LEAA/OJP (Law Enforcement Assistance Administration/Office of Justice Programs) Retrospective: Summary

• NCJ Number: 164509
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 25 pages
• Agencies: OJP
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation

Annotation

This report presents a summary of the observations offered by current and former Federal officials involved in the work of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) and its successor, the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), at a one-day meeting on July 11, 1996; observations pertain to lessons learned over 30 years regarding how government can best address the problems of crime in the Nation.

Abstract

Participants agreed that the OJP should set priorities based on the knowledge that criminal justice agencies alone cannot solve crime problems. Further, OJP should strengthen its emphasis on planning and enlist agency and community representatives at the State and local levels to help shape the OJP agenda. Meeting participants recommended that OJP should be organized as a single agency, since it is difficult to achieve consistency and continuity in programming under its current fragmented statutory structure. Based on their collective experience and knowledge, the majority of meeting participants agreed that one of the most important OJP roles is to assist and more vigorously oversee State and local criminal justice planning. Staff should be planning experts, and OJP should provide a well-developed technical assistance program. Also, OJP should emphasize research, evaluation, and development. OJP should sponsor more "tier one" research and evaluation, demonstrate intellectual leadership, and convince the Congress of the importance of such research. Further, OJP should improve the flow of information to the public, to State and local agencies, and to the Congress, as well as use discretionary grants to encourage experimental approaches, help support programs that have proven effective, and fill in the gaps in State programming. An attendee list is provided.