectiveness, 

and resources for jurisdictions interested in starting a 

mental health court. 

Drug Courts 

In FY 2008, 39 drug court teams received funding 

support from BJA to plan and prepare for a drug 

court in their community, and more than 300 

individuals were trained in 4 week-long workshops. 

BJA also awarded 37 grants for implementation or 

enhancement of drug court programs, for a total of 

more than $8.1 million. 

The BJA National Drug Court Training and Technical 

Assistance Program, in partnership with the National 

Drug Court Institute, participated in 27 statewide 

drug court training events and conducted 2 advanced 

trainings on “Incentives and Sanctions” in the drug 

court setting. The National Drug Court Institute also 

responded to 186 onsite TA requests and more than 

2,500 offsite TA requests, and delivered 3 publications 

to the field: Painting the Current Picture: A National 

Report Card on Drug Courts and Other ProblemSolving Court Programs in the United States; Quality 

Improvement for Drug Courts: Evidence-Based 

Practices; and Ensuring Sustainability for Drug 

Courts: An Overview of Funding Strategies. 

Two other organizations partnered with BJA to 

support drug courts. The National Center for State 

Courts conducted more than 12 onsite visits to statelevel agencies and published a Statewide Technical 

Assistance Bulletin, Performance Measurement of 

Drug Courts: The State of the Art, distributing more 

than 5,500 copies electronically and in print. The 

National Drug Court Clearinghouse, managed by 

American University, responded to more than 2,500 

inquiries, disseminated more than 10,000 documents, 
 

 

22 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

and prepared reports on drug court activity for 

BJA and requesting jurisdictions. In FY 2008, the 

clearinghouse web site recorded more than 1.7 

million hits. 

Finally, BJA provided funding to the National 

Institute of Justice to complete the Multisite Adult 

Drug Court Evaluation, a 5-year longitudinal process, 

impact, and cost evaluation study of adult treatment 

drug court programs that samples nearly 1,800 drug 

court and non-drug court probationers from 30 rural, 

suburban, and urban jurisdictions throughout the 

United States. Results are expected by the end of 2009 

to indicate the effect of adult drug courts on alcohol 

and other drug use, criminal recidivism, employment, 

and other functional outcomes. 

tribal Courts Assistance program 

In FY 2008, through the Tribal Courts Assistance 

Program, BJA awarded 38 grants totaling nearly 

$5.9 million to help federally recognized American 

Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages plan single 

and intertribal court systems and implement small, 

medium, and large tribal court enhancement projects. 

BJA partnered with the Tribal Judicial Institute 

at the University of North Dakota Law School, the 

Tribal Courts Assistance Program Advisory Board, 

and other tribal-affiliated national and regional 

partners to plan and conduct 43 trainings throughout 

the country that benefited more than 2,700 tribal 

court officials representing hundreds of tribal justice 

systems. Curriculum development is also underway. 

Outreach to tribal communities included 12 onsite 

visits and scholarships to 98 BJA grantees and 

non-grantees. Through its partnership with the 

National Tribal Judicial Center (NTJC), BJA provided 

educational opportunities to tribal judicial personnel 

in established and emerging justice systems in Indian 

Country. NTJC curricula are specifically aimed at 

strengthening the sovereignty of American Indian 

and Alaska Native tribes through judicial education. 

NTJC is also working with the Alaska Native Justice 

Center to develop a curriculum incorporating native 

traditions, establishing professional standards, and 

leading ultimately to the development of an Alaska 

Native tribal court association, which would be the 

first such organization. 

problem-solving Courts 

BJA, in collaboration with the Center for Court 

Innovation, is promoting the implementation of 

problem-solving and community-based practices for 

courts nationwide, focusing the efforts of the justice 

system on achieving more meaningful and lasting 

outcomes for courts, communities, and victims. A 

primary effect and benefit of such efforts is stopping 

the revolving door phenomenon for defendants. In 

addition, by making online tools available to judges 

and criminal justice practitioners, BJA helps court 

professionals develop new skills and embrace new 

ideas and strategies. To promote BJA’s CommunityBased Problem-Solving Criminal Justice Initiative, 

the center, which provides TA for this initiative, 

continues to update and manage the initiative’s web 

site, www.problemsolvingjustice.org. In FY 2008, the 

center also hosted nearly 150 site visits, with 829 

visitors (e.g., judges, court managers, prosecutors, 

public defenders, law enforcement officers, academics), 

to demonstration projects in New York; responded 

to nearly 400 requests for assistance; gave 62 

presentations at conferences; and published several 

papers and reports (available on the web site). 
 

 

FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 23 

In April 2008, BJA and the center hosted a roundtable 

discussion on the statewide coordination of problemsolving courts, which convened national experts 

and representatives from eight states that are at 

varied stages of coordinating problem-solving courts. 

The day-long discussion among 18 practitioners, 

researchers, and policymakers underscored the 

importance of these efforts. Although everyone 

seemed to agree that coordination has advantages—in 

terms of mustering resources, setting standards, 

coordinating with other justice agencies, and 

sponsoring and disseminating research—not everyone 

agreed on what form coordination should take, how it 

should be achieved, or what its ultimate goal should 

be. One result of this meeting was the formation of 

the National Network for Problem-Solving Justice, 

including a listserv for exchanging ideas online and a 

symposium planned for 2009. 

Community Courts 

Community courts are neighborhood-focused courts 

that attempt to harness the power of the justice 

system to address local problems. These courts 

can take many forms, but all strive to create new 

partnerships, both within the justice system and with 

outside stakeholders such as residents, merchants, 

churches, and schools. These courts also test new 

and aggressive problem-solving approaches to public 

safety issues rather than merely responding to crime 

after it has occurred. The first community court in the 

country was the Midtown Community Court, launched 

in 1993 in New York City. At present, more than 30 

community courts, inspired by the Midtown model, 

are in operation or being planning. In FY 2008, BJA, 

in collaboration with the Center for Court Innovation, 

tapped community courts in Dallas, Texas; Hartford, 

Connecticut; and Seattle, Washington, to serve as 

mentors for jurisdictions that want to do a better job 

combating neighborhood crime and increasing the 

community’s trust in the justice system. The three 

courts will work with the center to provide guidance 

in developing strategies that combine punishment 

(such as mandatory participation in community 

restitution projects) with assistance (such as links to 

drug treatment and job training). 

Community prosecution 

In partnership with BJA and the Center for 

Court Innovation, the National District Attorneys 

Association’s American Prosecutors Research Institute 

supports the National Center for Community 

Prosecution (NCCP) in its efforts to promote 

community prosecution, enhance the effectiveness of 

community prosecutors in the field, and emphasize 

sustainability and measurement. In November 2007, 

NCCP hosted a community prosecution training 

conference at the National Advocacy Center in 

Columbia, South Carolina, attended by 32 prosecutors 

and other participants, including one prosecutor 

from Brazil. In May 2008, NCCP hosted another 

community prosecution workshop in Chicago, Illinois, 

attended by 108 participants from throughout the 

nation. NCCP produced two issues of its semiannual 

newsletter, Building Bridges, and three other 

publications: Community Prosecution Techniques to 

Reduce Drug-Related Gang Activity; Downtown Justice 

and Neighborhood Crime: The Role of the Multnomah 

County District Attorney in Order Maintenance, 1990– 

2004; and Office Management Strategies. NCCP also 

provided additional TA and hosted strategic meetings 

at five prosecutors’ offices and for a Malaysian 
 

 

 

 

 

24 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

delegation. The NCCP web site reported 65,231 hits 

and 593 requests for TA (“Ask the Experts”). 

tribal pretrial Initiatives 

BJA partnered with the Pretrial Justice Institute 

to provide tribal justice leaders with tools to 

help them implement effective pretrial release 

decisionmaking practices. In FY 2008, the Pretrial 

Justice Institute educated tribal leaders about the 

benefits of pretrial services, provided information on 

culturally appropriate model tribal codes relating 

to pretrial release decisionmaking, and presented 

culturally appropriate program protocols. Activities 

included workshops on enhancing pretrial release 

decisionmaking in tribal courts at the Annual 

Meeting and Conference of the National American 

Indian Court Judges Association, the Annual MultiJurisdictional Law Enforcement Training Conference, 

and the Tribal Justice and Safety Conference; a 2-day 

training session on pretrial release decisionmaking 

for representatives of 12 Arizona tribes under 

the auspices of the Arizona Tribal Justice and 

Rehabilitation Coalition; and 2 publications: Guide for 

Developing Tribal Codes for Pretrial Release Decision 

Making, and Enhancing Pretrial Justice in Tribal 

Courts Through Pretrial Services: A Primer for Tribal 

Justice Leaders. 

southwest Border prosecution Initiative 

The Southwest Border Prosecution Initiative provides 

funds to eligible jurisdictions in the four southwest 

border states using a uniform payment-per-case basis 

for qualifying federally initiated and declined-referred 

criminal cases. Eligible jurisdictions include the 

county and state governments in Arizona, California, 

New Mexico, and Texas. In FY 2008, BJA awarded 

$14.3 million to 47 applicants who applied for first 

and second quarter reimbursements. An additional 

$14.3 million is allocated for third and fourth quarter 

FY 2008 applications, and will be awarded by 

September 30, 2009. 

Combating Drug Crime and Abuse
 

Because drug crime and abuse issues affect nearly every aspect of the criminal justice system, crosssystem collaboration and federal partnerships are critical to sharing information and enabling the 

criminal justice system to stem illegal drug production, sales, and abuse; offer substance-abusing 

offenders treatment; and assist children exposed to illicit drug production. 

Drug Market Intervention Initiative committed to implementing the “High Point Model” of 

drug crime reduction, based on a program designed 

In FY 2008, BJA implemented the Drug Market and successfully implemented in High Point, North 

Intervention Initiative (DMI), a 9-month training Carolina, to eliminate open-air drug markets and 

and technical assistance initiative for jurisdictions the crime and violence associated with them. With 
 

 

FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 25 

the support and assistance of its national partners— 

American University, Michigan State University, 

the Institute for Law and Justice, and the John 

Jay College of Criminal Justice—BJA sponsored a 

progressive series of three trainings in October 2007, 

March 2008, and July 2008. Participating were teams 

from eight selected jurisdictions, each consisting of 

a prosecutor, a law enforcement officer, a community 

leader, and a social service provider. The national 

partners also provided TA to each jurisdiction in 

the form of regular followup calls between training 

sessions and visited several locations. In performing 

these services, the DMI partners created a training 

curriculum; a TA/site visit protocol; and a secure 

web site, hosted by Michigan State University, that 

serves DMI participants by providing a place for 

announcements, resources, and communication 

among one another. Technical guides and a public web 

repository for all DMI-related resources are in progress. 

Combating Methamphetamine use 

In FY 2008, BJA continued to support projects that 

address the spread of methamphetamine (meth) use 

by promoting effective prevention and response. BJA 

partner FirstPic, Inc., provided methamphetamine 

enforcement TTA to tribal communities. Coordinating 

with other federal agencies and national tribal 

organizations, FirstPic identified nine geographically 

diverse tribes—the Choctaw Nation (Oklahoma), 

Crow (Montana), Eastern Cherokee (North Carolina), 

Gila River (Arizona), Navajo (Arizona/New Mexico), 

Salt River (Arizona), Winnebago (Nebraska), Yakama 

(Washington), and Zuni (Arizona)—for training in 

interdiction and investigative strategies, forensic 

techniques, clandestine labs, enforcement, safety, and 

demand reduction strategies. In FY 2008, 6 of the 

tribes received the training, with a total of 420 tribal 

law enforcement officials and community participants 

in attendance. 

With funding from BJA, the National Association 

of Counties (NACo) offered TA in the form of 

publications, monthly newsletters, and a series 

of surveys focusing on how meth has affected law 

enforcement, health care providers, substance abuse 

treatment providers, social services, and jails and 

prisons at the local level. In addition, NACo began 

a series of regional training forums for community 

teams of county elected officials, including local 

substance abuse treatment professionals, sheriffs, 

law enforcement professionals, probation and court 

personnel, and prevention, treatment, and health 

and human services professionals. The Southwest 

regional forum was held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, 

in July 2008, with 75 county officials from the region 

participating. NACo will hold the Northwest and 

Southeast regional forums in FY 2009. 

BJA continued to work with the Partnership for 

a Drug-Free America (PDFA) in enhancing its 

community methamphetamine prevention program, 

Meth360, designed to educate community leaders, 

parents, healthcare professionals, and other concerned 

citizens about meth. In FY 2008, PDFA expanded 

Meth360 into 10 states, using teams of local law 

enforcement, treatment, and prevention professionals 

to deliver meth prevention presentations, and seeking 

to create a lasting human infrastructure to fight drug 

threats beyond meth. By the end of FY 2008, the lead 

communities had been briefed and trained and were 

operating in eight states; two more communities will 

be added in FY 2009. In addition, during FY 2008, 

PDFA worked on developing two additional versions 
 

 

26 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

of Meth360 that target youth and parents; it expects 

to release these new products in FY 2009. 

Indian Alcohol and substance 

Abuse program 

Initiated in 2001, the Indian Alcohol and Substance 

Abuse Program enables tribes to implement culturally 

appropriate strategies that foster internal and 

external partnerships; apprehend and prosecute 

illegal drug and alcohol smugglers, dealers, and 

users; reduce the number of substance abuse-related 

crimes, traffic fatalities, and injuries; and make 

culturally appropriate treatment readily available to 

tribal members. In FY 2008, under the program, BJA 

awarded 11 grants totaling $3 million to tribes in 

Alaska (2), Kansas (1), Maine (1), Nevada (1), North 

Dakota (1), Oklahoma (3), and Washington (2). One 

grantee, the Alaska Native Justice Center, will provide 

state-approved juvenile alcohol education courses 

in rural tribal communities and case management 

and accountability to the court by managing and 

monitoring a case throughout a juvenile’s courtordered compliance requirements. 

In FY 2008, BJA, Fox Valley Technical College’s 

Criminal Justice Center for Innovation, the Indian 

Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program’s Advisory 

Forum (comprising representatives from each 

funded tribe), and other partners held 9 conferences, 

conducted 15 training programs, and trained more 

than 1,300 people. Outreach to tribal communities 

involved 32 onsite TA visits and 196 scholarships 

to BJA grantees and non-grantees, enabling tribal 

officials to attend national TTA events. 

prescription Drug Monitoring program 

In response to the prevalent misuse and abuse of 

prescription drugs, many states have implemented 

prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMP) 

to prevent and detect the diversion and abuse of 

pharmaceutical controlled substances. By the end 

of FY 2008, 30 states had operational PDMPs and 

another 7 states and 1 U.S. territory had enacted 

legislation. With BJA’s support, the National 

Conference of State Legislators held a meeting for 

legislators in states that had not enacted PDMP 

legislation; participants included representatives from 

Alaska, Georgia, Kansas, and New Hampshire. Alaska 

and Kansas were among the states that passed 

legislation during their 2008 legislative sessions. 

For states that want to plan, establish, or enhance 

a PDMP, Congress appropriated funding to support 

BJA’s Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring 

Program, which focuses on providing assistance 

for building a data collection and analysis system, 

enhancing existing programs’ ability to analyze 

and use collected data, facilitating the exchange 

of collected prescription data between states, and 

assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of funded 

programs. In FY 2008, BJA awarded 3 planning 

grants, 2 implementation grants, and 11 enhancement 

grants totaling more than $7 million; and 3 states and 

1 U.S. territory received funding for the first time. TTA 

for grantees was provided by the National Alliance 

for Model State Drug Laws, which also coordinated 

the 4th National Prescription Monitoring Program 

Conference in December 2007. More than 100 grantee 

representatives, national partners, and federal 

partners gathered for this 2-day event in Washington, 
FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 27 

D.C., to hear the latest information on prescription 

drug abuse issues and PDMP promising practices. 

To provide TA on the interstate exchange of PDMP 

information, in 2005 BJA awarded funding for the 

IJIS Institute to develop the PDMP Information 

Exchange Project, which entered phase III during FY 

2008. The primary goal of this phase is to implement 

a prototype system that will prove the value of a 

multistate hub server used to centrally facilitate and 

broker secure, automated information exchanges, 

and that is scalable and adaptable for any number 

of participating states. The Ohio Board of Pharmacy 

agreed to host the prototype hub, and the PDMPs in 

Ohio and Kentucky have agreed to exchange data via 

the hub. Software was developed in FY 2008 and test 

data are expected to be exchanged in FY 2009. 

In addition to the hub project, the committee 

continues to provide an invaluable forum 

for collaboration among leading state PDMP 

administrators. Under the auspices of the committee 

and the Alliance of States with Prescription 

Monitoring Programs, a survey was distributed 

to gauge the states’ readiness to participate in 

interstate sharing of PDMP data. The survey included 

technology and infrastructure components, as well as 

legislative and policy restrictions, to help produce a 

national picture of PDMP sharing readiness. Survey 

results were used to analyze the cost model and 

produce a realistic picture of the expected rate at 

which states will adopt the hub process and begin 

performing interstate data exchanges. 

Residential substance Abuse treatment for 

state prisoners Formula grant program 

The Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for 

State Prisoners (RSAT) Formula Grant Program 

was created by the Violent Crime Control and Law 

Enforcement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-322). 

Allocations are based on a formula that provides 

each state and territory with a base amount, plus 

an allocation proportionate to the ratio of its prison 

population to the total prison population of all states 

and territories. In FY 2008, Congress appropriated 

$8.7 million in RSAT funding, and BJA administered 

grants to the 50 states, the District of Columbia, 

American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin 

Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. 

Under the grant, RSAT programs lasting 6 to 

12 months enhance the capability of states and 

units of local government to provide residential 

substance abuse treatment for incarcerated inmates, 

prepare offenders for their reintegration into their 

communities by incorporating reentry planning 

activities into treatment programs, and assist 

offenders and their communities with the reentry 

process through the delivery of community-based 

treatment and other broad-based aftercare services. 

RSAT funds help enable inmates to develop their 

cognitive, behavioral, social, vocational, and other 

skills and solve their substance abuse and related 

problems. 
28 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

Drug-endangered Children 

Law enforcement efforts to fight meth have resulted 

in partnerships among law enforcement, social 

services, medical providers, and prosecutors to help 

children exposed to meth production. In FY 2008, 

BJA continued to partner with the National Alliance 

for Drug Endangered Children (NADEC) to support 

effective and sustainable state and community efforts 

to protect and assist these victimized children. In 

July 2008, NADEC held a networking and planning 

session in Denver, Colorado, for state leaders; 30 

representatives from 19 states attended the session 

and participated in monthly followup conference 

calls. NADEC also participated in six states’ efforts 

and provided TA to six other states. Three webinars 

reached more than 300 practitioners. Workgroups 

began to collect, consolidate, and distribute 

resources on topics such as environmental and 

medical concerns; initial response, assessment, and 

decisionmaking; neurodevelopment and psychological 

assessment and intervention; and treatment for 

drug-addicted parents and their families. Finally, 

with joint support from the Office for Victims of 

Crime (OVC) and BJA, NADEC launched a national 

training and resource center (www.nadec.org) to serve 

as the primary resource for best practices and recent 

research and training opportunities, as well as a 

secure forum for exchanging ideas, sharing resources, 

and asking and responding to questions from the field. 

Methamphetamine precursor 

Chemical tracking 

Law enforcement efforts, combined with federal 

and state legislation restricting the sale of 

pseudoephedrine and ephedrine products, have 

reduced domestic meth production, but the rate 

of decline has slowed. In response, state and local 

jurisdictions are looking into implementing electronic 

tracking systems to support the fight against 

methamphetamine production and use. In FY 2008, 

BJA participated in a meeting of the Meth Precursor 

Tracking Advisory Committee of the National Alliance 

for Model State Drug Laws. Comprising federal, 

state, and other key officials, this committee shares 

information and develops recommendations for 

tracking systems, including data standards and crossborder sharing. BJA also continued to support the 

Tennessee Meth Task Force, which created a tracking 

system called the Tennessee Methamphetamine 

Intelligence System. Many states consider this system 

a model for precursor tracking systems and are 

modeling their systems after it. 
 

 

Protecting Vulnerable Populations
 

FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 29 

To assist victims of crime, BJA supports initiatives that help reduce and prevent human trafficking, 

develop statewide victim notification systems, and encourage protection of inmates in adult and 

juvenile correctional facilities from rape. 

Human trafficking task Forces 

Since FY 2004, BJA and OVC have jointly issued 

solicitations to advance law enforcement and 

service provider multidisciplinary anti-trafficking 

task forces. In FY 2008, after seeking nominations 

from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, BJA and OVC issued 

complementary solicitations to create new task forces. 

BJA received 10 applications from law enforcement 

and made awards to Homestead, Florida; Pitt County, 

North Carolina; and Westminster, California. BJA 

also provided supplemental funding to 11 task forces 

whose grants were expiring and provided funding 

for 3 successful task forces to serve as leadership 

sites (Harris County, Texas; Seattle, Washington; and 

Clearwater, Florida) for training other task forces. 

Task force performance had gained momentum by 

June 30, 2008. In the first half of 2008, task forces 

reported 599 persons as potential victims of human 

trafficking, requested either continued presence or 

endorsed T-visa applications for 83 of those potential 

victims, and trained nearly 12,700 law enforcement 

officers and other justice professionals in identifying 

the signs of human trafficking and its victims. In 

September 2008, in response to an Office of the 

Inspector General report that found that some of the 

task forces were unable to document their reported 

number of victims, BJA also implemented a reporting 

system based on Bureau of Justice Statistics efforts 

to collect investigation and arrest data for human 

trafficking. This new system requires task forces to 

report on a monthly basis and will tie victim counts 

to the case data collected by the Bureau of Justice 

Statistics and will assist task forces as a casemanagement tool. 

statewide Automated Victim Information 

and notification program 

The Statewide Automated Victim Information and 

Notification (SAVIN) Program helps states build, 

implement, and improve their victim notification 

capacity. In FY 2008, BJA issued a competitive 

solicitation and made 7 new awards and 9 

supplemental awards for system enhancements 

totaling $7.8 million, bringing the number of states 

using SAVIN systems to 34. The IJIS Institute 

received an additional $625,000 to provide program 

support through SAVIN Advisory Committee activities 

and the SAVIN Training and Technical Assistance 

strategy. A notable result of this support was the 

second annual SAVIN Conference, held in April 2008 

by BJA, in partnership with the IJIS Institute. At this 

event, two-member teams representing more than 

40 states networked and provided peer support to 

address system design and implementation issues. 

Between February 2007 and February 2008, SAVIN 

systems responded to more than 9.7 million inbound 
 

 

 

 

 

 

30 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

telephone inquiries and more than 15.3 million 

inbound web inquiries. These systems also provided 

6.5 million outbound telephone calls, 500,000 e-mail 

notifications, and 125,000 written letters. In addition, 

SAVIN gained more than 1.1 million new victim 

subscribers (during 2007), with an average of 300,000 

victims registered on any given day. 

protecting Inmates and safeguarding 

Communities program 

The Protecting Inmates and Safeguarding 

Communities Discretionary Grant Program supports 

states’ efforts to eliminate prisoner rape between 

Correctional Options
 

inmates in state and local prisons, jails, and police 

lockup facilities. Though no new funding was awarded 

in FY 2008, previous years’ grant recipients have been 

pursuing activities consistent with the provisions of 

the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 and have 

made significant progress toward their objectives. 

Twenty-eight states and Puerto Rico began training 

staff, installing surveillance systems, establishing 

reentry programs, conducting assessments, and 

sharing information. 

Preparing offenders to return to their communities and supervising them in the community are critical 

to protecting public safety. Community supervision officers must balance the time required to manage 

their caseloads with their desire to provide offenders with the services they need to become lawabiding citizens. Reentry programs are one approach to meeting these challenges; they provide a 

broad range of services for offenders during incarceration and afterward, while still holding offenders 

accountable. 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, assists tribal jurisdictions in 

renovating or constructing correctional facilities, and reimburses jurisdictions for expenses they incur 

when they incarcerate undocumented criminal aliens. 

prisoner Reentry Initiative 

The President’s Prisoner Reentry Initiative (PRI) 

strengthens communities that receive returning 

offenders by helping those communities deliver 

pre- and post-release assessments and services and 

develop transition plans for offenders in collaboration

with criminal justice and corrections agencies and 

faith-based and community organizations. 

Under a PRI grant awarded in FY 2007, the Alaska 

Native Justice Center funded Pathways Home, a 

reentry program for female inmates from the Hiland

Mountain Correctional Center. Under this existing 

award, pre-release services begin at Hiland with 
 

 

FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 31 

an assessment of offender needs using dynamic 

risk and needs assessment tools. Upon release, 

ex-offenders in the program attend classes on 

topics such as probation and parole, employment, 

childcare, transportation, food, and housing. These 

lessons augment the basic adult education and life 

skills classes offered at Hiland. The Alaska Native 

Justice Center has also convened an advisory 

group comprising 18 agencies, including state 

entities and key Anchorage-area service providers, 

which will conduct a 3-month assessment of the 

services currently available and develop a written 

implementation plan for offenders. 

BJA, in coordination with the U.S. Department of 

Labor and its Center for Faith-Based and Community 

Initiatives, also funded 19 PRI awards totaling $10.2 

million. Award recipients are required to partner 

with an FBCO in their identified target population, 

providing at least 30 percent of award funds to 

the FBCO for post-release services (e.g., vocational 

services). For example, the FY 2007 PRI award to the 

Michigan Department of Corrections supports the 

Michigan Prisoner ReEntry Initiative, a statewide 

effort that includes a target population of mediumand high-risk offenders returning to communities in 

Wayne County, Michigan. Under this initiative, the 

Michigan Department of Corrections is partnering 

with the Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, an 

FBCO that will provide pre-release services for 

the target population, and post-release services 

for program participants that focus on mentoring, 

employability skills improvement, and employer 

recruitment services. 

prison Industry enhancement 

Certification program 

Under the Prison Industry Enhancement Certification 

Program (PIECP), BJA certifies that local and state 

prison industry programs meet all requirements to 

be exempt from federal restrictions on prisoner-made 

goods in interstate commerce. The program places 

inmates in a realistic work environment, pays them 

the prevailing local wage for similar private-sector 

work, and enables them to acquire marketable skills 

to increase their potential for successful rehabilitation 

and meaningful employment on release. In FY 2008, 

there were 222 cost-accounting centers or business 

projects among 42 PIECP certificate holders, 

employing more than 5,000 inmates and resulting 

in job placements of 2,817 inmates subsequent to 

release. BJA continued its partnership with the 

National Correctional Industries Association to 

provide training, offer TA, and monitor compliance 

issues related to PIECP. 

Justice Reinvestment 

In the past 20 years, state spending on corrections 

has grown at a rate faster than nearly any other state 

budget item, yet recidivism rates remain high, with 

half of all persons released from prison returning 

within 3 years. To address this problem, BJA 

partnered with the Council of State Governments’ 

(CSG) Justice Center in FY 2007 to advance the 

Justice Reinvestment Initiative. The initiative, with 

additional support from private foundations such as 

The Pew Charitable Trusts, provides intensive TA 

to states that demonstrate a bipartisan interest in 

advancing fiscally sound, data-driven criminal justice 
 

 

32 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

policies to break the cycle of recidivism, reduce prison 

expenditures, and make communities safer. In FY 

2008, BJA partnered with the Urban Institute to 

support justice reinvestment in local jurisdictions 

with an existing correctional infrastructure that 

includes not only a jail but community resources 

targeting reentry efforts. Work has begun on this level 

in Travis County, Texas; Alachua County, Florida; and 

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. BJA also funded 

state-level activity of the initiative at $850,000, and 

the newer local-level work at $750,000. An overview 

of the initiative and details about states’ efforts and 

results are available at a web site partially funded 

by BJA (http://justicereinvestment.org). States 

currently involved in justice reinvestment include 

Arizona, Connecticut, Kansas, Michigan, Nevada, 

Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and Vermont. 

Kansas and Arizona have embraced the concept in 

new legislation that is intended to invest projected 

savings locally. Kansas plans to reinvest $7 million 

of more than $80 million in anticipated savings 

over the next 5 years in treatment programs and 

community-based supervision. Arizona’s reinvestment 

strategy establishes an innovative performance-based 

incentive for counties to reduce their recidivism rates. 

specialized Reentry 

Gang Member Reentry Initiative Project 

BJA has awarded funds jointly to CSG and the 

American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) 

to work with the Institute for Intergovernmental 

Research and the Association of State Correctional 

Administrators to identify strategies for enhancing 

communications between corrections and law 

enforcement to promote the successful reentry of 

gang-affiliated individuals into the community as lawabiding citizens. As a result, CSG/APPA, the Institute 

for Intergovernmental Research, and the Association 

of State Correctional Administrators are developing 

instructional guides that focus on pre-release for 

personnel working with confined populations and on 

post-release for law enforcement, parole and probation 

officers, social service providers, and others providing 

transition and post-release services. 

Reentry of Methamphetamine-Addicted Offenders 

Because of the marked increase in meth 

manufacturing, usage, and trafficking, the community 

supervision of meth-addicted offenders released to the 

community from jails, prisons, and other institutions 

is a critical undertaking. To assist with providing 

TTA and strategies for improving the community 

supervision of this population, BJA awarded funds 

to CSG/APPA for the Reentry of Methamphetamine 

Addicted Offenders project at the beginning of FY 

2006. Under this project, CSG/APPA are conducting 

research to identify effective supervision and 

programming strategies for addressing the issues 

faced by meth-addicted offenders returning to 

the community; developing a tool that will help 

community corrections agencies assess their 

supervision and programming strategies for methaddicted offenders returning to the community (which 

will help determine TA needs); providing TA for at 

least three sites to help them enhance, develop, and 

implement effective strategies; and disseminating 

project information and findings in presentations, 

articles, and a white paper focusing on key project 

findings and lessons learned from the TA sites. 
FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 33 

Correctional Facilities on tribal lands 

Administered by BJA, grants under the 

Construction of Correctional Facilities on Tribal 

Lands Discretionary Grant Program help federally 

recognized tribes construct and renovate correctional 

facilities on tribal lands, where offenders subject to 

tribal jurisdiction are incarcerated. BJA works with 

Justice Planners International (JPI) and the Justice 

Solutions Group to provide TTA services to each 

project. 

As of September 2008, 18 tribes have completed 

construction of new facilities, 17 tribes have 

received certificates of occupancy from the Bureau 

of Indian Affairs, 3 tribes are engaged in design 

and construction of new facilities, and 4 tribes have 

received grants to renovate existing structures so they 

can achieve federal compliance. 

In FY 2008, BJA collaborated with the Bureau of 

Indian Affairs to award funds to 13 tribes to renovate 

existing adult and juvenile detention facilities; 

to 5 tribes to cost-effectively plan incarceration 

and rehabilitation facilities for juvenile and adult 

offenders; and to JPI to provide TTA to tribes involved 

with renovation and construction efforts. 

Finally, JPI and the Justice Solutions Group 

coordinated BJA-sponsored training workshops on 

correctional facilities on tribal lands at three “Tribal 

Consultation, Training, and Technical Assistance” 

sessions. The first session, held in Santa Ana 

Pueblo, New Mexico, included the “Construction of 

Correctional Facilities of Tribal Lands Discretionary 

Grant,” “Program Planning a Brighter Future in 

Indian Country Corrections,” and “Planning and 

Operating State-of-the-Art Correctional Facilities 

in Indian Country” workshops. The session held in 

Washington, D.C., featured the workshop “Planning 

and Designing a New Tribal Correctional Facility.” 

Finally, the session in Billings, Montana, sponsored 

by OJP’s Office of the Assistant Attorney General in 

partnership with SAMHSA, featured the “Planning 

and Designing a New Tribal Correctional Facility” 

workshop. Presenters for this workshop included 

DOJ’s Assistant Attorney General for the Office of 

Legal Policy and DOJ’s Director of the Office of Tribal 

Justice. 

state Criminal Alien Assistance program 

The State Criminal Alien Assistance Program 

provides federal payments to states and localities 

that have incurred correctional officer salary costs for 

incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens who have 

at least one felony or two misdemeanor convictions 

for violations of state or local law, and who are 

incarcerated for at least four consecutive days during 

a reporting period. In FY 2008, BJA distributed 

more than $386 million in program payments to 871 

jurisdictions to assist them with their correctionsrelated costs. 

Corrections Information sharing 

BJA recognizes the wealth of information available 

within the corrections community about gangs, drugs, 

security threat groups, terrorism, and radicalization 

efforts, as well as the importance of offender profile 

information to ensure the successful reentry of 

offenders into the community. BJA believes release 

information should be made available to local social 

services, law enforcement, and fusion centers for 

reentry and intelligence purposes. In FY 2008, in an 

effort to explore how this might be done, BJA brought 
 

 

 

 

34 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

together national partner organizations, including 

APPA, the Association of State Correctional 

Administrators, the Corrections Technology 

Association, IACP, the IJIS Institute, and NSA, to 

identify and address impediments to information 

sharing and establish collaborations for promoting the 

mutual sharing of information between corrections and 

law enforcement. The participants developed a threephased strategy to coordinate organizations’ policies, 

partnerships, and cultures; identify data structures 

to allow standardized information exchanges; and 

Tools for Criminal Justice
 

identify networks and transmission paths to serve 

as vehicles for sharing information. The group also 

identified as priorities any release information 

necessary to foster effective reentry efforts for 

offenders and any intelligence information about gang 

affiliations and threat group associations. The next 

steps will be to determine the transmitter, receiver, 

and content for any shared information; to then 

develop appropriate Information Exchange Package 

Documents; and finally to identify locations for pilot 

programs. 

Through direct funding, educational outreach, and TA, BJA offers the justice community 

cutting-edge knowledge and capability in bullet-resistant vests, intensive forensic training, 

and technology for closed-circuit televising. 

Bulletproof Vest partnership program 

BJA’s Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program 

awarded $20.6 million to 4,484 law enforcement 

agencies to support the purchase of 190,515 vests 

for their officers. Of this amount, $6.3 million went 

to large jurisdictions and $14.3 million to smaller 

jurisdictions. All smaller jurisdictions requesting 

funding received the maximum allowable amount of 

their request (50 percent of the cost per vest), while 

large jurisdictions received 7.41 percent. BJA, with 

the National Institute of Justice and the National 

Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center, 

continue to maintain the program’s web site (www. 

ojp.usdoj.gov/bvpbasi) to provide the most up-to-date 

and accurate information on the National Institute 

of Justice’s vest testing so that agencies can make 

informed choices and help ensure officer safety. 

national Forensic science Institute 

In FY 2008, the National Forensic Science Institute 

(NFSI), at the University of Tennessee, conducted 

its 10-week in-residence National Forensic 

Academy (NFA) on 3 occasions to provide handson, comprehensive training for 54 law enforcement 

professionals. A division of the university’s Law 

Enforcement Innovation Center, NFSI also provided 

several 40-hour courses derived from the NFA 

curriculum. Seven specialized short courses were 

provided in 6 states, with more than 140 attendees 

receiving training in topics ranging from bloodstains 
 

 

FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 35 

to photography, and 2 crime scene management 

courses for correctional settings reached more than 40 

professionals. In all, NFSI provided training during 

41 weeks of the year. BJA supports these educational 

efforts to improve the standards for identifying, 

collecting, and preserving evidence. To validate 

or enhance the curriculum, 20 law enforcement 

professionals from throughout the nation also assisted 

in a review of the NFA program. 

In partnership with BJA and the University of 

Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Center, NFSI 

also contributes to developing the Human Remains 

Identification Project, which uses facial reconstruction 

and projected age, among other techniques, to identify 

human remains found in Tennessee and link them 

to missing persons or homicides. In FY 2008, those 

remains that had been identified were placed on a web 

site (http://leic.tennessee.edu/nfsi/hridp) that allows 

not only law enforcement to review the information, 

but also family or friends nationwide (as the persons 

associated with the remains may have been from 

outside the state). To make it more accessible, this 

web site is also linked within the Tennessee Bureau of 

Investigation’s web site. 

Closed-Circuit televising program 

BJA’s Closed-Circuit Televising (CCTV) and Recording 

Technology Program, in partnership with the 

American Bar Association (ABA) Center on Children 

and the Law, distributes funds to state and local units 

of government for CCTV and recording technology 

for use in criminal child abuse cases. The goal of this 

initiative is to reduce further trauma to child victims 

of abuse who must disclose their abuse during forensic 

interviews or testimony at hearings or trials. 

In FY 2008, ABA entered into subcontract agreements 

with 32 state and local authorities to fund the 

purchase of CCTV and recording equipment. These 

awards included a national training center award 

to provide forensic interview training in Huntsville, 

Alabama, and a mobile child advocacy center with 

CCTV capabilities to cover 29 rural counties in 

western Kansas. ABA also launched a significantly 

redesigned web site for the program (www.abanet. 

org/child/videotape.shtml), which provides access to 

each state’s statutes and case law related to the use 

of CCTV and recording equipment in child abuse 

cases. The site also includes a new interactive map 

of the United States, a “Grantee’s Corner,” contact 

information for all grantees, a TA box, and links to 

other resources. 

Finally, BJA, ABA, and American University provided 

intensive TA to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico’s 

mobile CCTV initiative. The TA team is working 

with staff from the Virginia Department of Criminal 

Justice Services to host a site visit for Puerto Rico’s 

CCTV staff to see a demonstration of a successful 

mobile unit program. In addition, the Puerto Rico 

grantees asked for a review of their draft CCTV 

procedures manual and their curriculum for training 

prosecution, defense, and social services staff for 

the prospective enhanced CCTV program. Both the 

manual and curriculum are also translated into 

English. 
 

 

 

 

Justice Information Sharing
 

36 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

The question of how to overcome obstacles to sharing information among law enforcement and 

other justice system components is a significant issue that affects the safety of Americans. In today’s 

electronic age, the public has grown to expect justice system integration and appropriate information 

sharing. All local, state, and federal justice agencies need to find ways to overcome obstacles to 

sharing information. Doing so not only increases their ability to solve crimes and keep communities 

safer, it also helps them meet their increasing responsibilities. Even though the sharing of information 

must be the responsibility of each criminal justice agency, BJA is committed to providing the 

resources and assistance needed to make it as easy as possible. 

global Justice Information sharing 

Initiative Advisory Committee 

Through DOJ’s Global Justice Information Sharing 

Initiative’s (Global) Advisory Committee (GAC), 

comprising key officials from local, state, tribal, 

federal, and other justice-related organizations, BJA 

continues to bring together representatives from the 

justice community to overcome barriers to justice 

information sharing across agencies, disciplines, and 

levels of government. 

Global Infrastructure/Standards Working Group 

In FY 2008, DOJ’s Global Infrastructure/Standards 

Working Group (GISWG) released a new version 

of the core Justice Reference Architecture (JRA) 

Specification, version 1.6, which includes important 

functional and security updates. More importantly, 

GISWG has recommended some steps toward 

enabling JRA implementation that were adopted 

this year as JRA moves into a standardized, reusable 

solution for service-oriented architecture in the 

justice community. The most noteworthy step is the 

creation of the BJA Service Task Team, charged with 

identifying, prioritizing, and developing services that 

can be reused across agencies using JRA, promoting 

cost savings and interoperability. The Service 

Task Team helps GISWG leadership validate the 

technical approach laid out for defining a JRA service, 

and provides valuable feedback when taking this 

development approach to other segments of the justice 

system. 

GISWG ensures that other information sharing 

projects supported by BJA partners continue to 

evolve and mature. Such efforts include the National 

Information Exchange Model (NIEM) and Global 

Federated Identity and Privilege Management 

(GFIPM). JRA is the glue that binds these activities 

together into a complete, off-the-shelf information 

sharing architecture. JRA continues to be the 

blueprint for agencies that want to adopt the latest 

information sharing technology and ensure that 

they keep it current with additional changes and 

developments as they become available. 

GISWG and BJA have also actively promoted JRA 

not only to familiar partners such as DOJ and the 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), but 

also to cross-governmental organizations such as 
 

 

 

FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 37 

the Intergovernmental Advisory Board, the National 

Association of State Chief Information Officers 

(NASCIO), and the National Governors Association. 

This outreach helps to ensure that the JRA model is 

compatible with other frameworks being supported 

by constituents in a broad range of communities, 

including homeland security, intelligence, health and 

human services, and transportation. The outreach also 

provides BJA with critical feedback and helps identify 

potential national policy issues. 

Global Security Working Group 

An initiative of DOJ’s Global Security Working 

Group (GSWG) and BJA, GFIPM delivered the 

first production version of the GFIPM metadata 

specification. This implementation-ready standard 

describes the precise information that needs to be 

asserted in a secure transaction within a federation so 

that information sharing can occur in a standardized, 

reusable, and trusted manner. Federation means that 

participating agencies agree to common business 

rules and standards so that users they do not manage 

may access their resources. The standard will help 

ensure that all who join a federation will be doing so 

consistently and will be able to communicate in the 

same language. 

The GFIPM delivery team has been methodically 

expanding the initial proof of concept federation, 

recently dubbed the National Information Exchange 

Federation. New participants in FY 2008, with 

funding assistance from BJA, include Connect 

Project, a multistate information sharing consortium; 

Southern Shield, a collaboration of southern-state 

fusion centers; and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s 

Department, via the Automated Regional Justice 

Information System in San Diego, California. These 

new partnerships will strengthen information 

sharing capacities among member organizations by 

using federation concepts to provide a single sign-on 

capability, and will provide the performance measures, 

as well as case study examples, that help to document 

GFIPM’s impact. 

GSWG and BJA also made outreach support a top 

priority to help ensure consistent application of 

federated identity principles in government. The 

Information Sharing Environment (ISE) Identity 

and Access Management framework was developed 

with substantial input and incorporation of GFIPM 

concepts to ensure that future implementation 

based on that framework would be compatible with 

GFIPM users. GSWG and BJA provided briefings to 

the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Criminal 

Justice Information Services, DOJ’s Office of the 

Chief Information Officer, and other agencies to 

ensure that federal data systems were properly 

meeting state, local, and tribal requirements for 

identity management. One outcome of these efforts 

was the creation of a formal relationship between 

GFIPM and DOJ’s Trusted Broker initiative—two 

complementary programs that enable broader 

information sharing possibilities without sacrificing 

security or privacy protection. 

Global Privacy and Information Quality Working Group 

DOJ’s Global Privacy and Information Quality 

Working Group advances the adoption of policies to 

protect privacy and ensure information quality (e.g., 

those policies that promote responsible collection, 

handling, management, review, and sharing of 

personal information about individuals) by justice 

system and public safety participants. In FY 2008, 

this working group finished drafting the “Information 
 

 

38 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

Quality Program Guide and Self-Assessment Tool” 

to help agencies identify an agency’s information 

(list of types of information) and products (e.g., 

incident reports, pre-sentencing reports); determine 

which dimensions of information quality (core and 

contextual) apply to those products to ensure their 

quality; evaluate whether agency business rules are 

being met by using the self-assessment tool; and 

identify what is necessary to fill in the gaps where the 

agency does not meet those requirements. The guide 

will be published in 2009. 

Global Intelligence Working Group/Criminal 

Intelligence Coordinating Council 

DOJ’s Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council 

(CICC) provides senior executives with advice and 

council by recommending policies, practices, and 

procedures that affect and shape the development 

of national priorities. The Global Intelligence 

Working Group comprises local, state, tribal, and 

federal justice, homeland security, and public 

safety representatives. It serves as CICC’s partner, 

calling on source experts from outside the working 

group as needed and supporting implementation of 

national program efforts. FY 2008 CICC and Global 

Intelligence Working Group activities included: 

n	 Working with DOJ, DHS, the Office of the Director 

of National Intelligence, the Program Manager for 

the Information Sharing Environment (PM–ISE), 

and the FBI to plan the annual National Fusion 

Center Conference. 

Working with PM–ISE to implement the tenets of 

the National Strategy for Information Sharing. 

Collaborating with BJA, the Major Cities Chiefs 

Association (MCCA), the FBI, and DHS to 

n	 

n	 

develop the Findings and Recommendations of 

the Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) Support and 

Implementation Project. 

Developing the Baseline Capabilities for State and 

Major Urban Area Fusion Centers. 

Collaborating with federal partners in engaging 

the privacy advocacy community. 

Working with federal partners to develop a 

document to guide the implementation of 

intelligence-led policing nationwide. 

Supporting the DOJ/DHS Fusion Process 

Technical Assistance Program by helping to 

develop and deliver TTA services. 

Participating in the development of Guidelines 

for Establishing and Operating Gang Intelligence 

Units and Task Forces. 

Developing guidance to assist agencies in 

collecting and handling “tips and leads” 

information. 

Continuing coordination of the nominations and 

selections of state and local candidates for the 

Interagency Threat Assessment and Coordination 

Group, and coordination of local, state, and tribal 

organizational representatives for membership on 

the group’s advisory council. 

n	 

n	 

n	 

n	 

n	 

n	 

n	 

Global Outreach Working Group 

DOJ’s Global Outreach Working Group (GOWG) was 

created in 2008 to educate Global constituents and 

other partners about Global activities and products, 

improve communication and coordination among GAC 

working groups, and ensure an overall consistent 
 

 

FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 39 

approach to information sharing. In its short time 

in existence, GOWG has already taken significant 

strides toward accomplishing these goals. 

GOWG’s progress was enhanced by the renewal and 

use of OJP’s Justice Information Sharing web site, 

www.it.ojp.gov, a repository of GAC products and 

publications and a primary resource for inquirers 

seeking current information on activities and 

standards, including beginners who want to expand 

their information sharing capacities. Vetting its initial 

web site design through usability testing conducted by 

BJA and the IJIS Institute, GOWG members provided 

organization and content priorities that shepherded 

the development efforts to create a functional, robust, 

and easy-to-use product. 

GOWG also appointed an official liaison to each of 

the other four GAC working groups and initiated 

a reporting template to capture major projects or 

milestones, actions or next steps, and highlights 

or success stories for inclusion in newsletters. 

Through these liaisons, GOWG hopes to improve 

communication between groups, facilitate dialogue on 

issues of common interest, and increase awareness 

of the challenges being addressed in all areas of the 

information sharing landscape. The Global Highlights 

newsletter is another important tool that GOWG has 

adopted to share information on Global’s latest work 

with stakeholders and the general public. 

Regional Information sharing 

systems program 

The Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) 

Program links law enforcement agencies throughout 

the country and provides secure communications, 

information sharing resources, and investigative 

support to combat multijurisdictional crime and 

terrorist threats. RISSNET is the program’s 

communication backbone and infrastructure, 

connecting 83 local, state, federal, and regional 

systems. RISS serves more than 8,000 law 

enforcement and criminal justice member agencies, 

and more than 82,000 access officers—representing 

hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officers— 

can access the databases of 6 regional RISS centers 

and other intelligence systems from a single query. 

In FY 2008, the use of RISS services and resources 

continued to grow: RISS criminal intelligence 

databases contain more than 3.2 million records; 

member agencies made more than 2.3 million 

inquiries against RISSIntel databases, which resulted 

in 151,232 hits; and RISS delivered more than 

23,900 analytical products and responded to more 

than 96,000 requests for records research assistance. 

RISS training was also in demand: agencies attended 

nearly 1,000 RISS-sponsored information sharing 

conferences and specialized training sessions. In 

addition, RISS field staff conducted more than 27,000 

onsite visits and the regional centers loaned out more 

than 5,100 pieces of investigative equipment. 

RIssafe 

As part of its continued commitment to promoting 

and enhancing officer safety, in 2007, BJA provided 

funding for the development and deployment of 

RISSafe, an officer safety event deconfliction system. 

With RISSafe, law enforcement personnel enter police 

operations into the system, such as raids, controlled 

drug buys, surveillances, and other high risk 

activities. RISSafe keeps track of these events and 

alerts law enforcement agencies when an operation 

conflicts with another agency’s activities. Without 
40 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

RISSafe, officers could unknowingly encounter law 

enforcement personnel who are working undercover, 

and put them at risk of harm. With the continuing 

development of RISSafe, 50,000 events have been 

entered into the system and approximately 15 

percent of the entries need to be deconflicted. RISSafe 

was deployed in the Western States Information 

Network in FY 2008, and BJA intends to expand its 

implementation to the other five regional RISS centers. 

national White Collar Crime Center 

NW3C provides training, investigative support, and 

research to agencies and other entities involved in 

preventing, investigating, and prosecuting economic 

and high-tech crime. NW3C saw tremendous growth 

in FY 2008 as its membership increased with 267 

new voting members and 50 new associate members, 

bringing the total membership to 2,849. The number 

of students taking courses in cybercrime and economic 

crime/intelligence analysis, and those attending 

NW3C Program Support Center training, surpassed 

the target numbers for FY 2008, more than doubling 

the target number of cybercrime students to more 

than 5,100 students. NW3C also surpassed another 

annual target, distributing 11,000 training products 

during FY 2008. Additionally, downloadable training 

CDs and DVDs on the NW3C web site (www.nw3c. 

org) increased the availability of these products. 

Investigative support staff conducted more than 19,000 

public record searches and produced almost 2,200 

analytical products (a 312 percent increase over the 

number of products produced in 2006). The Internet 

Crime Complaint Center, a national complaint and 

investigatory system funded partially by NW3C and 

BJA, received 30,974 more reports from the public than 

it had in the previous year; and added 23 new NW3C 

member agencies to the referral database (15 more new 

members than in the previous year.) 

NW3C proactively creates many informational 

materials and promotes the exchange of information 

and ideas. In FY 2008, nearly 500 people attended 

NW3C educational events—285 attendees from 

102 agencies at the Global Conference on Economic 

and High-Tech Crime in Washington, D.C., and 73 

attendees from 40 agencies at the Albuquerque, New 

Mexico, outreach event. NW3C’s research division 

completed 94 research products, including white 

papers on cyber bullying, insurance fraud, and money 

laundering. State and local law enforcement agencies 

also received 41,398 copies of Informant magazine, 

which conveys best practices and trends in white 

collar crime prevention. 

Fusion Centers 

To facilitate the development of a national fusion 

center capability, BJA and the DHS National 

Preparedness Directorate partnered in FY 2007 to 

develop the Fusion Process Technical Assistance 

Program. During FY 2008, fusion process TA services 

included, in addition to general technology TA itself, 

help in developing privacy policies, developing and 

implementing a liaison officer program, information 

sharing and coordination for fusion centers and fire 

services, assistance interpreting and implementing 

the requirements of the criminal intelligence 

system operating regulation (28 C.F.R. Part 23) 

TA, a course for intelligence commanders, SLATT®, 

criminal intelligence for the chief executive, and 

NIEM training. Fusion process services currently 

in development include SAR and “Privacy 101” 

training, fusion center security, and fusion center and 

emergency operations center coordination. The Fusion 
 

 

FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 41 

Process Technical Assistance Program has provided 

50 program and service deliveries since January 2008, 

and 129 program and service deliveries since the 

program’s inception. 

Cross-governmental Activities to 

support Information sharing 

Law Enforcement Information 

Technology Standards Council 

The goal of the Law Enforcement Information 

Technology Standards Council (LEITSC) is to make 

adoption of common technology standards easier 

for agencies of all sizes, regardless of technology 

expertise. LEITSC, in partnership with BJA, has 

focused on ways to support adoption and use of 

the well-received functional specifications it has 

developed for law enforcement computer-aided 

dispatch and records management systems. Most 

significantly, the Records Management Systems 

Functional Specification version 2.0 was released, 

which includes critical additions of the FBI’s National 

Data Exchange project and SAR capabilities. These 

updates will help ensure that new business practices 

in law enforcement will be adequately planned for and 

supported by the underlying technology. LEITSC also 

updated 10 information exchange package documents 

(IEPD) to align them with the NIEM version 2.0 

formats. These packages support the most common 

information exchanges that occur between computeraided dispatch and records management systems 

and reinforce adoption of the national functional 

specifications (i.e., NIEM). Those who adopt the 

specifications will stay up-to-date on technology and 

be better positioned to engage new communities 

outside of justice when necessary. 

LEITSC continues to develop the TA capabilities 

provided to law enforcement agencies that adopt these 

standards. Through LEITSC, and specifically IACP, 

TA requests are processed or forwarded to appropriate 

agencies. In addition, LEITSC has begun to make 

adoption more straightforward by developing aids 

such as a functional specifications user guide and a 

request-for-proposal tool to simplify incorporating 

information exchange standards into product 

solicitations. 

National Association of State 

Chief Information Officers 

NASCIO provides a significantly valuable service 

to its members and the justice information sharing 

community as a whole through the BJA-funded 

Enterprise Architecture Cooperative Program, which 

promotes enterprise-wide awareness and planning 

at the state level to assist in specifying, acquiring, 

and implementing technologies to support the crossgovernmental flow of information. By focusing on real 

issues that state CIOs are facing and highlighting 

case studies and adoption scenarios, NASCIO provides 

a forum for collaboration between the criminal justice 

functions of the states and the broader range of 

their government activities, reducing the traditional 

barriers that hinder cost savings and reuse of core 

services. 

NASCIO also provides a series of briefings for their 

stakeholders that focus on particular challenges 

faced by state CIOs. In 2008, NASCIO delivered 

the following briefings: “Electronic Records 

Management and Digital Preservation,” “Information 

Technology Governance and Business Outcomes,” 

“Data Governance,” and “Governance of Geospatial 

Resources.” These issue briefings serve as another 
42 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

important way that NASCIO is helping to shape 

the national discussion on information sharing 

and ensure that state and local perspectives and 

requirements are properly addressed. 

suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative 

The nationwide SAR Initiative establishes a unified 

approach at all levels of government to gathering, 

documenting, processing, analyzing, and sharing 

information about terrorist-related suspicious 

activities. Multiple projects are underway to 

implement this SAR process. 

In January 2008, the PM–ISE issued an important 

ISE–SAR Functional Standard designed to help state 

and federal agencies build interfaces and exchange 

services necessary to SAR. Building on NIEM, this 

standard recommends the use of a SAR IEPD to 

support ISE-based data exchanges between state and 

local fusion centers and federal agencies. 

The SAR Support and Implementation Project, 

developed collaboratively by BJA, MCCA, Global, 

CICC, the FBI, and DHS, began in April 2008, with 

site visits to four major city police departments in 

Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; Boston, 

Massachusetts; and Miami-Dade, Florida to 

evaluate their current SAR processes and develop a 

standardized approach to the reporting of suspicious 

activity. These site visits led to some conclusions about 

leadership; privacy and civil liberties protections; 

the gathering, processing, reporting, analyzing, and 

sharing of information about suspicious activities; 

standard reporting format and data collection codes; 

training and community outreach; and technology. 

The final report detailing these conclusions and 

considerations for further action at the national level 

was published in early FY 2009. 

Also during spring 2008, development began on 

the ISE–SAR Evaluation Environment Project, a 

collaborative effort among state and local officials 

from 12 jurisdictions working in partnership 

with DOJ, DHS, the U.S. Department of Defense 

Antiterrorism/Force Protection Program, and the 

FBI. The project will assess the value of the ISE–SAR 

process and the ISE–SAR Functional Standard in 

advancing counter-terrorism goals. The project also 

encourages city-state partnership implementation to 

ensure that the SAR process is viable and effective in 

all potential pilot sites. The first phase of this project 

will involve three state fusion centers in Florida, New 

York, and Virginia. The second phase will expand 

the project to other major law enforcement agencies 

and regional fusion centers. Planning for this phase 

included a meeting in September 2008 in St. Louis, 

Missouri, which brought together representatives 

from the three state fusion centers and nine cities to 

discuss the project and the steps necessary to begin 

implementing it. 

Also in September, representatives from federal, 

state, and local law enforcement agencies met in 

Washington, D.C., with privacy advocates from 

throughout the United States to discuss the 

nationwide SAR Initiative and the privacy and 

civil liberties implications of implementing this 

initiative. The meeting provided advocates with an 

understanding of the intentions of law enforcement 

agencies in collecting SAR, and law enforcement 

personnel with a better understanding of advocates’ 

concerns. 
 

 

 

 

FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 43 

Training has been identified as a major component 

in the success of institutionalizing the SAR process 

within an agency and the implementation of the 

initiative nationwide. BJA is working with MCCA, 

IIR, and IACP to develop training to help implement 

the SAR process. Training, which began in fall 2008, 

will initially focus on law enforcement executives, line 

officers, and analysts/vetters. 

Another effort in this nationwide initiative is the 

development of a SAR library, a searchable resource of 

SAR reports received from multiple agencies at local, 

state, tribal, and federal levels that promotes the 

operational effectiveness of analysts and investigators 

in detecting potential terrorist activity, hosted by 

DOJ’s National Criminal Intelligence Resource Center 

(NCIRC) (www.ncirc.gov). 

Minimum Criminal Intelligence 

training standards 

The Minimum Criminal Intelligence Training 

Standards, initially published in 2004 and updated 

in FY 2007, were developed as a result of the 

National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan. The 

standards reflect the collective judgment of subjectmatter experts from law enforcement intelligence 

practitioners, managers, executives, trainers, and 

scholars from all levels of government about the 

development and delivery of law enforcement criminal 

intelligence training. The online Criminal Intelligence 

Training Master Calendar (http://mastercalendar. 

ncirc.gov), developed in 2007, provides state, local, 

tribal, and federal law enforcement with a single point 

of access to federally sponsored intelligence training 

programs that meet the standards. The courses 

available on this web site represent several training 

classifications as well as topic-specific training 

opportunities, and are continually updated. One of 

the first offerings (in June and September 2008) 

was “Criminal Intelligence for the Chief Executive,” 

which focuses on criminal intelligence sharing, the 

intelligence function, ILP, and legal and privacy 

issues. The “Intelligence Manager/Commander” 

course, delivered in June, July, and August 2008, was 

offered in conjunction with regional fusion center 

meetings to ensure that fusion center commanders 

had an opportunity to attend the course. 

privacy and Civil liberties policies 

BJA hosted four regional fusion center group trainings 

for using the Privacy and Civil Liberties Policy 

Development Guide and Implementation Templates, 

revised in February 2008. Participants were given a 

hands-on workshop in which subject-matter experts 

guided them through the implementation templates. 

BJA, in partnership with IIR, has also been reviewing 

draft privacy and civil liberties policies from 35 state 

fusion centers and 9 urban area security initiatives, 

identifying policy gaps, recommending changes, and 

providing TA so that these entities can successfully 

develop and implement their policies. Finally, in 2008, 

BJA published a proposed rule change to the criminal 

intelligence system operating regulation (28 C.F.R. 

Part 23) requiring state, local, and tribal organizations 

to have a written privacy and civil liberties policy if 

they use federal grant funds to develop or enhance an 

intelligence sharing system. 

Intelligence-led policing 

The goal of ILP is to assist law enforcement agencies 

in using intelligence to guide operational activities 

for both tactical responses and strategic resource 
 

 

 

44 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

allocation and responses. The National Criminal 

Intelligence Sharing Plan recommends that law 

enforcement agencies at all levels of government 

adopt the minimum standards of ILP. In FY 2008, 

BJA continued its efforts to implement ILP concepts 

by supporting DOJ’s Global Justice Information 

Sharing Initiative. 

The tenets and standards of ILP are being 

incorporated into many national initiatives. 

ILP is linked to the success of fusion centers 

and is discussed in the newly released Baseline 

Capabilities for State and Major Urban Area Fusion 

Centers. The BJA Corrections Coordination Project 

promotes ILP by encouraging increased sharing of 

intelligence information between law enforcement 

and corrections communities. The Targeting Violent 

Crime/Intelligence-Led Policing for Violent Crime 

Task Forces conference in January 2008 included 

presentations by ILP experts, highlighted successful 

ILP initiatives, and provided tools and resources for 

ILP implementation within violent offender task 

forces. In addition, each of the 2008 BJA Regional 

Conferences included sessions on implementing 

ILP. Finally, the SAR Initiative has encouraged law 

enforcement agencies to apply the principles of ILP 

when interacting with other agencies in reporting of 

suspicious activity. 

A new resource in development is an ILP guideline 

report, the goal of which is to provide state, local, 

and tribal law enforcement agencies with an 

understanding of ILP and its benefits to them. This 

document will include scenarios and examples and 

provide tools to enable agencies to implement ILP. In 

FY 2008, BJA coordinated meetings of local, state, and 

federal law enforcement personnel to begin developing 

this document. 

national Criminal Intelligence 

Resource Center 

Supported by BJA, the NCIRC web site, www.ncirc. 

gov, serves as a secure “one-stop shop” for local, state, 

tribal, and federal law enforcement officials who need 

to keep up with the latest developments in the field 

of criminal intelligence. The Office of the Director 

of National Intelligence, the FBI, and DHS also are 

involved in developing and maintaining this online 

resource. 

The center’s web site includes a highlights section 

of new items of interest and links to the Criminal 

Intelligence Training Master Calendar. The center 

will also host the SAR library and provide for search 

and document storage capabilities. Further, at 

the request of BJA, the DHS/DOJ Fusion Process 

Technical Assistance Program and Services section 

was added. This section assists already established or 

newly created fusion centers with obtaining additional 

information regarding the fusion process and 

requesting TTA services. It includes new information 

and services such as personalized tri-fold brochure 

requests, fusion center technology TA, fusion liaison 

officer program implementation, an intelligence 

commanders course, and fusion center and fire service 

information sharing and coordination. The “Reports 

and Articles” component of this section features case 

studies, practice notes, operational exchanges, and 

DHS-supported special-events articles written in 

partnership with the Lessons Learned Information 

Sharing group (www.LLIS.gov). Development of a 

public site portal is also underway. 
 

 

FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 45 

other Information sharing Initiatives 

National Information Exchange Model 

The NIEM initiative is a partnership between 

DOJ and DHS designed to develop, disseminate, 

and support enterprise-wide information exchange 

standards and processes that can enable jurisdictions 

to share critical information in emergency situations 

and support day-to-day operations of agencies. NIEM 

is a national standard that provides great promise 

for information sharing with critical nontraditional 

justice partners. Most of its documentation and 

ongoing work is available through the NIEM web site, 

www.niem.gov. 

During FY 2008, the NIEM initiative amassed many 

notable accomplishments, and a great number of 

projects are near completion. Completed projects 

include many new documents to assist the NIEM 

community and potential NIEM users with adoption 

and use, including the NIEM Users Guide and white 

papers on NIEM high-level version architecture, highlevel tool architecture, and conformance. The NIEM 

Communications and Outreach Committee has also 

published 5 case studies that highlight instances of 

successful NIEM implementation around the nation, 

and has continued to produce and disseminate the 

monthly NIEM Newsletter to more than 1,300 NIEM 

stakeholders worldwide. 

In 2008, a training section was added to the NIEM 

web site aimed at helping users understand 

the opportunities and resources available 

for implementing NIEM in their agencies or 

organizations. This new section features materials 

from the NIEM “Practical Implementer’s Course” as 

a resource both for those who have taken the training 

and need to reference the material and those who 

have yet to take the course and would like to see what 

it entails. The NIEM web site also now has a Google 

search application that makes keyword searches 

available to users and a NIEM adoption and use map 

showing users where NIEM is being implemented 

throughout the nation. 

In FY 2008, the NIEM program was also highly 

involved in the requirements, design, and 

implementation of the U.S. Department of Defense’s 

Universal Core (UCore) 2.0. This involvement helped 

ensure the compatibility of UCore 2.0 with NIEM and 

DOJ’s Logical Entity eXchange Specifications. UCore 

2.0 shares the same underlying message structure 

as these specifications, which creates a substantial 

functional alignment between the two and allows for 

greatly simplified translation of messages from one to 

the other. 

Justice Information Exchange Model Tool 

BJA and SEARCH (the National Consortium for 

Justice Information and Statistics) have partnered on 

the Justice Information Exchange Model (JIEM) tool 

and exchange modeling process, which continues to 

mature and incorporate additional dimensions of the 

information sharing landscape. This year, 2008, saw 

the release of JIEM version 4.1, which provides many 

significant updates such as better modeling of Service 

Oriented Architecture requirements to facilitate 

JRA adoption, enabling capture of performance 

measurement and data access control requirements, 

better integration of industry standard specifications 

for business process modeling, and enhanced 

reporting capabilities to make analysis of modeled 

exchanges more effective. Of great significance is the 

new ability to install JIEM locally on any computer 
46 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

and run the program without an Internet connection, 

resulting in JIEM being used in more environments 

than ever before, and giving the end user more 

flexibility and customization options to make JIEM a 

more effective tool. 

In all, these changes make JIEM a better end-to-end 

exchange modeling tool, compatible with constantly 

evolving information technology standards and 

best practices. Because the core concepts of the tool 

remain the same, SEARCH does not require that 

all previously certified JIEM users take the entire 

training course again. Instead, SEARCH provides an 

online “quick start” training course to educate users 

on the JIEM’s newer features and modifications. 

In this way, the training and outreach support for 

JIEM continues to adapt with the tool itself to meet 

the changing needs of the information sharing 

practitioner community. 

Privacy and Civil Liberties 

In FY 2008, BJA entered into an interagency 

agreement with the DHS Office of Civil Rights 

and Civil Liberties and the DHS Privacy Office to 

establish a privacy and civil liberties portal on the 

OJP Justice Information Sharing web site (www.it.ojp. 

gov); to post trainings and curricula on that portal 

and incorporate the privacy and civil liberties training 

into those existing trainings (e.g., 28 C.F.R. Part 23 

training, SLATT® trainings); and to use the “Privacy 

101” materials to develop training videos that include 

hypothetical situations, problem solving, and trainthe-trainer capability. 

BJA and DHS also enlisted the support of their 

national partners, as well as Global committee 

members, to develop a comprehensive suite of 

products for increasing awareness of privacy and civil 

liberties issues, and to develop compliance audits for 

privacy and civil liberties policies to be used by fusion 

centers and state and local justice and public safety 

agencies. States were solicited to determine their 

level of interest in receiving customized onsite privacy 

policy TA. Arizona, North Dakota, and Texas were 

selected through a formal application process to be the 

pilot states. DOJ and Global developed a state-focused 

version for the pilot sites based on the successful 

training template for fusion centers. 

BJA, in partnership with SEARCH, drafted the 

“Privacy Impact Assessment” tool to provide state 

justice and public safety agencies with a guide for 

developing privacy and civil liberties policies, as 

well as an instrument for the periodic review and 

assessment of those policies. 
 

Leadership and Building Capacity
 

FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 47 

BJA leads the way with innovative training, TA, knowledge management, performance measurement, 

and other support for justice agencies. 

training and technical 

Assistance Coordination 

During FY 2008, BJA funded 322 TTA grants 

to 106 separate organizations, sponsored 1,509 

training events (reaching more than 36,000 justice 

professionals), and funded 124 conferences. For 

easy access to information about these events and 

conferences, BJA launched a web-based calendar. 

Further, in response to requests from jurisdictions 

whose needs for assistance were outside the scope of 

most TTA efforts, BJA continued to implement the 

National Training and Technical Assistance Initiative. 

This project’s accomplishments include providing 

technical assistance to community prosecution 

programs; developing and disseminating pandemic 

preparedness materials for courts and other justice 

agencies; providing train-the-trainer programs in 

motivational interviewing for probation and parole 

officers; assessing training services for a city’s 

narcotics unit; analyzing a county’s pretrial services 

division; providing assistance in strategic planning 

to a statewide drug oversight council; and developing 

train-the-trainer events for correctional personnel in 

the use of non-lethal weapons. 

BJA also continued to enhance its TTA outreach to 

the justice community. To this end, BJA developed 

methods to quantify and better evaluate the 

performance of its TTA providers. By establishing a 

menu of performance measures so that grantees could 

report on a uniform set of criteria, BJA was able to 

obtain cumulative information on the number and 

types of TTA services provided across the various 

justice topic areas. BJA also implemented a web-based 

reporting system for TTA activities that grantees can 

use to report quantifiable performance measurement 

data on a quarterly basis. 

Knowledge Management 

BJA’s knowledge management team was involved in 

many vital initiatives in 2008, including updating 

the BJA Evaluation web site and disseminating 

monthly evaluation e-newsletters; creating logic 

models to inform programming, planning, and policy 

development; and creating briefing summaries 

for BJA staff on topics such as the economy and 

crime, mentoring adult offenders, reducing violent 

crime, tribal programs, and reentry. The knowledge 

management team also was responsible for reviewing 

selected solicitations to ensure that the contents 

were consistent with the existing research; creating 

a program-related research repository for programrelated documentation (e.g., reports, legislation, 

presentations); meeting with federal, state, and local 

research and program partners to discuss research, 

evaluation, performance measures, and evidencebased practices; and working with the National 

Criminal Justice Reference Service to establish 

periodic e-alerts notifying staff of current information 

releases in their respective subjects. 
 

 

48 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

performance Measurement 

Performance measurement has been an important 

accountability tool within the federal government 

since 1993, when the Government Performance and 

Results Act was enacted. Shortly after its inception, 

this law began to shift the focus of federal agencies 

away from simple accountability for processing to 

accountability for results. In 2003, the Program 

Assessment Rating Tool (PART) was launched to 

review all programs during a 5-year period ending 

in FY 2008, and then to begin the review again. In 

FY 2008, BJA’s Drug Court Program underwent the 

PART process and received a score of “Adequate.” 

To enhance data collection and demonstrate program 

results, in 2008 BJA awarded a contract to CSR, Inc., 

to support the development and implementation of a 

performance measurement system for the Drug Court 

and TVCI grantees. This pilot test system aided BJA 

in external reporting requirements such as PART 

and allowed BJA staff to use sound performance 

measurement data to improve program management. 

Because of the success of this system and the positive 

response from BJA grantees, the database was 

expanded to include 10 new programs during the next 

3 years. In September 2008, BJA awarded a second 

contract to CSR to continue with its data collection 

and analyses capacity and to realistically assess 

the outcomes of grantee programs. The performance 

measurement database promises a lighter reporting 

burden on grantees because it customizes measures 

for a higher degree of accuracy of data and the ability 

to aggregate; provides greater performance measure 

information for grantees such as definitions, FAQs, 

and hotlines for questions; produces faster response 

times to external queries for data; and offers better 

program management with data at both the program 

and grantee levels. 

BJA held several workshops and conference calls to 

increase grantees’ understanding of the performance 

measures data collection process, which will lead 

to better reporting compliance and understanding 

of program measurement. Toward that end, BJA 

also made the collected data public on the BJA 

web site. In addition, BJA has worked to simplify 

data collection and reduce the reporting burden on 

grantees by reducing the number of duplicative or 

unclear measures required and customizing program 

measures. For example, drug court grantees now 

report only on measures that pertain to their own 

type of award, whether that be implementation, 

enhancement, or statewide. 

BJA also participated in OJP’s Business Process 

Improvement initiative for performance measures, 

which analyzed the current processes and made 

suggestions for improvement, created a master 

catalog of agency measures, and developed guidelines 

for measuring program success. 

law enforcement training 

In FY 2008, in collaboration with BJA, the IACP 

Smaller Police Department Technical Assistance 

Program and New Police Chief Mentoring Project 

produced and offered valuable resources to smaller 

police departments throughout the country. The 

Big Ideas for Smaller Police Departments quarterly 

e-newsletter is distributed to more than 4,500 direct 

recipients and to all state associations of chiefs of 
 

 

 

FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 49 

police for further member dissemination, and it can 

be downloaded from the IACP web site. Police Chiefs 

Desk Reference: A Guide for Newly Appointed Police 

Leaders is the major published resource provided by 

the New Police Chief Mentoring Project. The project 

distributed all remaining copies of the first edition, 

and in September 2008 released the second edition, 

now available at www.PoliceChiefsDeskReference.org. 

The New Police Chief Mentoring Project also provided 

training to more than 450 law enforcement executives 

in 6 states, including 2 trainings specifically to 

prepare chiefs to serve as mentors. Through the 

Smaller Agency Certificate Training Track at 

the annual IACP Conference, the Smaller Police 

Department Technical Assistance Program provided 

training to nearly 2,000 law enforcement executives. 

Judicial training 

During FY 2008, BJA partnered with NJC to enhance 

the skills of 235 judges from 38 states, the District 

of Columbia, and 2 territories through courses and 

programs designed specifically to meet the needs of 

the changing judiciary, as well as with scholarships 

allowing them to attend. The courses ranged from 

the 2-week “General Jurisdiction,” intended for 

new judges, to those for experienced judges, such as 

“Advanced Evidence” and “Decision Making,” as well 

as specialized training such as “Practical Approaches 

to Substance Abuse Issues” and “Co-Occurring Mental 

and Substance Abuse Disorders,” and skills-based 

courses such as “Judicial Writing” and “Enhancing 

Judicial Bench Skills.” Participating judges returned 

to their states better educated, more proficient and 

productive, and capable of teaching other judges in 

their own states. 

Rural Courts Improvement network 

The Rural Courts Improvement Network is an 

initiative that the Justice Management Institute 

and BJA launched in early 2008 to strengthen the 

ability of state court systems and rural court leaders 

to improve court operations in rural areas. The basic 

approach to developing the network is to conduct 

a series of seminars for teams from states within a 

region. The first of two seminars on “Improving Rural 

Courts: A Networking Approach” was conducted in 

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in June 2008, with teams or 

representatives from eight states (Alaska, Idaho, 

Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Nevada, New 

York, and Washington) participating. The seminar 

focused on key issues common to rural courts, such 

as overcoming language and cultural barriers to 

meaningful access to the courts, providing assistance 

to pro se litigants in civil and family law matters, 

providing indigent defense services, delivering 

treatment and support services to problem-solving 

courts in rural areas, and the potential roles of 

leaders in state court systems in strengthening 

rural courts. Participants developed action plans for 

implementation after their return to their home states. 

By September 2008, planning was well underway 

for the second seminar in the series, to be held in 

Syracuse, New York, and cosponsored by the New York 

State Unified Court System. Work is also underway 

on construction of the Justice Management Institute’s 

Rural Courts Improvement Network web page. 

Indigent Defense 

In FY 2008, as part of the Criminal Courts Technical 

Assistance Project, BJA, in partnership with American 
50 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

University, funded two studies of public defenders. 

To assess the New Orleans Public Defender Office, 

BJA and American University began planning in 

spring 2008 for a study to address attorney allocation, 

workload and conflict management, issues relating to 

office culture and morale, and technical problems such 

as data collection and analysis. The newly appointed 

chief defender in New Orleans requested this study in 

hopes of ultimately achieving the capacity to provide 

the level of representation constitutionally required 

by the office. Similarly, the chairperson of Montana’s 

State Public Defender Commission requested that 

BJA assess how effectively the new Statewide 

Montana Public Defender System is operating, largely 

in response to prompting from the state legislature. 

In September 2008, BJA, in partnership with 

the National Legal Aid Defender Association and 

American University, created the Public Defense 

Leadership Focus Group. Comprising experienced 

leaders in all aspects of indigent defense—those who 

study and evaluate public defense, policymakers, 

academics, and other criminal justice system 

stakeholders—the group seeks to identify and assess 

the lessons learned through both successes and 

failures and to plan for the next generation of public 

defense needs, leadership, and implementation of 

best practices. BJA will post the meeting notes on 

its web site, along with documents summarizing the 

recommendations from the group on the future of 

public defense and followup steps resulting from the 

focus group. 
 

Acronyms and Abbreviations
 

FY 2008 | AnnuAl RepoRt to CongRess F 51 

ABA American Bar Association 

APPA American Probation and Parole 

Association 

BJA Bureau of Justice Assistance 

CAT Communities Against Terror 

CCTV Closed-Circuit Televising 

CenTF Center for Task Force Training 

CICC Criminal Intelligence Coordinating 

Council 

COOP continuity of operations plan 

CSC Celebrate Safe Communities 

CSG Council of State Governments 

DHS U.S. Department of Homeland Security 

DMI Drug Market Intervention Initiative 

DOJ U.S. Department of Justice 

FBCO faith-based and community organization 

FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation 

GAC Global Advisory Committee 

GFIPM Global Federated Identity and Privilege 

Management 

GISWG Global Infrastructure/Standards Working 

Group 

Global Global Justice Information Sharing 

Initiative 

GOWG Global Outreach Working Group 

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

GSWG Global Security Working Group 

IACP International Association of Chiefs 

of Police 

IEPD Information Exchange Package 

Documents 

IIR Institute for Intergovernmental Research 

ILP intelligence-led policing 

ISE Information Sharing Environment 

JAG Edward Byrne Memorial Justice 

Assistance Grant 

JIEM Justice Information Exchange Model 

JMHCP Justice and Mental Health 

Collaboration Program 

JPI Justice Planners International 

JRA Justice Reference Architecture 

LEITSC Law Enforcement Information 

Technology Standards Council 

MADD Mothers Against Drunk Driving 

MCCA Major Cities Chiefs Association 
52 F Solutions for Safer Communities 

NACo National Association of Counties 

NADEC National Alliance for Drug 

Endangered Children 

NASCIO National Association of State Chief 

Information Officers 

NCCP National Center for Community 

Prosecution 

NCIRC National Criminal Intelligence 

Resource Center 

NCPA National Crime Prevention Association 

NCPC National Crime Prevention Council 

NCSC National Center for State Courts 

NFA National Forensic Academy 

NFSI National Forensic Science Institute 

NIEM National Information Exchange Model 

NJC National Judicial College 

NTJC National Tribal Judicial Center 

NW National Neighborhood Watch 

NW3C National White Collar Crime Center 

OJP Office of Justice Programs 

OVC Office for Victims of Crime 

PART Program Assessment Rating Tool 

PDFA Partnership for a Drug-Free America 

PDMP prescription drug monitoring program 

PIECP Prison Industry Enhancement 

Certification Program 

PM–ISE Program Manager for the Information 

Sharing Environment 

PRI Prisoner Reentry Initiative 

PSN Project Safe Neighborhoods 

PSOB Public Safety Officers’ Benefits 

RISS Regional Information Sharing Systems 

RMS records management system 

RSAT Residential Substance Abuse Treatment 

for State Prisoners 

SAMHSA Substance Abuse and Mental Health 

Services Administration 

SAR suspicious activity reporting 

SAVIN Statewide Automated Victim Information 

and Notification 

SEARCH National Consortium for Justice 

Information and Statistics 

SLATT ® State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training 

TA technical assistance 

TSU Texas State University 

TTA training and technical assistance 

TVCI Targeting Violent Crime Initiative 

UCore Universal Core 

VIPS Volunteers in Police Service 
Bureau of Justice Assistance Information 

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

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

BJA and its programs, contact: 

Bureau of Justice Assistance 

810 Seventh Street NW. 

Washington, DC 20531 

202–616–6500 

866–859–2687 

Fax: 202–305–1367 

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA 

E-mail: AskBJA@usdoj.gov 

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

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

specialists provide reference and referral services, publication distribution, participation and support for 

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

Bureau of Justice Assistance Clearinghouse 

P.O. Box 6000 

Rockville, MD 20849–6000 

800–851–3420 

Fax: 301–519–5212 

www.ncjrs.gov 

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

Clearinghouse staff are available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 

6 p.m. eastern time. Ask to be placed on the BJA mailing list. 
U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Assistance

Washington, DC 20531

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