Meet Dave Steingraber

Dave Steingraber served two terms as NCJA's vice president before being elected president in August 2007. This interview took place prior to his new election.

Dave Steingraber was appointed Executive Director of the Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance in January 2003 by Governor Jim Doyle and has over 35 years of law enforcement experience.  Before becoming Executive Director, Dave was previously an administrator for the State of Wisconsin Department of Justice and the Chief of Police for several Wisconsin communities.  Dave also serves on Wisconsin’s Homeland Security Council and is a former president of the Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association.

What do you think are the greatest improvements that you have made to Wisconsin’s criminal justice system over the past four years?

I am very proud that in the past four years we have been able to streamline the criminal justice system, saving thousands of dollars, while giving our professionals the tools they need to keep our communities safe.  By using videoconferencing technology in place of physically transporting inmates to court for early court proceedings, Wisconsin sheriffs and county courts have saved thousands of dollars.  Our “Your Return on a Safer Tomorrow” report received national recognition for Excellence in Analysis and helped to determine the cost savings of using the videoconferencing technology.

We also consolidated our Byrne-funded drug task forces from 26 teams down to 18 reducing overhead and administrative costs.  And we purchased six mobile crime scene investigation units to help investigators preserve and collect evidence at major crime scenes.

Are there are any programs that you are particularly proud of?

Our SAFE (Sexual offender Apprehension and Felony Enforcement) team has been extremely successful tracking down and bringing into compliance sex offenders who do not properly register with the state.  Over 60% of the sex offenders located by our SAFE team have committed a crime against a juvenile, showing that our efforts are helping to make our communities that much safer from dangerous offenders.

Where did the phrase “Building Safer Communities” come from?

Following 9/11 and the establishment of the federal Department of Homeland Security, Governor Jim Doyle directed OJA to administer Wisconsin’s homeland security grant program.  Suddenly our agency was given the responsibility of managing anti-terrorism programs along with traditional criminal justice programming that OJA had always administered.  It was an exciting and challenging time.

We felt that the mission statement “Building Safer Communities” effectively tied together the goals of our wide variety of anti-terror and juvenile and criminal justice initiatives.  Each program protects our communities in a different, yet critical, way.

What were your priorities when you began at OJA four years ago?

The national criminal justice landscape changed significantly following 9/11 and the shift to anti-terror and homeland security measures.  For OJA, our priorities changed dramatically with the addition of Wisconsin’s homeland security grant program to our agency.  Since that time, we have made knitting together criminal justice and homeland security initiatives a top priority.  Improvements in information sharing and communications interoperability, although financed through homeland security funds, have huge ramifications for the criminal justice system.  Making sure these two components complement each other has been a major focus of OJA.

What have been the greatest challenges implementing new programs and updating systems?

With decreasing levels of federal funding, it has been a challenge for us to find new dollars for multi-year funding obligations.  Also, in Wisconsin our decentralized system of government allows small towns and municipalities to set their own unique law enforcement and justice system policies and procedures.  This makes it extremely difficult to find statewide consistency and to see the broad effect of OJA policies and funding.  However, we have been very successful establishing regional task forces that stretch resources and bring together a variety of municipalities and communities.

What advice would you give to other State Administering Agencies to build safer communities during a time of shrinking federal funding?

Requiring a local percentage match is a very effective tool to stretch funding dollars and develop stakeholder buy-in to the programs.  We also work very hard to coordinate all available funding sources for a particular program.  Like our homeland security and criminal justice programs, we make sure that we are not duplicating funding to similar projects and use each program area to complement one another.

What areas of criminal justice do you think deserve the most attention in the upcoming years?

Offender reintegration.  The single greatest pressure point on our corrections facilities in Wisconsin are returning offenders.  Currently, corrections budgets are consuming the largest percentage of criminal justice funds – at the expense of other noteworthy initiatives.  We are utilizing Day Report Centers and treatment programs to help avoid offender recidivism; however, it is a problem that will need to be significantly addressed in the future.

What is your thought process when you decide whether to grant funds to a program?

Two factors play a large role on funding decisions: evidence-based programming and the return on investment.  We are helping to move our juvenile justice programs to an evidence-based format which helps us to see the impact that the program has had on the community – often a very difficult task.  And having a significant return on investment is ever more critical as federal funding continues to shrink.

Both our evidence-based programming and return on investment strategies have been outlined in our award-winning "What Works, Wisconsin!" report, completed last year by the University of Wisconsin Extension.

Do you have any new programs or funding initiatives in the works?

One of our most exciting initiatives, the Wisconsin Justice Information Sharing (WIJIS) Gateway, has been ongoing for a few years but will soon be expanding rapidly throughout Wisconsin.  The Gateway will allow law enforcement and DA’s to view the criminal justice databases of other agencies across the state through a secure online tool.  This level of information sharing will transform the criminal justice system in Wisconsin.  The WIJIS program, a homeland security funded initiative, represents how we will continue to tie together criminal justice and homeland security programs to continue building safer communities.

Click here to read Building Safer Communities.