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Best Practices and Policy Ideas for Funding
Below is a series of policy papers offering ideas for programs that
could be funded using money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act. The papers cover a number of topics and programs including: Project
Safe Neighborhoods, justice IT infrastructure, reentry, combating
meth, prescription drug abuse, justice reinvestment, mortgage fraud and
home foreclosures, terrorism prevention, community courts, community
prosecution, Data Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety and the
National Motor Vehicle Title Information System.
To view the full policy paper, click the link for each
title.
Combating
Methamphetamine Production and Use
The methamphetamine crisis, which began more than 20 years ago in
western and southwestern regions of the country, is now affecting all
areas of the United States and continues to move further eastward.
Methamphetamine can easily be made in clandestine laboratories from
relatively inexpensive—and legal—over-the-counter
ingredients and can be purchased at a relatively low cost. There are
multiple problems associated with methamphetamine production,
distribution, and clean-up. In addition, methamphetamine is a
highly addictive and destructive drug that requires intensive treatment
responses. The U.S. Department of Justice and Bureau of Justice
Assistance (BJA), in coordination with the Office of National Drug
Control Policy (ONDCP) and other domestic and international law
enforcement agencies, continue to work together to fight the
manufacturing, trafficking, and use of this dangerous drug and to
support local and state law enforcement partners in this fight.
In 2005, Congress passed the CombatMeth Act and many states passed
laws which placed limits on the amount of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine
sales (the precursor chemicals used to make methamphetamine).
While there was an initial dramatic decrease in domestic meth production
as a result of the increased regulation of the sale and use of precursor
and essential chemicals used in meth production, recent numbers have
shown an increase in the number of domestic labs and use. People are
getting creative using a technique often referred to as
“smurfing” to get around the purchase limits of the
precursor chemicals. They are using different individuals to purchase
from multiple stores in multiple counties in order to get the supplies
they need for production.
Justice
IT (Infrastructure) Funding
Funding investments in Justice IT infrastructure that support voice and
data communications can assist the economy in creating jobs and reducing
inventories but also help to make America safer from the threats of
gangs, guns, drugs and terrorist attacks by addressing the number one
priority of the 911 Commission Report of sharing public safety and
homeland security information. These efforts can, with the proper
planning and the use of standards make significant progress toward
finally overcoming the issue identified in the 9-1-1 Report of
“why we can not share” and why we cannot connect the
dots.
Justice
Reinvestment
In the past 20 years, state spending on corrections has grown at a rate
faster than nearly any other state budget item. Despite increasing
corrections expenditures, recidivism rates remain high with half of all
persons released from prison or jail returning within three years.
Further, in every state, there are a handful of
“high-stakes” communities to which most people released from
prison return. These are also the communities where taxpayer-funded
programs are disproportionately focused. The goals of justice
reinvestment are increasing public safety, reducing spending on
corrections and improving conditions in the neighborhoods to which most
people released from prison return.
Combating
Mortgage Fraud and Home Foreclosures
As recent news reports have indicated and justice and community
representatives have reported, the number of vacant and abandoned
properties in communities across the U.S. has increased, and mortgage
fraud and foreclosures are reported to play a key role in the issue.
Vacant and abandoned properties often become unsightly, diminish the
property values of surrounding homes and communities, and invite
criminal activity into these communities. Mitigating the effects of
these problems, reducing the frequency of these occurrences, and
restoring these properties to productive use can play a significant role
in reducing and preventing neighborhood crime.
National
Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS)
The Anti-Car Theft Act of 1992 directed the U.S. Department of
Transportation to establish a national information system enabling
states and others to access automobile titling information. In 1996, the
Act was reauthorized and transferred to the U.S. Department of Justice
(DOJ.) NMVTIS is a DOJ system operated by the American Association of
Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA). NMVTIS is an electronic
system that enables users to access and verify key automobile titling
information, as well as brand history (such as junk, salvage, or flood.)
Users include State titling agencies, law enforcement officials,
consumers, auto recyclers, salvage and junk yards, and insurance
carriers.
Offender
Reentry
State and local officials are joining federal government leaders in
focusing unprecedented attention on the millions of people released from
state prisons and local jails each year. Constituents in these
communities know that the lack of affordable housing, drug and mental
health treatment, jobs, and positive role models, undermine efforts to
make individuals’ transition from corrections institutions to the
community safe and successful. Although government plays an
important role in trying to address these problems, it cannot take them
on alone. Service providers based in the neighborhoods where
people released from prison and jail return know best how to access
local resources to help former prisoners rejoin communities and families
in positive ways. They are a tremendously valuable partner if
government agencies can better engage them in prisoner reentry
efforts. Comprehensive offender reentry programs support
strategies to deliver pre- and post-release assessments and services,
and to develop transition plans in collaboration with criminal justice
and corrections agencies and faith- or community-based
organizations.
Prescription
Drug Abuse on the Rise
The non-medical use of prescription drugs is a serious public health
concern. According to the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health
(NSDUH), approximately 49.8 million Americans aged 12 or older reported
non-medical use of any psychotherapeutic at some point in their
lifetimes. Nearly 7 million Americans aged 12 or older reported current
(past month) use of psychotherapeutic drugs for non-medical purposes.
The National Drug Intelligence Center's 2006 National Drug Threat Survey
(NDTS) shows that 78.8% of state and local law enforcement agencies
reported either high or moderate availability of illegally diverted
pharmaceuticals. While prescription drugs account for the second most
commonly abused category of drugs, behind marijuana, many people benefit
from the appropriate use of prescription pain killers. Prescription drug
abuse poses a unique challenge because of the need to balance
prevention, education, and enforcement, with the need for legitimate
access to controlled prescription drugs.
Implementing
Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN)
Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a nationwide commitment to reduce
gun and gang crime in America by networking existing local programs that
target anti-gang and gun related crimes and providing these programs
with additional tools necessary to be successful. Since its inception in
2001, approximately $2 billion has been committed to this
initiative.
This funding is being used to hire new federal and state prosecutors,
support investigators, provide training, distribute gun lock safety
kits, deter juvenile gun crime, and develop and promote community
outreach efforts as well as to support other gun and gang violence
reduction strategies.
Starting in 2007, a significant component of PSN has been the
Department of Justice (DOJ) PSN Anti-Gang Training. This training is
delivered by DOJ law enforcement agencies and other criminal justice
professionals. Among a wide ranging agenda, intervention, prevention,
suppression, and reentry strategies are presented, as well as a
executive session to identify and develop strategic responses, a
briefing on national and regional gang trends, a community gang problem
assessment, and tips for working with cooperating witnesses and
confidential informants.
Implementing
Project Safe Neighborhood within Public Housing
Through their PSN efforts, many jurisdictions find that public housing
continues to be one of the most difficult environments in which to
reduce gun and gang violence. Residents of public housing comprise
a diverse population and inhabit a diverse range of property types.
In general these environments tend to consist of high concentrations
of individuals facing poverty, transiency, barriers to employment, and a
culture of fear, silence, and anti-police sentiments - circumstances
that result in higher levels of violent and drug crime and lower levels
of lasting, positive community-police relationships.
Despite these barriers to success, programs and agencies throughout
the country continue to implement effective responses and strategies to
reduce violent crime in public housing.
Terrorism
Prevention
Although the debate continues as to whether home-grown groups (Sageman)
or foreign terror organizations (Hoffman) pose the greatest threat to
America, there is widespread agreement that the threat of terror is
immediate and persistent. Al Qaeda still seeks to launch
attacks within the United States and domestic groups continue to recruit
and organize. The threat from foreign operatives may increase if
the “third generation” of jihadists (Abu Mus’ab
al-Suri) are no longer are drawn to the conflicts in Iraq and
Afghanistan. In addition, the election of President Obama has
created unrest and anger in some domestic extremist groups.
Data-Driven
Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety
Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS) integrates
location-based crime and traffic data to establish effective and
efficient methods for deploying law enforcement and other resources.
Using geomapping to identify areas that have high incidences of crime
and crashes, DDACTS uses traffic enforcement strategies that play a dual
role in fighting crime and reducing crashes and traffic violations.
Drawing on the deterrent of highly visible traffic enforcement and the
knowledge that crime often involves the use of motor vehicles, the goal
of DDACTS is to reduce the incidence of crime, crashes, and traffic
violations across the country.
Community
Prosecution
Community prosecution (CP) involves a long-term, proactive partnership
among the prosecutor's office, law enforcement, the community and public
and private organizations, whereby the authority of the prosecutor's
office is used to solve problems, improve public safety and enhance the
quality of life of community members. Under this emerging philosophy,
prosecutors are viewed not just as officers of the court who come on
scene once a crime has occurred, but rather as members of the community
who have the power to stop crime from occurring. This community-oriented
prosecution has become not just a new program, but a new strategy for
prosecutors. Community prosecutors use tools such as nuisance abatement,
drug-free and prostitute-free zones, restorative justice, community
courts, gun reduction programs, truancy abatement, and graffiti cleanup
to improve neighborhood safety.
BJA supports the National Center for Community Prosecution (NCCP)
through it partnership with the National District Attorneys
Association’s American Prosecutors Research Institute and the
Center for Court Innovation, conducting workshops and trainings, making
site visits, and providing peer-to-peer mentoring. These efforts
support implementation of new CP sites and sustain and expand current CP
efforts. BJA and its partners develop publications and newsletters
that highlight best-practices and creative solutions for implementing
and sustaining community prosecution across the nation.
Community
Courts
BJA in partnership with the Center for Court Innovation (CCI), under
its’ problem-solving courts initiative supports training and
technical assistance for community courts. Community courts seek
to apply a problem-solving approach to specified neighborhoods or
designated cases (e.g., misdemeanors), working hand in hand with local
residents, businesses, government agencies and community organizations.
Research has shown that the community court model can reduce crime and
substance abuse, increase services to victims, and improve public
confidence in justice.
Community courts are neighborhood-focused courts that attempt to
harness the power of the justice system to address local problems. They
can take many forms, but all focus on creative partnerships and problem
solving. They strive to create new relationships, both within the
justice system and with outside stakeholders such as residents,
merchants, churches and schools. And they test new and aggressive
approaches to public safety rather than merely responding to crime after
it has occurred.
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