NCJ Number
89779
Date Published
1983
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Following a brief review of the recent and current activities of the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Institute of Justice, the Administration's bill (S. 829) for reauthorizing the Justice System Improvement Act is explained and compared with S. 53.
Abstract
Under S. 829, Federal assistance to States and localities focuses on violent crime, victim/witness assistance, repeat offenders, and crime prevention. The present assistance program is considered to be too broadly targeted, providing funds for all aspects of the criminal justice system. The fiscal 1984 budget proposal requests $90 million for the program. Further, S. 829 would establish an Office of Justice Assistance, headed by an Assistant Attorney General. The units within this Office would be the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), and a new Bureau of Justice Programs (BJP). Both the BJS and the NIJ would continue to perform justice research and statistical programs as authorized in the current statute. The BJP would administer the new technical and financial assistance program. The Administration proposal differs from S. 53 in four principal areas: organizational structure, program focus, the fund distribution procedure, and the administrative burden. S. 829 would streamline and simplify S. 53 in all these areas. Instead of the four separate, relatively independent units within the Department of Justice proposed by S. 53, S. 829 establishes all activities under a single unit, the Office of Justice Assistance, which will provide linkage between the products of research or statistical analysis and the program implementation function of the assistance unit.