NCJ Number
134194
Date Published
1969
Length
28 pages
Annotation
Results from a survey of 12 States, selected for their large urban concentrations, were used to assess the process by which these States were developing plans and programs for reform of the criminal justice system as the basis for Federal grants-in-aid as required by the 1968 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act.
Abstract
The survey found that, for the most part, State planning under the Act had been the work of a small number of professionals with only limited representation from residents of poor and minority neighborhoods where the problems of crime were worst. Even agencies dealing with problems related to crime had played only minor roles in criminal justice planning. The findings also showed that many State planning agencies were dealing separately with each segment of the system rather than trying to mold plans for a coherent whole. Most States appeared to have accepted the idea of a regional approach to law enforcement without really considering the role the regions would play. Competence in law-enforcement planning was spread thinly among the States, and, at the time of the survey, the Justice Department had lent little guidance, either in the planning process or the problem areas which the plans intended to confront. Finally, the report concluded that the Justice Department would need to require States to make very detailed plans in order to determine where deficiencies in planning existed.