NCJ Number
171657
Date Published
1995
Length
71 pages
Annotation
This report details the progress made in the year following the enactment of the Violent Crime Control Act (VCCA) of 1994 to change the strategic course of law enforcement in the United States.
Abstract
The Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) has been the keystone of the first year of effort. In its first year, the COPS program authorized grants for 25,000 new police officers in urban and rural communities across the country. Flexible and innovative COPS grants helped police departments pay for new technology, the COPS cut red tape with a customer response center and simplified procedures to obtain funding, and the COPS teamed with the Department of Defense to encourage the hiring of recently separate members of the military as community policing officers. Part of the VCCA, the Violence Against Women Act combined tough new penalties with programs to prosecute officers and help female victims. The VCCA outlawed the future production of military-style weapons with no sporting purpose, and the VCCA's State Criminal Alien Assistance Program reimbursed States for the costs of incarcerating criminal aliens. In addition, the VCCA provided stiff new penalties for gang-related crimes, doubled the maximum term of imprisonment for repeat sex offenders, and boosted penalties for alien smuggling and other immigration-related crimes. More than $21 million in grants were awarded to establish boot camps for juvenile offenders, nearly $9 million in grants were awarded to expand the drug court program, and $46 million were awarded to help States make critical improvements in criminal history record systems. The expectation that the VCCA will continue to reduce violent crime is discussed.