MENU TITLE: NIJ Journal No. 232 . Series: NIJ Journal Published: June 1997 51 pages 109,306 bytes ------------------------------ Figures, charts, forms, and tables are not included in this ASCII plain-text file. To view this document in its entirety, download the Adobe Acrobat graphic file available from this Web site or order a print copy from NCJRS at 800-851-3420. National Institute of Justice Jeremy Travis Director NIJ Journal Editorial Board Sally Hillsman Deputy Director for Office of Research and Evaluation John L. Schwarz Deputy Director for Office of Development and Dissemination David Boyd Director, Office of Science and Technology Stephanie Bourque Cheryl A. Crawford Mary G. Graham Wendy Howe Christy Visher Issue Editor Daniel Tompkins The National Institute of Justice Journal is published by the National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, to announce the Institute's policy-relevant research results and initiatives. The Attorney General has determined that publication of this periodical is necessary in the transaction of the public business required by law of the Department of Justice. Opinions or points of view expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Justice. The National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS), a centralized national clearinghouse of criminal justice information, is sponsored by the Office of Justice Programs agencies and the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Registered users of NCJRS receive the National Institute of Justice Journal and NCJRS Catalog free. To become a registered user, write NCJRS User Services, Box 6000, Rockville, MD 20849-6000, call 800-851-3420, or e-mail askncjrs@ncjrs.org. The National Institute of Justice is a com-ponent of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delin-quency Prevention, and Office for Victims of Crime. ------------------------------ Director's Message This issue of the National Institute of Justice Journal represents a renewed commitment by NIJ to publish this flagship communications vehicle on a quarterly basis, while continuing the Journal's tradition of excellence in presenting findings from the best of criminal justice research. To help achieve these goals, we've established an in-house Editorial Board whose members you'll find listed on the masthead in this edition. The Board helps the editorial staff assure that the information in the Journal accurately reflects the scope of NIJ's research and development activities, is timely, and, when based on sponsored research, is academically rigorous. Highlighted in this issue is an article written by NIJ Visiting Fellow William McDonald about the complex issues surrounding illegal immigration and related crime. The impact of illegal immigration is often felt most severely at the local level, yet overall the repercussions can be national in scope. As officials formulate strategies to deal with illegal immigration and related crime--both by and against immigrants--law enforcement agencies at the Federal, State, and local level each play a role, based on differing authority and responsibility. This article discusses efforts to define roles and forge partnerships to deal with the problem while recognizing the differing attitudes toward immigration policy and the differing goals associated with immigration control and crime control. Also in this issue is an article describing NIJ's National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Centers, a national and regional resource for State and local law enforcement and corrections agencies. NIJ's Office of Science and Technology supports the development of new technologies and the testing of existing technologies for criminal justice applications. The Technology Centers described in this issue provide hands-on technical assistance and information related to criminal justice technology to the State and local criminal justice agencies in their area. We urge our partners at the local level to take advantage of this resource. Last year marked the publication of the 20th edition of Crime and Justice: A Review of Research. This issue of the NIJ Journal includes a synopsis of this milestone edition, a look at future volumes, and a historical overview of the prestigious series, sponsored primarily by NIJ and published by the University of Chicago Press. NIJ's continued support for Crime and Justice reflects its commitment to remain at the forefront of important criminal justice research. Other information presented in this issue highlights new developments at NIJ, such as the establishment of a new Crime Mapping Center--which will be covered in more detail in future issues. New challenges in criminal justice require new commitments to meet those challenges. Part of NIJ's commitment is to share useful information through the NIJ Journal. We welcome your comments and suggestions. Jeremy Travis Director National Institute of Justice ------------------------------ Crime & Illegal Immigration: Emerging Local, State, and Federal Partnerships by William F. McDonald As they have since Colonial days, immigration and related crime control policies continue to fuel our national debate. Law enforcement, central and local governments, border communities, and employers struggle to steer a course true to crime control as they navigate the turbulent waters of cultural and political sensitivities. This article describes a new partnership approach to sharing responsibility and authority for the costs and outcomes of illegal immigration and related crime. These partnerships-- among local, State, and Federal authorities--recognize the separate and sometimes confounding distinctions between crime control and immigration control. The shared responsibility recognizes that law enforcement's mission is primarily crime control, not immigration control. Crosscutting the partnerships are political forces at all levels of government--and police agencies are sometimes caught in the middle. Policymakers who favor immigration would narrowly restrict the police role in immigration control (e.g., by discouraging the police from referring suspected illegals to Federal authorities); those opposed to immigration would greatly expand it (e.g., by requiring the police to report all suspected illegal immigrants). The police, however, have their own views to contribute to the debate. Some of the Nation's largest police organizations, for example, urged Congress to drop a proposal in a House immigration bill that would have allowed States to deny public education to illegal immigrants, arguing that if enacted it would lead to more crime.[1] The challenges presented by immigration cannot be reduced by providing foreign aid to countries from which most immigrants originate. People will continue to cross borders in search of better lives. To deter such crossings, nations should exercise border controls and interior enforcement. A nation's rules regarding who and how many people should be allowed to immigrate should be supported with some form of police enforcement. For democratic countries committed to the rule of law, rules should be enforced until or unless replaced by a duly enacted policy of completely open borders. Immigration and today's world The worldwide supply of, demand for, and ambivalence about immigrants has risen dramatically in the past two decades. An estimated 100 million people (2 percent of the world's population) live outside their homelands. The movement of people throughout the world has become much freer and easier. Even in the most remote corner of the earth, people are only a 2- or 3-day journey away from an airport and a newly adopted country. Industrial nations have begun taking a harder line against illegal immigrants, but they are increasingly caught in a squeeze. Their populations are aging, forcing up welfare expenses, and illegal immigrants favorably influence the dependency ratio of productive workers to retirees. These immigrants work cheaply, are mostly not entitled to benefits, are often paid off the books, and contribute in important ways to the informal economies that allow some countries to maintain their standards of living.[2] In addition, nations are being legally constrained by a human rights revolution akin to the "criminal law revolution" exercised by the Warren Court in the 1960s. Human rights are universal; they are not limited to citizens. By asserting them, illegal immigrants can limit a government's options to refuse asylum and restrict immigration.[3] Illegal immigration and crime in the United States Estimating the population of illegal immigrants residing in the United States is a daunting task; the best estimates now peg the number at 5 million (nearly 2 percent of the total U.S. population), with an estimated net annual increase of about 275,000. Contrary to public perception, the vast majority of illegal immigrants in the United States do not enter the country illegally across the border with Mexico. Rather, a substantial proportion (41 percent) enter legally at airports and other entry points and overstay their visas. Of the net increase of 275,000 a year, about 125,000 are visa "overstayers."[4] (See "Where Do Most Illegal Immigrants Come From?") It is reasonable to assume that most illegal immigrants are not involved in serious crime. The extent to which they represent a crime threat is difficult to estimate and varies within communities. In 1994, a major survey estimated that 21,395 illegal aliens were in State prisons in 7 States. (See "Where Do Illegal Immigrants Reside?") California held 70.6 percent of these illegal aliens. New York was next with 10 percent.[5] A study of illegal immigrant involvement in serious crime in San Diego and El Paso in 1985-86 found that, of arrestees for serious crimes in San Diego, 81 percent were citizens, 12 percent were illegal immigrants, 2 percent were legal immigrants, and 4 percent were foreign born but with unconfirmed citizenship. In El Paso, 74 percent were citizens, 15 percent were illegal aliens, 7 percent were legal aliens, and 4 percent were unconfirmed.[6] A 1993 study in San Diego County estimated the illegal immigrant population at 220,000, or 7.9 percent of the county's total population, and claimed that approximately 22 percent of felony arrestees were illegal aliens.[7] Without adjustments for the age and gender of the illegal immigrant population, however, these numbers probably overestimate the relative criminality of the illegal population because a disproportionate number of the illegal immigrants were likely to have been single males in their crime-prone years. Discussion of crime and immigration is not limited to illegal immigrants' involvement in crime. It extends to all crimes associated with illegal immigration, including smuggling illegal immigrants, manufacturing and selling fraudulent documents, bribing public officials, and preying on illegal immigrants. A wide range of predators victimize illegal immigrants. Guides and organized gangsters have robbed, raped, and killed them; abandoned them in the desert; tossed them overboard at sea or out of speeding cars under hot pursuit; or forced them to work in sweatshops or prostitution rings to pay off the cost of the trip. Bandits prey upon them during their journeys. Xenophobes and hatemongers terrorize them. Some employers cheat them of their earnings. The fact that illegal immigration is a crime makes the immigrants particularly vulnerable because they are unlikely to seek the protection of the law. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the opening of world markets, the worldwide smuggling of immigrants has mushroomed. It is a growth industry for organized crime.[8] By 1993, New York gangs were charging residents of China between $15,000 and $50,000 each to be smuggled into the United States. The market for smuggling Chinese immigrants was estimated at $3.5 billion. Usually, immigrants paid $1,500 in advance, with the balance paid after arriving--often by working for years as indentured servants under horrendous conditions. By 1995, Central America had become a free-trade zone in which government officials sold the visas and passports necessary to leave China via plane for $25,000 to $50,000 apiece. An estimated 10,000 illegal aliens per month were being moved through the region to the United States. The business was regarded as less risky and almost as lucrative as drug trafficking.[9] Reliable measures of the prevalence of these ancillary crimes do not exist. Little documentation is available and what exists is largely anecdotal or expert guesstimates.[10] Reshaping past partnerships Even after the Immigration Act of 1891 established complete and definite Federal control over immigration, local and State law enforcement agencies often cooperated with Federal immigration officials. Local police were involved in immigration control indirectly (through their crime control activities) and directly (by referring suspected illegals to Federal authorities), assisting with searches of city blocks where illegals were living, and participating in mass expulsions of illegals, such as "Operation Wetback," which in 1954 returned 50,000 illegal Mexicans across the border. For their part, Federal immigration officials often stressed the crime control aspects of their mission. The 1960s wrought many changes in the ethos of police work as well as in public sentiments about civil rights, the treatment of minority groups, and the willingness to protest Federal policies. Rising crime rates and, in some communities, a rapid influx of illegal immigrants stimulated a refashioning of the police mission. By the late 1970s, the foundations for old partnerships began to be redefined in light of these new conditions. The willingness and freedom of local law enforcement to cooperate fully with Federal immigration authorities was reconsidered and challenged. The front line of police work, the daily and routine encounters between police and suspicious persons, began to cause problems whenever noncitizens were involved. Traditionally, the police referred to Federal authorities any suspicious persons believed to be illegal aliens. In some border communities the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) paid police departments a monthly per capita fee for detaining suspects for them. As time passed, however, local officials in communities with high proportions of foreign-born residents were increasingly concerned that their continued close association with INS might harm their painstakingly nurtured relationships with Mexican Americans, ethnic voting blocs, and advocacy groups. Police officials worried that illegal aliens would not report crimes or cooperate as witnesses for fear that contact with any Government agency would lead to deportation. Such a perception could handicap law enforcement's ability to deal with serious crimes. As a result, some local police agencies began to distance themselves from certain INS activities. In other communities, advocates for immigrants, refugees, and ethnic groups wielded enough influence to impose restrictions on the type of involvement their local police should have with Federal immigration-control efforts. The most visible reshaping of the old partnership occurred in the mid-1980s in Santa Ana, California, when Police Chief Ray Davis began working to establish a community-oriented policing program. He publicly announced that his department would no longer participate in residential raids and street roundups; he maintained that such tactics were ineffective and counter to his department's attempts to strengthen community relations.[11] He did, however, continue to cooperate with INS regarding cases of alien smuggling and other victimization crimes. In other jurisdictions, restrictions on local police were imposed via lawsuits or from internal policy. In some jurisdictions, for example, the police stopped completing citizenship information on arrest reports after receiving criticism that they stopped suspects on the basis of Mexican appearance. At the same time, the growing number of illegal aliens in prisons began causing alarm in already crowded correctional facilities. In February 1983, New York State's Department of Correctional Services contacted Federal authorities requesting assistance to alleviate the burden of incarcerating illegal aliens. Finding that neither INS nor the Bureau of Prisons had space available and learning that there may be 4,000 or more aliens in State prisons nationally, Congress eventually passed legislation, which became part of the 1986 immigration reform bill, to reimburse States for costs incurred for imprisoning illegal aliens.[12] By the 1990s, aroused public concern about illegal immigration resulted in the opening of a new round of discussions about the compatibility of immigration control with the fundamental mission of the police. (See "Chronicle of Immigration Policies and Legislation.") New partnerships Passage of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Crime Act) created unprecedented levels of Federal resources that were committed to control illegal immigration and the crimes committed by and against illegal immigrants. After many lean years, INS received a major infusion of funds earmarked for (1) reducing illegal immigration by hardening the border, (2) deterring the employment of illegals, and (3) improving support of crime-fighting abilities of State and local law enforcement agencies. The 1994 Crime Act authorized $1.2 billion for specialized enforcement provisions, including border control, criminal alien deportation, asylum reform, and a criminal alien tracking center. In addition, it authorized funds to reimburse the States and localities for the cost of incarcerating illegal aliens.[13] In December 1996, the Federal Government released $495 million. Half of the money went to California, with $12.8 million set aside for Los Angeles County jails. The rest went to 48 other States.[14] In the wake of the Crime Act, INS has launched two major initiatives addressing criminal aliens: the Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC), designed to improve the process of identifying illegal aliens who commit crimes, and the Institutional Hearing Program (IHP), designed to streamline deportation procedures. Both programs aim to enhance coordination with State and local agencies. Streamlining identification procedures. The LESC program improves the efficiency of the expulsion process through the front end of the system--when law enforcement officers first come in contact with criminal aliens in the course of routine police work. LESC gives local law enforcement the capacity to quickly determine the immigration status of suspects so that criminal aliens can be readily identified and removed. One feature of this is the development of a system to flag the criminal records of individuals who have been deported. Other aspects are more complex and cannot be reduced to a simple entry on a computer record. Rather, the determination of immigration status and possible deportability requires the judgment of officials knowledgeable in the arcane particulars of immigration law and experienced at interpreting immigration files. The program has been pilot tested in Arizona and Iowa and is being further tested in south Florida. Streamlining deportation procedures. IHP is a key component in Federal efforts to streamline the deportation process and close the gap that allows immigrants in State and local custody to be released before their immigration status can be determined and deportation initiated. Once released, illegal immigrants disappear, move, and often get new identification papers with different names. Finding them again to enforce final orders of deportation is extremely inefficient. Of the 83,793 deportation orders issued to illegal immigrants who were not in prison in 1995, 37,246, or 44.5 percent, were issued for immigrants who could not be found.[15] Through IHP, the deportation hearing process is conducted before the immigrant leaves the custody of the State or local facility, thereby ensuring his availability for removal. In addition, with the recent influx of Federal money, INS can now afford to set high bail so fewer illegal workers can disappear. Suspected illegal workers are held in jail at a cost of $60 per day--a cost that is reimbursed by the Federal Government. One obstacle to more efficient deportation of immigrant prisoners has been the housing of prisoners in various locations. Immigration agency resources were spread thin across many sites. INS is now consolidating into one location business that had been conducted in several locations. For example, in Texas, with its 65 widely dispersed prison and treatment facilities, INS is constructing a permanent central processing facility in Huntsville through which the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has agreed to process all foreign-born offenders to determine their alien status. All immigration hearings will be held there. In addition, INS has given its deportation policy an almost exclusive emphasis on crime. It has made criminality its highest priority grounds for deportation. The impact of these changes is evident. From January 1993 through July 1996, INS removed 113,000 criminal aliens (roughly twice the number in the previous 4 years). In 1996, it removed 63,000 illegal aliens and expects to remove 93,000 more in 1997.[16] Assessing procedures. A joint Federal and State task force also conducted assessments of Federal, State, and local practices related to identifying and processing criminal aliens in five States: California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois. The assessments found wide variations in the nature of cooperation between Federal, State, and local agencies. The assessment group made 32 recommendations for improving partnerships, including expanding the LESC program and enhancing criminal record flagging systems. The group hopes that by the year 2000, a nationwide information system will exist to enable local law enforcement officials to quickly identify and deport criminal aliens, particularly deported aliens who have reentered the country illegally. Specific recommendations include:[17] o Adopting uniform data elements to capture citizenship and immigration status information on local, State, and Federal Bureau of Investigation records. o Adopting uniform procedures regarding when and under what circumstances immigration status checks should be conducted on suspected foreign-born arrestees, defendants, and offenders. o Entering into National Crime Information Center (NCIC) files all warrants on criminal aliens with final orders of deportation who abscond prior to removal. o Having INS establish positive identification capabilities through biometric measures rather than name-based records. o Exploring the possible use of the Interstate Identification Index as a national deported criminal alien flagging system. The assessment in New York found that a flagging system for updating criminal records with notifications that an individual had been deported was already in place but not working well. A check of 180 cases from a 1992 INS Criminal Alien Summary Sheet (in which deportation orders had been issued for inmates with 1995 or earlier release dates) revealed that only one criminal history record had been updated to indicate that the subject of the record had been deported. The assessment in California was used to develop a new system. INS and the California Department of Justice (CDOJ) now share fingerprint and deportation status information. On completion of their State-imposed prison terms, alien felons are fingerprinted and released to INS custody for deportation. When the alien is deported, INS forwards a fingerprint card to CDOJ for positive identification. CDOJ then applies a new flag to California's Criminal History System (CHS). In the event of a subsequent contact with local law enforcement, the alien's deportation status will be in the CHS message along with an INS telephone number to call for removal. Other cooperative efforts. The Federal Government, through the Bureau of Justice Assistance, is funding seminars for local law enforcement on dealing with alien crime. The seminars are being conducted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police with the cooperation of INS. Alan Bersin, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California and Attorney General Janet Reno's Special Representative to the Southwest Border, is enlisting local law enforcement in a new partnership against crime related to illegal immigration. Well aware of the sentiments of State and local officials about the Federal Government's responsibility for the criminal justice costs related to illegal immigrants, he has proposed a logic by which local law enforcement agencies would accept responsibility for prosecuting crimes that fall within their local bailiwick. Together with San Diego District Attorney Paul Pfingst, he has developed an agreement that covers most serious crime. The intent of the allocation is to prosecute offenses in that jurisdiction where the potential sanction is best calculated to result in an appropriate punishment and deterrent effect on a case-by-case basis. The agreement continues to be refined but generally works this way: If a criminal episode at the border could result in violation of either Federal or local statutes, the responsibility for prosecution falls upon local authorities when the nexus of the crime is local or the nature of the offense is a traditional subject of local interest and county concern. Responsibility is allocated to the Federal Government when the nexus of the crime is not specific to San Diego or where Federal jurisdiction traditionally has been asserted--for example, in the civil rights area. Aliens who smuggle drugs across the border, therefore, are prosecuted for drug offenses by local authorities if they reside in San Diego County, if they drive a car registered in the county, or if the narcotics are intended for distribution in the county. Otherwise, the suspect is prosecuted federally or, in certain cases where evidence of intent is lacking, sanctioned administratively by INS and removed from the county. Criminal aliens who enter the United States after having been deported, on the other hand, are charged under Federal law with immigration violations to access the severe penalties available in those circumstances. The result of this Federal/county coordination between prosecutors is enhanced performance of the criminal justice system across the board on a regional level. Law and justice for illegal immigrants In the heat of the discussion over Federal reimbursement to the States and the proper role of local law enforcement in immigration control, it is easy to overlook another side of the issue, namely, protecting illegal immigrants from the exploitation and victimization to which they are so vulnerable. Here, local law enforcement and Federal authorities also have cooperated. Federal officials and the San Diego Police Department have, over the years, established a special police task force to protect immigrants from the bandits who prey upon them. The first unit operated for only 5 months in 1976 and made 131 arrests. The unit was disbanded due to international sensitivity over some incidents in which it was involved,[18] even though the incidents of local youth gangs preying upon the immigrants ended. Today the San Diego Police Department operates a similar unit that patrols the canyons every night assuring surprised illegal immigrants that they are there to protect them. But illegal immigration is no longer solely a border issue; the State's Attorney's Office in Montgomery Country, Maryland, has begun operating a "theft of services" unit, which deals primarily with getting justice for illegal immigrants cheated by employers who often threaten to report them to INS if they complain. Illegal immigration is likely to continue to be a challenge for democracies for some time. As they search for guidance, policymakers would do well to take a lesson from the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, an agency familiar with illegal immigration and the conflicting values, responsibilities, and public interests involved. Its policy manual reads as follows: The primary responsibility for the enforcement of immigration laws rests with Federal authorities. Nonetheless, the Sheriff's Department has a responsibility to guarantee the safety and well-being of all people living within this county. The scope of this responsibility includes the enforcement of applicable Federal and State statutes concerned with illegal immigration into the United States and the County of San Diego to ensure the safety and well-being of illegal immigrants, as well as the security of the residents of this county.[19] William F. McDonald, a Visiting Fellow at the National Institute of Justice, is Deputy Director of the Institute of Criminal Law and Procedure and Professor at Georgetown University. This article was supported by grant 95-IJ-CX-0110 from the National Institute of Justice. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Justice or Georgetown University. Notes 1. Schmitt, Eric, "Police Scorn Plan to Deny Schooling to Illegal Aliens: Groups Say Bill Will Lead to Rise in Crime," New York Times, April 9, 1996. 2. Cornelius, Wayne A., Philip L. Martin, and James F. Hollifield, eds., Controlling Immigration: A Global Perspective. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1991. 3. Jacobson, David, Rights Across Borders: Immigration and the Decline of Citizenship. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1996. 4. Branigin, William, "Illegal Immigrant Population Grows to 5 Million," Washington Post, February 8, 1997:A3. 5. Clark, Rebecca L., S. Jeffrey Passel, Wendy N. Zimmermann, and Michael E. Fix, Fiscal Impacts of Undocumented Aliens: Selected Estimates for Seven States. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, 1994. 6. Pennell, Susan, Christine Curtis, and Jeff Tayman, The Impact of Illegal Immigration on the Criminal Justice System. San Diego, CA: San Diego Association of Governments, 1989. 7. Richard A. Parker and Louis M. Rea, California Senate, Special Committee on Border Issues, Illegal Immigration in San Diego County: An Analysis of Costs and Revenues. Sacramento, CA, 1993. 8. Schmid, Alex P., ed., Migration and Crime. Milan, Italy: International Scientific and Professional Advisory Council of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme, 1996. 9. The smuggling of illegal immigrants across the U.S. border began in 1882. Shortly after Federal law excluded the immigration of Chinese, the smuggling of Chinese immigrants began, as did the manufacturing of fraudulent documents to accompany them. In 1973, the smuggling of illegal immigrants across the U.S.-Mexican border was a thriving business estimated at $125 million a year. By 1977, the Mexican border was described as a "free-fire zone" with human beings being bought and sold in a kind of slave trade. One Los Angeles smuggling operation was making $120,000 a trip packing up to 45 aliens in a panel truck. Source: McDonald, William F., "Illegal Immigration: Crime, Ramifications and Control (The American Experience)." In William F. McDonald, ed., Crime and Law Enforcement in the Global Village, Cincinnati, OH: Anderson Publishers, 1997:65-86. 10. In the mid-1970s, along a short stretch of land that separates residential areas in south San Diego from the border with Mexico, the known rate of victimization of immigrants making their way into the country illegally was high, even though it was estimated to be only 10 to 25 percent of the true rate. During 1975, 130 cases of robbery (with multiple victims), 13 rapes, and 4 murders were reported to the San Diego Police Department. In 1976, 156 robberies, 3 rapes, and 3 homicides were reported, all directly involving illegal aliens as either victims or suspects. Source: Kolendar, William B., "Remarks Regarding Illegal Aliens." In The Police Yearbook 1978. Gaithersburg, MD: International Association of Chiefs of Police, 1978:47-50. 11. Interestingly, two large local newspapers sold in the politically conservative community agreed with him, stating that they, too, thought residential raids were disruptive and that the better strategy would be to concentrate immigration control efforts at the border. Skolnick, Jerome H., and David H. Bayley, The New Blue Line: Police Innovation in Six American Cities. New York, NY: The Free Press, 1986. 12. D'Amato, Alfonse M., "Aliens in Prison--The Federal Response to a New Criminal Justice Emergency," Detroit College of Law Review 4 (1983):1163-1169. 13. McDonald, "Illegal Immigration: Crime, Ramifications and Control (The American Experience)," 70. 14. Lacey, Marc, "U.S. Releases Disputed Jail Costs to States," Los Angeles Times, December 6, 1996. 15. Hall, Charles W., "INS Has a Hard Time Deporting Illegal Immigrants It Can't Find," Washington Post, March 3, 1996:B1, B3. 16. Branigin, "Illegal Immigrant Population Grows to 5 Million," A3. 17. Interstate Criminal Alien Working Group, Report on Addressing the Criminal Alien Problem, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, August 1996. 18. Wambaugh, Joseph, Lines and Shadows. New York, NY: William Morrow, 1984. 19. San Diego County Sheriff's Department, "Immigration Laws: Enforcement: Policy 6.47.2." In Policies and Procedures. San Diego, CA: October 1, 1992. ------------------------------ Chronicle of Immigration and Legislation The American struggle to define which level of government should bear the costs and effects of immigration and crime began as early as the 17th century when the British established the policy of shipping prisoners to the American Colonies. The Colonies resisted the policy in various ways, such as the following: o Maryland prohibited the landing of convicts. o Massachusetts excluded the lame, infirm, and dependent. o Pennsylvania placed a tax on every criminal who landed and held the ship owner liable. o Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, and New York enacted penalties for the landing of convicts.[1] The Colonies, however, eventually lost the battle: between 1700 and 1800, 50,000 convicts were transported to American shores.[2] In 1875, the U.S. Congress passed the first legislation restricting immigration by prohibiting the entry of criminals and prostitutes. That legislation, however, did not make illegal entry a crime and did not provide any enforcement mechanism for excluding or deporting immigrants. In 1882, Congress passed additional legislation excluding immigrants who were convicted of political offenses, who could be classified as "lunatics" and "idiots," and who were likely to become public charges. This legislation also excluded Chinese people, for the first time making national origin a basis for exclusion. Congress granted the Federal Government power to enforce the law, but the enforcement mechanism involved using State officials appointed by the Governors and using funds from a 50-cent tax collected from each immigrant by local officials. State and local governments continued to play a significant role in the enforcement of immigration restrictions associated with criminal matters even after 1891 when the Bureau of Immigration, forerunner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, was established. The transition to complete Federal control of immigration and criminalization of illegal immigration was gradual, haphazard, and subject to the intense racial politics typical of the turn of the century. Until 1918 and passage of the wartime provisions of the Passport Act, excluded im-migrants who entered illegally could be deported but not criminally prosecuted. It was not until 1929 that unlawful entry was unequivocally established as a Federal crime. Illegal entry today continues to be a misdemeanor and reentry after deportation a felony. In 1988, the penalty for reentry was dramatically increased to up to 20 years for a new category of deportable alien--"aggravated felon"--created to help speed deportations. A growing list of qualitative and quantitative restrictions on immigration also has been added over the years, and the grounds for deportation of legally admitted immigrants have been expanded. The recent adjustments in the criminal penalties are part of the refocusing of Federal policy. Notes 1. McDonald, William F., "Illegal Immigration: Crime, Ramifications and Control (The American Experience)." In William F. McDonald, ed., Crime and Enforcement in the Global Village, Cincinnati, OH: Anderson Publishers, 1997:72. 2. Christianson, Keith S., "The American Experience of Imprisonment, 1607-1776." Ph.D. diss., State University of New York at Albany, 1981. ------------------------------ Applying Technological Advances To Criminal Justice On November 1, 1996, Charles Rathbun was found guilty of brutally killing a 27-year-old woman. In addition to damaging physical evidence, the jury said that on the basis of the technical evidence, they believed Rathbun lied during testimony. The technical evidence that weighed so heavily with the jury involved photographs the defendant, a professional photographer, claimed he had taken of the victim the day she was killed. Rathbun, who had alleged that the death was accidental, maintained that the victim had consented to being photographed. To verify his claim, investigators sought the assistance of engineers at the western regional office of the National Institute of Justice's National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center in El Segundo, California. The Center's imagery experts enhanced the retrieved photos--of a woman whose face is hidden. Comparative analysis by forensic experts of these photos with autopsy photos clearly indicated that the bodies in the two sets of photos were not the same person. Additionally, the forensic experts said that the car in Rathbun's photos was not the same one in which he claimed the photos had been taken. The Center's engineers were also able to recover data from the defendant's computer, including an address book he had deleted before he turned himself in to the police. This evidence helped convince the jury that Rathbun had lied on the witness stand. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is committed to supporting the development of new technologies and the dissemination of information to State and local law enforcement and corrections agencies. NIJ's Office of Science and Technology (OST) coordinates technology programs and conducts outreach (see "NIJ's Science and Technology Mission"). To fulfill its mission, NIJ has implemented a national and regional system of support centers for State and local law enforcement and corrections agencies that provide the kind of technical assistance described in the example above. The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Centers (NLECTCs), which are managed by OST staff, consist of one national center, four regional centers, and one center to support border States. (See "NLECTC Contact Information" for the addresses, phone and fax numbers, e-mail addresses, and Directors of the six Centers.) In addition, the network includes an Office of Law Enforcement Technology Commercialization at NASA's National Technology Transfer Center in Wheeling, West Virginia. (A forthcoming NIJ Journal article will report on this office's work.) The concept of regional centers developed as a means for NIJ to learn more about the needs of law enforcement and corrections professionals and to use the specialized technological expertise available around the country. The regional centers not only maximize geographic representation but also allow NIJ to leverage available technology resources by linking each center to special areas of expertise. The centers, as shown on the accompanying map, and their specialties are: o National Center, Rockville, Maryland. Specialties: Equipment testing, data base maintenance, outreach, Web site maintenance, and publications distribution. o Northeastern Regional Center, Rome, New York. Specialties: Weapons detection and audio processing. o Southeast Regional Center, Charleston, South Carolina. Specialties: Surplus property and corrections. o Rocky Mountain Regional Center, Denver, Colorado. Specialties: Communications and computer mapping. o Western Regional Center, El Segundo, California. Specialties: Forensic image and audio analysis. o Border Research and Technology Center, San Diego, California. Specialties: Border surveillance, security, and identification; and night vision technology. NLECTC--National Center The National Center was the first office established in the NLECTC system. It is the hub for coordinating, collecting, and disseminating information about new equipment, guidelines and standards, and technical assistance. It is also responsible for developing and maintaining the Technology Center World Wide Web site, the Justice Technology Information Network (JUSTNET). (See "Information Gateway to NLECTC.") Law enforcement and corrections professionals call the National Center or connect to JUSTNET to obtain general information or order publications such as reports on product testing. The National Center also manages the voluntary equipment standards and testing program and is best known for its work in testing and certifying the soft body armor worn by most police officers. Among this center's most popular products are reports on new police car packages and tires, which agencies use to develop informed purchasing plans. The National Center also supports the outreach efforts and activities of the Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Advisory Council, the body that guides the work of the centers and promotes knowledge of technological advances. NLECTC--Northeast Region In June 1996, the Northeast Center was established at Rome Laboratory (a division of the Air Force research and development laboratories) in New York. This center focuses its activities on detecting concealed weapons, one of the greatest challenges facing the law enforcement and corrections communities. The center has identified several technologies--for example, low-power radar, X-ray, and acoustic and infrared imaging--that demonstrate that an individual carrying a weapon, even in crowds, can be located and electronically "tagged" quickly and effectively. Technology under development might, for example, combine the complementary characteristics of millimeter wave-imaging technology with infrared images. Engineers are also considering ways to set up a stationary device in a corridor of a public building or other crowded setting so that security officers can scan the passing crowd (rather than screen persons one at a time) for concealed weapons. Other advances include portal devices that improve on today's passthrough metal detectors by revealing not only metal but also nonmetal and composite weapons. Handheld scanners are also being developed for police officers to use in their daily activities. Other research involves creating a time analysis and joint automatic booking system; automated firearms identification; high-speed networks; multiband, multifunction radios; transportable communications systems; speech processing; and automatic language translation systems. NLECTC--Southeast Region The Southeast Center's mission is twofold: (1) to locate and transfer surplus military equipment and Federal property to State and local law enforcement and corrections agencies; and (2) to respond to the needs of prison, jail, probation, and parole officers. The surplus property activities are facilitated by the center's close proximity and relationship with the Naval In-Service Engineering (NISE East) program at Charleston Naval Base. Corrections activities are advanced by the Corrections Committee of the Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Advisory Council. This committee identifies requirements and priorities for technology products and services that can benefit corrections professionals. Other areas of concentration by the Southeast Center include global-positioning satellite systems, physical and informational security systems, command and control systems, cryptologic and intelligence systems, and communications systems. NLECTC--Rocky Mountain Region The primary focus of the Rocky Mountain Center, located at the University of Denver, is communications, especially communications involving multiple agencies or jurisdictions. The ability of public safety agencies to carry out their missions effectively and efficiently is highly dependent on communications interoperability--that is, their ability to communicate on demand across jurisdictions, with different equipment types, and in a wide variety of critical situations. Currently, personnel from different agencies frequently find establishing and maintaining communications to be complex and cumbersome. For example, the sheriff, police, firefighters, and medical emergency personnel who respond to the same critical incident may need to carry several different radios--one to communicate with each agency. The Rocky Mountain Center is implementing a series of projects with the common goal of streamlining communications interoperability. Vendors, developers, national organizations such as the Association of Police Communications Officers, and several agencies within the region are participating in efforts to identify and field test new technology solutions. The Rocky Mountain Center also houses a branch of the newly established NIJ Crime Mapping Research Center (see page 24). Specialists in the Denver branch collaborate with NIJ social scientists and scholars in Washington, D.C., to devise applications of crime analysis research. Research findings are used to create practical applications that improve field operations. For example, they are developing crime-mapping software in collaboration with the University of Denver's Department of Geography and crime-mapping training packages that meet the needs of small, medium, and large police departments. Other focus areas of the Rocky Mountain Center include ballistics and weapons technology and information systems. NLECTC--Western Region The Western Center was established at the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California, and supports law enforcement and corrections technology through its expertise in forensic image analysis. This technique enabled engineers to enhance videotapes that led to the apprehension of a suspect in the killing of a Manhattan Beach police officer. In another case, specialists in audiotape processes were able to extract information from a noisy audiotape of a conversation between two suspects. The Western Center also maintains technical capabilities in locating and tracking people and vehicles through the Aerospace Corporation's Global Positioning System program. Other technical capabilities include computer architecture and data processing, communications systems, equipment specifications and standards, and forensic analyses. Just recently, the center began leading an effort to identify and advance technologies to safely stop high-speed fleeing vehicles. Border Research and Technology Center The Border Research and Technology Center, located in San Diego, California, supports law enforcement through its partnership with all major agencies involved in the control of the Southwest border, including the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Customs Service, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy. For example, the center participated in a multiagency team led by INS that developed and now operates a special, precleared lane of traffic for people who cross the border daily at the Port of San Ysidro. To avoid the standard wait at the border, daily crossers can obtain clearance to enter the commuter lane, have their license plate read electronically, and have the magnetic strip on an identification card swiped. Border control officers then recognize them and their vehicles as preapproved. The team that developed the system was recently awarded the Vice President's Hammer Award by the National Performance Review in recognition of the system's innovation and effectiveness. The Border Research and Technology Center is currently participating in joint ventures to identify and develop technologies to stop fleeing vehicles without harming passengers, for example, by using electromagnetic energy fields to disengage the engine. In addition, the center has identified innovative methods that can detect the heartbeats of people concealed in a vehicle. A disk can be placed on the top of the car that "reads" minute movement, such as the beating of a heart. A corrections facility is currently experimenting with this technology to determine if large packages leaving the prison conceal prisoners. ------------------------------ Information Gateway To NLECTC The Justice Technology Information Network-- JUSTNET--is the Internet link to law enforcement and corrections technology. It is designed to be a "one-stop shop" for law enforcement and corrections technology information. It links users to all the Technology Centers, the National Institute of Justice, other law enforcement and corrections Web sites, manufacturer Web sites, and data about technology. JUSTNET also offers visitors two additional services: o Interactive services. Visitors can converse with one another by posting and responding to comments and questions. JUSTNET provides passwords for users who want access to their discussions restricted. (To allow NLECTC to track usage and to provide better assistance to State and local law enforcement and corrections agencies, users must register when they enter the Interactive Services area for the first time.) o Data and publications. Visitors can access and download a data base of commercially available law enforcement and corrections products and technologies. They can also be linked to information provided by agencies that have used the products and put their comments about them on the Internet. The JUSTNET address is: http://www.nlectc.org. Or call 800-248-2742 for assistance. ------------------------------ NIJ's Science and Technology Mission The mission of NIJ's Office of Science and Technology is to: o Identify law enforcement and criminal justice requirements for new technologies, especially at the State and local level. o Find, research, and develop new technologies and new applications to existing technologies to improve policing, corrections, and criminal justice in the United States. o Introduce promising new technologies to law enforcement and corrections agencies. o Provide technical and information assistance to law enforcement and corrections agencies at all levels in the area of technology. ------------------------------ NLCTC Contact Information National Center NLECTC-National Center 2277 Research Boulevard Rockville, MD 20850 Phone: 800-248-2742 Fax: 301-519-5149 E-mail: mcaplan@aspensys.com Senior Project Manager: Marc H. Caplan Northeast Region NLECTC-Northeast Region 26 Electronic Parkway Rome, NY 13441-4514 Phone: 888-338-0584 Fax: 315-330-4315 E-mail: ritzj@rl.af.mil Director: John Ritz Southeast Region NLECTC-Southeast Region 7325 Peppermill Parkway North Charleston, SC 29418 Phone: 800-292-4385 Fax: 803-207-7776 E-mail: sextont@awod.com Director: Thomas Sexton Rocky Mountain Region NLECTC-Rocky Mountain Region 2050 East Illiff Avenue Denver, CO 80208 Phone: 800-416-8086, or 303-871-2522 in theDenver, Colorado, area Fax: 303-871-2500 E-mail: jkeller@du.edu Director: James A. Keller Western Region NLECTC-Western Region P.O. Box 92957 Mail Station M1/300 Los Angeles, CA 90009-2957 Phone: 310-336-2171 Fax: 310-336-2227 E-mail: nlectc@law-west.org Director: Robert Pentz Border Research and Technology Center 1250 Sixth Avenue, Suite 130 San Diego, CA 92101 Phone: 619-685-1491 Fax: 619-685-1484 e-mail: brtcchrisa@aol.com Director: Chris Aldridge ------------------------------ Theme Volumes in the Crime and Justice Series Communities and Crime (Volume 8), edited by Albert J. Reiss, Jr., and Michael Tonry. This volume examines the ways in which communities affect crime and are affected by it, with essays on such subjects as environmental design and crime; the effects of crime on a community's schools, teachers, and pupils; and the influence of community context on recidivism of released offenders. Prediction and Classification (Volume 9), edited by Don M. Gottfredson and Michael Tonry. The essays in this volume examine the development and applications of research-based prediction and classification methods in criminal justice decisionmaking. Family Violence (Volume 11), edited by Lloyd Ohlin and Michael Tonry. This volume provides a comprehensive review of research in all areas of family violence, including domestic assault and homicide and child abuse. Drugs and Crime (Volume 13), edited by Michael Tonry and James Q. Wilson. This volume provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of research on interactions between crime and drug abuse. Modern Policing (Volume 15), edited by Michael Tonry and Norval Morris. This volume provides a critical assessment of contemporary police agencies. Beyond the Law (Volume 18) edited by Michael Tonry and Albert J. Reiss, Jr. This volume focuses on illegal activity by, within, among, and against organizations. Building a Safer Society (Volume 19--supported by the British Home Office), edited by Michael Tonry and David P. Farrington. This volume examines strategic approaches to community, situational, and developmental crime prevention and offers guidelines for implementing and evaluating them. Ethnicity, Crime, and Immigration (Volume 21-- supported by the Research and Statistics Department of the Home Office of England and Wales, the Dutch Ministry of Justice, the Max Planck Institute for International and Comparative Penal Law in Freiburg, Germany, the Swedish National Crime Prevention Council, the National Science Foundation of Switzerland, and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation), edited by Michael Tonry. The essays in this volume provide the most current comparative and cross-national perspectives of racial and ethnic differences in criminal offending, victimization by crime, and disparities and discrimination in Western justice systems. Youth Violence (Volume 23), edited by Michael Tonry and Mark Moore. This volume is slated for publication in 1998 and will include essays on the role of youths in violent crime and victimization, causes and correlates of youth violence, guns and youth violence, prevention of youth violence, female youth violence, and gangs, drugs, and violence. Prisons (Volume 25--supported with funds from the Corrections Program Office, OJP) edited by Michael Tonry and Joan Petersilia. This volume is under development for publication in late 1998. Among the proposed essay topics are: changes in prison populations, 1960-97; women's prisons; effects of imprisonment on crime and public spending; effects of imprisonment on offenders, their families, and communities; treatment effectiveness within prisons; work within the walls (prison industries); and health care in prisons. ------------------------------ ANNUAL RESEARCH REVIEWS FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE Research on crime and justice has grown significantly in the past three decades. Today it involves an ever-widening number of disciplines conducting research on crime, its causes and control, and the institutions that administer criminal law. Integrating and disseminating this wide-ranging knowledge in a way that informs national debate about crime control policies is one of the goals of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). Last year, a significant milestone in meeting this goal was reached with the publication of Volume 20 of Crime and Justice: A Review of Research. Edited by well-known scholars Michael Tonry and Norval Morris (through Volume 14) and published by the University of Chicago Press, the Crime and Justice series has become an authoritative reference source for those seeking comprehensive essays that summarize important bodies of knowledge and key trends in research and development. The Crime and Justice series. NIJ launched the Crime and Justice series in 1977 to provide for criminal justice the kind of annual reviews of research common to other fields. Eventually, the series grew to include volumes that focused on a single theme, such as Youth Violence and Prisons, two new volumes currently in the development stage. (See "Theme Volumes in the Crime and Justice Series.") The Crime and Justice methodology has been to ask well-informed researchers and others to write comprehensive, balanced summaries of current knowledge, prior experience, and promising future inquiries. The draft essays are critiqued by members of the editorial board (see "Editorial Board for Crime and Justice") and expert independent reviewers; approximately half of the commissioned papers are eventually published. Although the National Institute of Justice provides input on topics and reviews draft essays, the editors and the editorial board make the final decisions on the contents of each volume. Volume 20. Like its predecessors, Volume 20 reflects the series' rigorous scholarship, as these examples of the volume essays show: o "Academic Performance and Delinquency," by Eugene Maguin and Rolf Loeber. The authors conducted a meta-analysis of studies of the relationship between academic performance and delinquency and of intervention studies aimed at both improving academic performance and reducing delinquency. They found that both boys and girls with lower academic performance offended more frequently, committed more serious and violent offenses, and persisted in their offending. The effectiveness of intervention programs differed by age group and tended to produce improvements in both academic performance and delinquency. The essay offers a number of policy recommendations. o "Intermediate Sanctions," by Michael Tonry and Mary Lynch. The authors summarize experience to date with the implementation and evaluation of various intermediate sanctions, including boot camps, intensive supervision, house arrest and electronic monitoring, day reporting centers, community service, and day fines. Each section provides an overview of program characteristics and discusses evidence concerning various measures of effectiveness. In addition, the authors suggest reasons that judges and prosecutors tend to use intermediate sanctions for types of offenders other than those for whom programs were designed. o "The Prevalence of Drug Use in the United States," by Thomas M. Mieczkowski. There is substantial disagreement on the current best estimates of drug use prevalence. This essay examines each of the four major sources of data on illicit drug use--the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, the High School Senior Survey (Monitoring the Future), the Drug Abuse Warning Network, and the Drug Use Forecasting System. The author discusses each of these four indicators in detail, highlights their strengths and weaknesses, and offers suggestions for improvements. These include recent attempts to integrate each data source's findings using synthetic estimation techniques to draw conclusions about how best to integrate data drawn from different populations and gathered by distinct methodologies. o "Crime and Justice and the Criminal Justice and Criminology Literature," by Ellen G. Cohn and David P. Farrington. Using sophisticated citation analysis, the authors find that the most-cited scholars and most-cited works in the general volumes of Crime and Justice: A Review of Research were significantly correlated with the most-cited scholars in major American criminology and criminal justice journals as well as international criminology journals. The most-cited scholars in the analyses were Marvin E. Wolfgang, Michael J. Hindelang, and Alfred Blumstein. The authors also examine the most-cited crime and justice works in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) and find that there is also substantial overlap between the most-cited works in Crime and Justice and the most-cited crime and justice works in SSCI. They conclude that citation analysis is useful in identifying topics, works, and authors that are influential during particular time periods and, hence, useful in documenting the development of knowledge on crime and justice. o "Theoretical Integration and Criminology," by Thomas J. Bernard and Jeffrey B. Snipes. There are many criminology theories today but no agreement on which (if any) have been falsified by research. Some criminologists argue that falsification must continue because theories contradict one another. The authors argue that the theories are different but not contradictory and thus can be integrated. They believe integration is the appropriate approach because the theories are not incompatible with each other and can be integrated within categories. They conclude that integration is useful pending the development of more advanced theoretical arguments and statistical techniques. o "Penal Communications: Recent Work in the Philosophy of Punishment," by R.A. Duff. This scholarly, theoretical essay discusses the historical context for several theories of punishment. It addresses the underlying tension between liberal and communitarian conceptions of society and between our relationships to each other and to the State. Sentencing (whether it results in imprisonment, community service, or probation) shows most clearly how punishment can be more than the mere delivery of pain, it can be a genuinely communicative, reformative, and reconciliatory process. In addition to the above essays, Volume 20 includes valuable indexes--by author, subject, and essay title--of the contents of the previous 19 volumes that reflect the continuing research and policy challenges facing criminal justice. Another four volumes are in press or in the development phase. In addition to NIJ support, recent volumes have been funded by the British Home Office and agencies from other European countries. For example, a new volume, Ethnicity, Crime, and Immigration, funded by organizations from five European countries, has just been published. The annual Crime and Justice, supported by NIJ, will be available later this year. To order copies of the Crime and Justice series, contact The University of Chicago Press, Journals Division, P.O. Box 37005, Chicago, IL 60637 phone: 773-753-3347 fax: 773-753-0811 e-mail: orders@journals.uchicago.edu http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/Editorial Board for Crime and Justice ------------------------------ Editorial Board For Crime And Justice Since its inception, the Crime and Justice series has been guided by an editorial board of outstanding scholars and practitioners. The current board consists of the following individuals: Norval Morris, Chairman Alfred Blumstein Jacqueline Cohen Philip J. Cook Darnell F. Hawkins James B. Jacobs Terrie E. Moffitt John Monahan Mark H. Moore Charles J. Ogletree, Jr. Joan Petersilia Chase Riveland Stuart O. Simms Michael E. Smith ------------------------------ Evaluation of Drug Treatment in Local Corrections Summary of a Research Study by Sandra Tunis, James Austin, Mark Morris, Patricia Hardyman, and Melissa Bolyard Arrests for illegal drug use have been a major factor in increasing jail populations, which has created interest in the effectiveness of drug treatment programs in local jails. A recent evaluation, sponsored by the National Institute of Justice, indicates that the greatest immediate benefit of jail drug treatment programs has been to provide a "behavioral management tool" that controls inmates' behavior, contributing particularly to lower levels of violence. The programs have had modest positive effects in reducing recidivism within 1 year of jail release. Considering their limitations, however, they have potential for greater success. Limitations included weak or nonexistent aftercare, mismatches between lengths of programs and time in incarceration, budget constraints (such as funds for aftercare), and training issues. Study methodology The research design comprised two major components. The first involved detailed descriptions and analyses of five drug treatment programs: Jail Education and Treatment (JET); Deciding, Educating, Understanding, Counseling, and Evaluation (DEUCE); and Rebuilding, Educating, Awareness, Counseling, and Hope (REACH), all in California; and Substance Abuse Intervention Division (SAID) and New Beginnings, both in New York. The second study component assessed program completion rates for participants as well as 12-month postrelease outcomes (the probability of being rearrested and convicted within 12 months after release) for participants and matched comparison groups. For most sites, comparison groups included offenders in the same facility who were matched by race, age, primary offense, and sentence length. Key program characteristics Length of stay. The five programs recognized length of stay as a challenge to participation, which was voluntary among inmates with a history of substance abuse who could be housed in minimum- or medium-security facilities. Three jurisdictions required a remaining minimum period of incarceration (usually 90 days) for entrance into the program, although in practice few individuals were rejected on this basis. For three programs, movement into the next phase of treatment was based on time spent in the previous phase. Some offenders received only the basics of the program because they left jail early; others who were not ready for the next phase were moved into it simply because they had spent time in the first phase. This mismatch suggests that program staff may need to redesign their programs to develop services for those jailed for 3 days as well as for 3 months. Types of participants. About one-third of the participants were Caucasian, more than one-third were African American, and one-fourth were Hispanic. Participants also differed in education level, employment history, marital status, self-reported alcohol- and drug-use patterns, and prior drug treatment participation. The average age across sites was between 31 and 32. Offenders who were Caucasian, "older" (over 28 years), and had no previous (self-reported) history of mental illness were significantly less likely to leave the programs prematurely or to be expelled. This finding suggests the need to develop specific inhouse or ancillary services for particular groups. Treatment issues. All programs addressed recovery from a physical, psychological, emotional, and social perspective. They offered traditional drug treatment services, including counseling and self-help groups. DEUCE and REACH were primarily curriculum based; the others relied more heavily on counseling. All except SAID continued to conduct drug testing. The level or intensity of treatment services participants actually received is not clear, however, because of (1) differences in length of stay in jail, (2) differences in needs related to race/ethnicity and age, and (3) difficulty in treating those with both substance abuse and psychiatric problems. One response may be to provide substance abuse information to all inmates while focusing intensive treatment efforts on those who are most likely to benefit from and/or to be in need of services. Aftercare. Although treatment providers recognized the importance of integrated postcustody services, formal aftercare links were limited. Other studies have found that aftercare programs preserve or extend treatment effects. Custody-treatment program relations. At all sites except SAID, agencies such as a school district or substance abuse agency ran the programs. Although all sites offered at least some cross training of custody and treatment staff, more training of custody staff could help gain their support for the programs. Ideally, custody staff should be included in program planning and training. Programs' effects Infraction rates. At all sites, program participants were housed in separate living units; in all but one, participants were separated from other prisoners for most daily activities. The infraction rates for these programs were compared with rates for comparable units within each facility. The treatment programs were found to have fewer incident reports in general--there were lower rates of serious behavioral problems (e.g., physical violence) and, to a lesser extent, other behavioral problems (e.g., insubordination and possession of [nondrug] contraband). Recidivism rates. Seventeen percent of the treatment group and 23 percent of the comparison group were reconvicted at least once during the 1-year followup period, most for property or drug crimes. The differences between the two groups were greatest for older offenders, those with at least two prior convictions, and Caucasians and Hispanics. Among treatment participants, the probability of reconviction was lower for abusers of one drug than of multiple drugs, those who did not prematurely leave the programs, and those who stayed longer than 1 month. Future evaluations Because more complete postrelease outcome data are essential, future studies should include a followup period of at least 2 years. Evaluations should quantify not only the cost of treatment but also costs avoided by positive treatment outcomes. Studies should also assess the impact of programs on jail management and operations, data on prisoner behavior, and costs associated with disciplinary incidents.The final report, Evaluation of Drug Treatment in Local Corrections, prepared under NIJ grant 91-DD-CX-K052, was written by Sandra Tunis, Ph.D., James Austin, Ph.D., Mark Morris, Ph.D., Patricia Hardyman, Ph.D., and Melissa Bolyard, M.A., of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. Limited copies of the full report are available; contact the National Criminal Justice Reference Service at 800-851-3420, or e-mail askncjrs@ncjrs.org. Ask for NCJ 159313. The report is also online at http://www.ncjrs.org. FS000173--Please refer to this number to order copies of this Preview. It is also available online at http://www.ncjrs.org or through fax-on-demand at 800-851-3420 or 301-519-5518 (in the Washington, D.C., area). ------------------------------ Court Security and the Transportation of Prisoners Summary of a Research Study by the National Sheriffs' Association The sharp rise of violence in court settings--from minor disturbances to murder--has prompted a reexamination of safeguards for the judicial process and personnel and of the transportation of prisoners to and from court. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) sponsored an assessment by the National Sheriffs' Association (NSA) of the current state of the art in court security and the transportation of prisoners. The study's three surveys found that the safety of personnel transporting and monitoring prisoners in the courtroom is the most pressing concern. Possible responses include improving training through more intense classroom instruction and field training for high-risk situations, providing personnel with appropriate equipment, enhancing facilities' structural features, and establishing policies and procedures for courtroom security and for safe prisoner transport--on the ground and in the air. The assessment offers specific suggestions for agencies to consider when evaluating their individual programs. Study method Information was gathered from interviews and questionnaires administered to court security, probation, parole, and sheriffs' personnel nationwide; a review of existing research literature and reports of some of the violent incidents that occurred in courts over the past two decades; and input from the Project Advisory Board, Staff Review Committee, practitioners, experts in the field, and other criminal justice organizations. Personnel education and training The majority of court security and prisoner transport personnel are 40- to 50-year-old males who attended college for at least 1 or 2 years and are very satisfied with their jobs. A majority have completed a training program in court security, prisoner transportation, or serving of civil or criminal process. However, many felt they were not fully prepared to meet new and emerging challenges. Fewer than half the responding agencies provide training in vehicle operation, which is a key area for liability actions. Also, fewer than half the agencies instruct officers in the proper application of commonly used restraining devices (e.g., handcuffs, straps, leg irons). A vehicle operation training curriculum could include commercial driver's license requirements; driver's pursuit and defensive training; liability issues; care, custody, control, and supervision procedures; driver and escort officer/deputy responsibilities; and use of specialized equipment. In addition, although they rarely perform routine maintenance tasks, over half the respondents said they inspect some security equipment (e.g., vehicles, doors) and conduct security checks inside and outside courthouses. Fewer than half, however, inspect equipment such as scanning devices, alarms, and cameras. Respondents said they need more instruction in legal liabilities; legal responsibilities of supervision; firearms; court functions, duties, and security; serving of civil or criminal process; and transporting prisoners both on the ground (e.g., in an automobile, bus, or van) and in the air. They also felt they needed more education about vicarious liability; possible areas for suits include failure to train or direct and negligence in supervision, entrustment, assignment, hiring, and retention. The study suggests that basic court security and prisoner transport training programs should provide a minimum of 80 hours of classroom instruction over a 4- to 6-week period. Personnel should also be certified in certain key areas such as the use of electronic nonlethal equipment (e.g., stun, laser, and taser guns and stun belts) and methods of applying physical force to control defendants in high-risk situations. All trainees should pass examinations to demonstrate they have adequate knowledge and skills before they are assigned to security or prisoner transport duties. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires personnel transporting prisoners to pass a certified 2-hour block of training. Court facility security Court security staff comprise sworn and unsworn personnel (e.g., bailiffs, private-sector employees, and Federal and State Department of Corrections personnel). Fewer than half the court agencies and sheriffs' offices said they put a high priority on controlling access into court and judicial facilities (e.g., patrolling exterior perimeters, scanning mail and packages, and supervising elevator use). Probation and parole personnel think metal detectors should be used more often outside courtrooms. The study suggests that the underlying principle of court security should be maintaining a physical security system that does not interfere with the activities of the court. A key aspect of security involves providing physical mechanisms for safe passage inside and outside court facilities. Consideration should be given to employing structural features and controlled access devices, in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, such as the following: o Adequate lighting and proper landscaping around parking areas, walkways, and at points of access where visual recognition is necessary. o Barriers to prohibit forcible entry by vehicles or pedestrians. o Bullet-resistant glazing on windows in all areas of sight exposure as well as shatter-resistant film between layers of glass and sensor devices on ground-floor windows. o Designated parking areas for judges and selected court employees, prisoner transport, and service-related vehicles. o Mechanisms on perimeter doors that can detect unauthorized entry. o Controlled access to building facilities through separate, electronically monitored entrances for the general public, judges, court personnel, and service personnel. o Distinct structural circulation systems within the courthouse to limit access for visitors, prisoners, and outside service personnel and to provide secure passage for judges, juries, and court staff (e.g., restricted elevators for different users and centralized holding areas for prisoners). Policies and procedures regarding use of these mechanisms need to be continually monitored and updated. Each hearing and trial should be assessed to determine the correct level of security needed. This assessment could prepare security officers/deputies for any disruptions that may occur and could keep costs down by increasing staff only when appropriate. A balance should be struck between protecting all who enter the court and permitting normal operations. Transportation of prisoners The majority of probation and parole agents surveyed believe uniformed officers (e.g. deputy sheriffs/officers) should transport prisoners, even though most of the respondents have been required as part of their official duties to do the transporting. Although transporting male adults, female adults, male juveniles, and female juveniles requires different guidelines, fewer than half the respondents have ever received special or refresher training in prisoner transportation. Survey respondents indicated that most agencies do not possess vehicles specially equipped to transport prisoners. In addition, over half the agencies do not allow agents to perform gender-appropriate strip searches. Rules or procedures exist in several jurisdictions governing the transportation of prisoners, but there are no national regulations (except those issued by the FAA). The study suggests that the first step should be implementation of a "dangerousness" classification for prisoners being transported so security officers can implement the proper levels of care, custody, control, and supervision. Other suggestions concern providing handheld radios for all transport personnel and establishing a statewide or regional radio frequency so help can be summoned quickly in an emergency. All prisoners should be monitored continuously in case medical emergencies arise. If such an emergency does occur during transport, officers/deputies should be prepared to take appropriate action and know how to handle patients with infectious diseases. An agency's medical unit should inform transporting officers/deputies if a prisoner has a communicable disease and provide guidelines that follow those mandated by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Conclusion A risk assessment should be an integral part of a comprehensive survey of courtroom security and the transportation of prisoners to determine security vulnerabilities and equipment and training needs. Even the most sophisticated equipment is only a supportive tool used by trained personnel as part of a well-prepared plan to administer justice in a danger-free environment. Annual conference on research and evaluation NIJ's annual conference on research and evaluation is scheduled for July 20-23, 1997. This year's conference, "Meeting the Challenges of Crime and Justice," will be held at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C. Speakers, panels, and workshops are under development. The topics for two plenary sessions are "Crime, Physical Environment, and Specific Locations" and "The Impact of a Community Focus on the Justice System." To register or obtain more information, contact NIJ's Professional Conference Series staff at the Institute for Law and Justice, phone 703-684-5300, fax 703-739-5533, or e-mail nijpcs@ilj.org. Linking policy and research One of NIJ's goals is to inform policymaking by disseminating research findings. Two recent programs have contributed to that goal by encouraging dialogue between policymakers and researchers. The "Perspectives in Crime and Justice" lecture series in Washington, D.C., linked widely respected scholars with Federal and local policymakers on Capitol Hill. The second event involved members of the Oregon legislature, who met with a team of researchers assembled by NIJ to discuss criminal justice policy issues and recent research findings. Perspectives in crime and justice. With funding support from the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, NIJ hosted a breakfast lecture series in which policymakers had the opportunity to talk candidly with leading researchers in the crime and justice field. The lectures by these nationally prominent scholars were followed by question-and-answer sessions. Speakers and their topics included: o James Q. Wilson, University of California at Los Angeles: "What, If Anything, Can the Federal Government Do About Crime?" o Peter Reuter, University of Maryland: "Can We Make Prohibition Work Better? An Assessment of American Drug Policy." o Mark H. Moore, Harvard University: "The Legitimation of Criminal Justice Policies and Practices." o Cathy Spatz Widom, State University of New York at Albany: "Child Victims: In Search of Opportunities for Breaking the Cycle of Violence." o Norval Morris, University of Chicago Law School: "Crime, the Media, and Our Political Discourse." Videotapes of the sessions are being prepared. The first two tapes--"What, If Anything, Can the Federal Government Do About Crime?" by James Q. Wilson and "Can We Make Prohibition Work Better?" by Peter Reuter--are now available. Each tape costs $29.50 in the United States and $33 in Canada. Call the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) at 800-851-3420 or send an e-mail to askncjrs@ncjrs.org. Ask for NCJ 164375 (Wilson) or NCJ 164376 (Reuter). Oregon legislators team up with researchers. In another effort to expand dialogue between researchers and legislators, NIJ conducted a sentencing policy seminar for the Oregon legislature and other State-level officials. NIJ organized a team of experts to present research findings on sentencing and discuss how legislative decisions affect public safety. NIJ worked in collaboration with State Senator Neil Bryant, chairman of the State Senate Judiciary Committee, who organized a bipartisan audience of more than 100 legislators, executive branch staff, judges, community-based advocates for victims' rights, judges, and other criminal justice professionals. The goals of the session were to contribute to the legislative debate on justice reforms and demonstrate the ways in which objective research findings are relevant to State legislators grappling with a packed legislative agenda. The team of researchers who went to Oregon included Joel Garner of the Joint Centers for Justice Studies, Peter Greenwood of the RAND Corporation, and Joan Petersilia of the University of California at Irvine. Postsession evaluations by participants have encouraged NIJ to consider launching similar efforts in other legislative venues. Crime mapping takes new strides Today, virtually anyone with a personal computer and a modest software budget can analyze crime patterns more effectively than through the dated practice of manually inserting push pins on wall maps. Indeed, Geographic Information Systems (GISs) have advanced the criminal justice field, enabling police to make better deployment decisions and researchers to easily link criminal incidents to demographic data and environmental characteristics to test various crime theories. One of the negative consequences of the rapid adoption of computerized crime mapping, however, has been that in many cases the user's conception of how to map and conduct spatial analysis is superficial, rendering crime-mapping efforts haphazard, unsophisticated, and ineffective. This dilemma calls for an authoritative resource well versed in the problems associated with mapping criminal justice data to guide mapping efforts. To help answer this call, NIJ established the Crime Mapping Research Center (CMRC) in 1996 using funds available under the technology assistance provisions of the 1996 Omnibus Appropriations Act amending the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Crime Act). The CMRC's goals include: o Establishing a crime-mapping training center for both researchers and practitioners. o Creating partnerships among neighboring law enforcement agencies to enable spatial analysis across jurisdictional boundaries. o Promoting mapping for criminal justice applications in addition to policing. o Developing user-friendly analytic software with corporate and university partners. o Collecting and archiving geocoded crime statistics to make available to researchers. o Establishing a fellowship program to build an interdisciplinary knowledge base. The Mapping Center--which is headquartered at NIJ in Washington, D.C., and has a satellite office in Denver--has taken several steps in the initial stages of operation. In early 1997, staff convened a strategic planning meeting of experts in geographic analysis to identify how CMRC can best meet the needs of the criminal justice community and to aid in the planning of a sentencing symposium scheduled for fall 1997. CMRC staff are also conducting a survey of police departments to gauge the extent to which they currently use analytic mapping. Future plans include providing technical assistance and training to law enforcement and other criminal justice agencies, disseminating crime-mapping efforts through the creation of a Web site, and soliciting proposals for evaluations of crime-mapping initiatives. NIJ is planning a national crime-mapping conference in Denver, Colorado, October 5-7, 1997. To find out about this conference, to learn how your agency can benefit from learning more about mapping technology, or to be put on CMRC's mailing list, write to: Crime Mapping Research Center, National Institute of Justice, 633 Indiana Avenue N.W., Room 302, Washington, DC 20531. To sign up on "Crimemap," NIJ's new listserv, e-mail to listproc@aspensys.com and type "subscribe crimemap" and your name.Solicitation for Investigator-Initiated Research Solicitation for Investigator-Initiated Reserach NIJ continues to seek proposals for investigator-initiated criminal justice research. Investigators are invited to submit proposals to explore any topic relevant to State and local criminal justice policy and practice. Under this solicitation, NIJ has generally awarded grants ranging from $25,000 to $300,000 that last for 1 to 2 years. Of particular interest are proposals to study new means of improving the delivery of justice; explore the links between criminal activity and other social phenomena; test interventions for recurring criminal justice problems; and develop, test, and evaluate new and transferable techniques and technologies for the criminal justice system. The deadlines for receipt of proposals under the two funding cycles are June 17 and December 16, 1997. Call NCJRS at 800-851-3420 to receive a printed copy of the Solicitation for Investigator-Initiated Research (SL 000201). It is also available on the NCJRS World Wide Web site at http://www.ncjrs.org/fedgrant.htm#nij, and by mail. The following articles, based on research funded by NIJ, were recently received by NCJRS. "Investigating Hate Crimes: Case Characteristics and Law Enforcement Responses," Justice Quarterly, Volume 13, Number 5, September 1996, by S.E. Martin, grant number 90-IJ-CX- 0002, ACCN 163364. This article examines characteristics of hate crimes in New York City and Baltimore County, Maryland, and the police response to them. Findings reveal that hate crimes in both jurisdictions differ from similar offenses not involving bias and from the public image of such offenses. "Predicting Pretrial Misconduct With Drug Tests of Arrestees: Evidence from Eight Settings," Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Volume 12, Number 3, September 1996, by W. Rhodes, R. Hyatt, and P. Scheiman, grant number OJP-89-C-009, ACCN 163379. This article questions whether testing arrestees for drugs always improves predictions of pretrial misconduct. Although the authors acknowledge that the findings do not settle the debate about the predictive value of pretrial drug testing, they advise that considering how drug test results might be improved could be a productive strategy. "Predicting Criminal Recidivism: A Comparison of Neural Network Models With Statistical Methods," Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 24, Number 3, 1996, by J. Caulkins, J. Cohen, W. Gorr, and J. Wei, grant number 86-IJ-CX-0039, ACCN 162895. This article, which applies neural network and conventional statistical models to predicting criminal recidivism, does not find any gains in accuracy by using these models. "Rural Crime and Justice: Implications for Theory and Research," Crime and Delinquency, Volume 42, Number 3, July 1996, by R.A. Weisheit and L.E. Wells, grant number 92-IJ-CX-K012, ACCN 162082. This article assesses current theories and research methods regarding their ability to account for crime and justice in rural areas. "Drug Policy and Community Context: The Case of Small Cities and Towns," Crime and Delinquency, Volume 42, Number 2, April 1996, by M.J. McDermott and J. Garofalo, grant number 91-DD-CX-K049, ACCN 162022. This article examines drug problems and anti-drug initiatives in small cities and towns across the United States. Results show that economic issues and school matters are the main concerns in these communities; residents' anxieties about drugs focus mainly on alcohol and marijuana. "Adjusting to Criminal Victimization: The Correlates of Postcrime Distress," Violence and Victims, Volume 11, Number 1, Spring 1996, by R.C. Davis, B. Taylor, and A.J. Lurigio, grant number 83-IJ-CX-0044, ACCN 163370. This study examines the correlates of immediate and short-term psychological distress among victims of burglary, robbery, and nonsexual assault. The findings suggest the therapeutic usefulness of encouraging victims to reinterpret the event in ways that will restore their previctimization view of the world. "Preventing Retail Theft: An Application of Environmental Criminology," Security Journal, Volume 7, Number 1, April 1996, by M. Felson, grant number 91-IJ-CX-K021, ACCN 162436. This article discusses how routine activity theory and environmental criminology apply to retail sales prevention in countering shoplifting, employee floor theft, and storage room theft. Findings show that control of retail theft requires that retailers take into account space, microenvironments within stores, and how the store relates to its larger physical environment. "Prosecutorial Discretion to Defer Criminalization: The Effects of Defendants' Ascribed and Achieved Status Characteristics," Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Volume 12, Number 1, March 1996, by C.A. Albonetti and J.R. Hepburn, grant number 89- DD-CX-0055, ACCN 163191. This research looks at prosecutorial discretion in diverting felony drug defendants from criminal prosecution into a treatment program using causal attribution theory and etiology of bias theory. "Comparative Study of Male and Female Prison Misconduct Careers," Prison Journal, Volume 76, Number 1, March 1996, by A. Craddock, grant number 86-IJ-CX-0015, ACCN 162102. This article examines patterns of male and female inmate misconduct (rule violations) to determine whether an inmate's misconduct continues throughout imprisonment (i.e., an inmate's misconduct career). The stages of such a career are delineated. Approximately half the males were found to have had rule violations, while only about one-third of the women violated prison rules. "Determinate Sentencing and Abolishing Parole: The Long-Term Impacts on Prisons and Crime," Criminology, Volume 34, Number 1, February 1996, by T.B. Marvell and C.E. Moody, grant number 88-IJ-CX- 0045, ACCN 163189. This paper studies the impact of determinate sentencing laws (DSLs) on prison commitments, prison populations, and Uniform Crime Reports crime rates. There is little or no evidence that DSLs affect crime rates. The authors conclude that DSLs are not likely to worsen prison overcrowding unless they are accompanied by "get tough" policies, and lawmakers can use DSLs to limit prison population growth. Linking business and crime prevention In the past, criminal justice research related to crime and business has generally focused on corporate crime. Few studies exist on the many other ways in which business and industry relate to crime, especially the wide range of crime prevention practices businesses pursue, the vital role of small businesses in maintaining the stability of marginal neighborhoods, ways that new business products and services can create or reduce crime opportunities, and the nature of crimes suffered by businesses, their customers, and their employees. A new book, Business and Crime Prevention, edited by Marcus Felson and Ronald V. Clarke, discusses these underexplored areas of criminal justice research. The book arose out of discussions between NIJ Director Jeremy Travis and then NIJ Visiting Fellow Clarke that led to an NIJ-sponsored conference on business and crime prevention. The conference, held at Rutgers University in May 1996, showcased the work of a small group of pioneers in this field working in the United States and abroad. Business and Crime Prevention presents an introductory discussion of the need to further explore the relationships between business and crime prevention and the potential benefits of such research. The volume includes a compendium of papers presented at the conference, including essays on measuring the impact of crime on business, the impact of crime on specific industries (for example, the effects of crime on the insurance industry), a brief history of the security industry, and real estate development and crime prevention needs. Copies of Business and Crime Prevention are available for $25 (includes shipping and handling for prepaid orders) from Willow Tree Press, Inc., 800-914-3379, P.O. Box 249, Monsey, NY 10952. New Titles The following titles are final reports of NIJ-sponsored research recently received by NCJRS. "Advanced Electronic Monitoring for Tracking Persons on Probation or Parole: Final Report," by J.H. Murphy, G.O. Hitchins, T.A. Oblak, H.C. Cooper, and A.A. Anderson, NCJ 162420, 1996, grant number 94-IJ-CX-K010. This report presents an assessment of the technological feasibility of electronic monitoring. The study, which followed offenders in Pittsburgh, shows that electronic monitoring in locations other than the offender's home is feasible given the new technologies being advanced. "Geographic and Temporal Sequencing of Serial Rape: Final Report," by J. Warren, R. Reboussin, and R.R. Hazelwood, NCJ 162419, 1995, grant number 91-IJ- CX-R027. This report focuses on the behavior exhibited by serial rapists and relates this behavior to patterns in the temporal sequencing and geographic distribution of sex offenses. The results show that serial rapists tended to rape strangers, that victims were usually raped in their own homes, and that victims were most often taken by surprise. "Identification and Measurement of Carbon Monoxide and Inorganic Cyanide in Post Mortem Biological Material," by B.K. Logan, NCJ 159312, 1996, grant number 91-IJ-CX-0022. This final report describes two automated methods for (1) detection and quantitation of hydrogen cyanide gas liberated from inorganic cyanide in biological material, and (2) detection and quantitation of carbon monoxide gas derived from fire gases or automobile exhaust. "Mental Health Services in American Jails: A Survey of Innovative Practices," by S.M. Morris, H.J. Steadman, and B.M. Veysey, NCJ 162365, 1996, grant number 92-IJ-CX-K020. This final report presents the results of a study designed to elicit information about policies and practices for managing detainees with mental illnesses in five sizes of jails. Findings show that screening, evaluation, and suicide prevention have been emphasized in U.S. jail mental health services. "Pepper Spray Disperser Final Report," by R. Kelly, NCJ 162418, 1996, grant number 93-IJ-CX-K020. This final report examines a research and development project initiated in 1994 involving dispersal of oleoresin capsicum, or pepper spray. This project resulted in an improved less-than-lethal projectile that can be carried and operated by an individual. The projectile can be used in hostage, barricade, and tactical assault situations. "Priority Prosecution of the Serious Habitual Juvenile Offender: Roadblocks to Early Warning, Early Intervention, and Maximum Effectiveness--The Philadelphia Study," by N.A. Weiner, NCJ 163380, 1996, grant number 90-IJ-CX-0065. "Executive Summary of Findings," NCJ 163792. This report examines the nature and effectiveness of the selection criteria used by the Philadelphia Juvenile Court Habitual Offender Unit (HOU) to determine which youths to designate as serious habitual offenders and involve in specialized prosecution. The report concludes that HOU selection criteria might be improved with the use of additional official records and the testing of additional criteria through a field experiment. "Role of Drug and Alcohol Abuse in Domestic Violence and Its Treatment: Dade County's Domestic Violence Court Experiment: Final Report," by J.S. Goldkamp, NCJ 163410, 1996, grant number 93-IJ-CX- 0028. This research addresses the role of substance abuse in domestic violence, the impact of the domestic violence court approach, and the effect of an innovative treatment approach that integrates batterer and substance abuse treatment. Findings show that the combined treatment produces some positive, practical results in reaching domestic violence offenders and retaining them in treatment. The study also suggests that the hybrid program may prevent reoffending among batterers. "Understanding the Use of Force By and Against the Police," by J. Garner, J. Buchanan, J. Fagan, T. Schade, and J. Hepburn, NCJ 159602, 1996, grant number 92-IJ-CX-K028. This final report, based on the Phoenix Use of Force project, analyzes incidents in which force was used by and against Phoenix police officers, focusing on the amount of force used and the characteristics of arrest situations, suspects, and officers associated with the use of force. "Use of Closed-Circuit Television and Videotaped Testimony in Child Sexual Abuse Trials: An Evaluation of BJA's (Bureau of Justice Assistance's) Funding Program: Final Report," S.G. Elstein, D. Rebovich, B.E. Smith, K. Free, H. Davidson, M. Ells, and C. Sempel, NCJ 162930, 1996, grant number 94-IJ-CX-0054. This report presents the findings of an evaluation of a BJA program that provides assistance to States to purchase closed-circuit television, videotape equipment, and training in the use of that equipment for child sexual abuse trials. States, in compliance with BJA requirements, conducted needs assessments to determine how to distribute the technologies. Many States selected an informal assessment process, and most elected to distribute funds on a countywide, not statewide, basis. "User Accountability and Long-Term Recidivism: A Final Report," by J.R. Hepburn, NCJ 163406, 1996, grant number 94-IJ-CX-0028. This final report analyzes relationships among offender characteristics, offense characteristics, treatment exposure, and length of time to rearrest. Study results reveal significant differences in the recidivism of four offender groups. The rate and level of reoffending were greater for those who failed to enter the program despite eligibility than for those who entered the program and failed to complete it. Offenders who completed treatment performed substantially better than those who did not. Other final reports received include: "Juvenile Justice Programs in Prosecutor Offices: An Overview of Four Sites Final Report," by A. Taylor, NCJ 163412, 1995, grant number 94-IJ-CX- 0020. "Management of Special Populations: Mentally Disabled Offenders: Final Report," by H.J. Steadman, NCJ 163143, grant number 92-IJ-CX-K020. New & Noteworthy Every year, the National Institute of Justice offers fellowships to scholars, practitioners, and researchers to spend a year working onsite with NIJ staff in Washington, D.C., and pursue independent research on topics that reflect NIJ priorities. The work is conducted with the support of other researchers and policymakers in the Nation's capital. NIJ's 1997 Visiting Fellows: o William Burnham, a retired United Nations (U.N.) official, resided in Austria before coming to Washington, D.C., for his fellowship. During his stay, he will evaluate and analyze data collected by the U.N. since 1976 on global crime trends and criminal justice systems. His overall objective is to produce an informed assessment of whether the data collection exercise is worth governments' investment of effort. Specifically, he will evaluate how data might improve the management of national or local criminal justice systems and the exchange of information among agencies at these levels. o James Collins is a Senior Program Director and Research Sociologist at the Research Triangle Institute in North Carolina. Basing his research on evidence that alcohol and drugs are associated with domestic violence, Collins will examine the extent to which domestic violence and substance abuse services are linked by programs, identify models currently linking services, and design a demonstration/evaluation to assess the effectiveness of integrated programs. The main components of the project include national surveys of domestic violence and substance abuse treatment programs and case studies of programs that are currently linking services. o Ralph Taylor is a professor at Temple University. His study, "An Orienting Overview: Broken Windows and Decline and Disorder," will examine the extent to which perceived incivilities reflect differences between communities and among people in the same communities. His findings will contribute to better understanding of the effectiveness of community policing initiatives and the variation in such effectiveness across problems or outcomes. This edition of the National Institute of Justice Journal highlights the work of current NIJ Visiting Fellow William McDonald (see page 2). Visiting Fellowship Solicitation. Each year, the National Institute of Justice issues a solicitation encouraging researchers and practitioners to apply for the Visiting Fellowship Program. Visiting Fellows study a topic of mutual interest to the Fellow and the Institute while in residence at NIJ for 6 to 15 months. The Visiting Fellowship Program is highly competitive; only two or three Fellows are selected each year. NIJ is particularly interested in applications from candidates who are working in the following areas: international issues, policing, drugs and crime, violence, and sentencing and corrections. Applicants must prepare a standard research proposal that is evaluated on the basis of technical merit and likely practical impact. Look for an announcement soon at the NCJRS Web site--www.ncjrs.org--and in a forthcoming issue of the National Institute of Justice Journal. NIJ Awards Awards support community policing technology Law enforcement agencies around the Nation are actively engaged in exploring and implementing new techniques and methods to manage limited police resources more skillfully, reduce crime rates, and improve relations with the communities they serve. The 1994 Crime Act authorized the Department of Justice to support the development of new technologies to assist State and local governments in reorienting the emphasis of their activities to proactive crime prevention. As a result, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and the National Institute of Justice collaborated in issuing a solicitation for proposals to create and apply innovative technology to community policing efforts. The solicitation, issued in 1996, requested proposals from teams or partnerships of public- and private-sector agencies, such as those between a police department and a company with technological expertise or a consortium that includes members of a police department and private companies or academic institutions. NIJ received 117 proposals in response to the solicitation. Peer panels and office staff reviewed the proposals and recommended 15 for awards with the available funding. The 15 projects are intended to (1) improve police-citizen cooperation and communication, (2) increase police and citizen ability to solve community problems innovatively, and (3) facilitate the restructuring of agencies to allow the fullest use of departmental and community resources. For example, the Nashville, Tennessee, Police Department is developing software for a palmtop computer to enable officers assigned to walking, bicycle, or motorcycle patrols to access arrest information, check data bases or mug shots using wireless technology, and pinpoint an officer's location (for safety purposes). Several grants are being used to upgrade or enhance computer software and hardware so that officers will have more time to spend solving problems in their communities. ------------------------------ U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs 633 Indiana Avenue N.W. Washington, DC 20531 Janet Reno Attorney General U.S. Department of Justice John C. Dwyer Acting Associate Attorney General Laurie Robinson Assistant Attorney General Jeremy Travis Director, National Institute of Justice Justice Information Center World Wide Web Site http://www.ncjrs.org