Crime Technology: Federal Assistance to State and Local Law Enforcement

• NCJ Number: 180505
• Author(s): Danny R. Burton; Mark A. Tremba; Seto J. Bagdoyan; Chan My J. Battcher; Andrew B. Hoffman; David P. Alexander; Denise M. Fantone; Jan B. Montgomery; Geoffrey R. Hamilton
• Date Published: June 1999
• Length: 53 pages
• Corporate Author: US Government Accountability Office
• Sale Source: US Government Accountability Office; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Technical Assistance)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Report to the Honorable Mike DeWine, U.S. Senate.

Annotation

The General Accounting Office (GAO) explored crime technology assistance provided by the Federal Government to State and local law enforcement agencies between fiscal years 1996 and 1998.

Abstract

The crime technology assistance was categorized according to three types: (1) direct funding or grants; (2) access to support services and systems such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Crime Information Center; and (3) in-kind (no cost) transfers of equipment and other assets. Because law enforcement agencies had systems to track crime technology assistance, the GAO review largely relied on agency estimates. The GAO found identifiable crime technology assistance provided by the Department of Justice, the Department of the Treasury, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to State and local law enforcement agencies during 1996 through 1998 totaled an estimated $1.2 billion. The majority of assistance involved grants, all of which were administered by the Department of Justice. The three largest grants were Office of Community Oriented Policing Services Making Officer Redeployment Effective grants ($466.1 million), Bureau of Justice Assistance Byrne Formula grants ($188 million), and Bureau of Justice Statistics National Criminal History Improvement Program ($147.2 million). Support services and systems represented the second largest category of assistance, and the Department of Justice was the major provider with an estimated $146.6 million in assistance. Only the ONDCP had an established in-kind transfer program that provided $13 million assistance during 1998, the first year of the program's existence. Appendixes contain supplemental information on the GAO review of crime technology assistance. 6 tables