NCJ Number
200252
Date Published
December 2003
Length
83 pages
Annotation
This document presents an overview of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) activities for Fiscal Year 2002.
Abstract
The BJA was established to provide leadership and assistance in support of local criminal justice strategies to achieve safe communities. The overall goals are to reduce and prevent crime, violence, and drug abuse; and improve the functioning of the criminal justice system. In 2002, BJA supported a wide range of programs and initiatives to support local criminal justice strategies in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the 5 United States territories. BJA funding and technical assistance are vital to many communities, some small and rural, others large and urban, that lack the resources to adequately fund every component of an effective criminal justice system. BJA’s two largest grant programs are the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Program and the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant (LLEBG) Program. These programs are guided by the principle that Federal dollars should support initiatives that work and that are backed by the communities they serve. Both programs emphasize local decisionmaking and allow States and local communities to devise their own responses to local crime and drug problems. BJA administered $500 million in Byrne formula grants and nearly $345 million in Byrne discretionary awards. BJA administered more than $330 million in LLEBG grants in 2002, making awards to more than 3,100 jurisdictions. The State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) provided $565 million to States and units of general government that have authority over correctional facilities that incarcerated or detained undocumented criminal aliens for at least 4 consecutive days.