NCJ Number
199780
Date Published
2002
Length
93 pages
Annotation
This Georgia annual report for fiscal year 2001 presents information and data to the Federal Bureau of Justice Assistance on the State's expenditures and project performance with reference to the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Grant Program, which is designed to increase the effectiveness and enhance the capabilities of State and local criminal justice practitioners in their efforts to control drugs and crime.
Abstract
The Byrne Grant is administered in Georgia by the Governor's Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. Subgrantees are awarded funds on a yearly competitive grant application process in conjunction with areas determined in the previous year's strategy. The Council has established specific goals and funding allocations based on the program areas considered to have the highest priority. Georgia received a little more than $13.1 million from the Byrne 2001 award, from which it funded more than 70 projects in 11 of the 28 Byrne Purpose Areas. These included cooperative projects such as multijurisdictional drug task forces, fugitive squads, school resource officer programs, regional K-9 projects, and the automation of courts and court-related agencies. In relation to the State's ability to combat drug-related and violent crime, there are seven areas of Georgia's criminal justice system in which improvement has occurred. These are law enforcement; prosecution; courts; corrections; the juvenile justice system; prevention, education, and treatment; and criminal justice records improvement. In the area of law enforcement, performance data are related to drug arrests and drug seizures, the number of fugitives arrested, and K-9 team searches. In the area of prosecution, new prosecutor and indigent defense projects were implemented or enhanced. Regarding court performance, drug courts were established and maintained, and the Sentencing Commission continued its operation. In the area of corrections, funding continued for a Day Reporting Center Pilot project, and a Livescan unit was piloted at the State's largest correctional intake and diagnostic prison. Data and information are also provided on the juvenile justice system's Student Transition and Recovery Project, which has increased school attendance and performance for problem students. In the area of prevention, education, and treatment, data are provided on the work of school resource officers. Funding for criminal justice records improvement went to audits of local law enforcement agencies to determine compliance with regulations applicable to criminal justice records system. Other projects focused on the automation process in courts and the automation of arrest and identification of offenders in five counties. Extensive tables and figures and appended supplementary data and information