The Following is an excerpt from the monthly newsletter CRIME & DRUG REPORT, which provides news on Crime Bill grants, law enforcement programs, and criminal justice issues. For more information, e-mail to Richard Baum, 73361,1051 or call (703) 528-3165
AGENCIES LOOK TO FUND-RAISING TO FINANCE HIGH-TECH PURCHASES
Participants in the second annual National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
Law Enforcement Technology Conference didn╒t waste any time
debating whether or not agencies needed to make use of advanced
technology. The question law enforcement officers from around the
nation asked was how to pay for it.
Speakers on the Creative Funding For Law Enforcement
Technology and Equipment had some interesting suggestions. Lt.
Michael McColly from the Crown Point, Indiana Police Department
said his Adopt a Car program raised $32,445 to help equip and
refurbish police cars. In return for donations of $1,500, the name of
the donor's business was discretely printed on the rear of police
vehicles. Although McColly's department received some bad press
for the effort, including ridicule on David Letterman's Late Night
show, he says the program worked well and he would do it again.
Police Chiefs at the conference admitted they did not like asking for
money from non-government sources. But many felt that they
have no choice and are looking for ways to do it effectively, without
jeopardizing the credibility and independence of their departments.
Col. Carl Baker, Virginia's Deputy Secretary of Public Safety said that
state and local law enforcement agencies are not exempt from
government downsizing and must face up to the reality that funds
will be hard to come by in the foreseeable future. This is particularly
true with regard to funds for equipment. Political leaders are more
willing to finance cops on the beat rather than the purchase of
needed equipment. Col. Baker reported that 85% of most police
agencies costs go for personnel and another 10% is dedicated for
vehicles, fuel and maintenance. The remaining 5% is what's left to
pay for radios, computers, and other equipment. The result is that
most police forces have not been able to take advantage of
technological advances.
Baker's advice is for police executives, before they recommend
high-tech purchases, to: 1) Decide how important the equipment is
compared to hiring more personnel will it save money and/or lives;
2) Find out how much the equipment will cost to buy, use, and
maintain; 3) Determine how much training personnel will need to
properly use the new equipment. Many officers will never get to use
it if extensive training is required; and, 4) Ask how courts will treat
information or arrests that are the result of the new technology.
Of course, one of the problems with new technology is that there are
few in the field who have real-life experience with new products.
The National Institute of Justice intends to reduce the risks by
conducting tests, providing objective information, and supporting
the development of useful products.
David Boyd, Director of NIJ's Office of Science and Technology, said
that until very recently the federal government has done little to
support law enforcement technology, "Just 7 cents of every 100
federal R&D dollars goes for law enforcement and the criminal
justice system." But things are changing. Boyd said that as much as
$80 million may be available for next year. These funds will help
support the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology
Center, which can provide a variety of product information,
including, who manufactures what, what testing or evaluation
information is available, and what other law enforcement agencies
use the product and can discuss its effectiveness.
Boyd also noted that chiefs of police and sheriffs rarely have the
authority to make large purchasing decisions themselves. They
have to seek approval from city councils or state legislatures. Kansas
City Police Chief Steven C. Bishop told conferees that donations
from the private or non-profit sector can help leverage additional
government funds. When he went to the city council to ask for
additional community policing officers he told them that local
businesses had already pledged funds to equip the new officers.
Bishop explained that it's easier for political leaders to approve
police budget requests when they know the community has
committed to make a contribution themselves.
James P. Gelatt, a management consultant for nonprofit
organizations said that police chiefs should not view fund-raising as
looking for a hand out, but for an investment into the community.
He says that law enforcement has to get past this idea that it is not
deserving of private funds. ╥There is nothing more valuable than
what you do for your community,╙ said Gelatt.
Gelatt offered some guidelines to law enforcement executives:
* Develop A StrategyLook at the universe of those in your
jurisdiction who can afford to offer a large gift.
* Set up a Business Advisory GroupTen business or foundation
leaders in your community that can help identify key contacts and
who can actually be the ones that ask for money.
* Cultivate Potential DonorsInvite them to speak at events, write
something about them in your agency's newsletter, ask them to
work with you on a one time event or project.
* Ask For ItIt may be hard to ask for money, but if your goal is to
raise funds you have to ask, or get someone else to do it for you.;
Speakers at the conference had a number of other concrete
suggestions:;
Talk to Politicians: These guys ╥make a living from getting money
out of other people.╙ They know who in the community is willing
to donate funds to good causes.
Know Your Timing: The sad truth is that is best to ask for funds or
equipment that you need immediately after a tragedy brings the
need into high relief. One chief said that after a bridge collapsed and
a police officer assisting in rescues nearly drowned, a company
donated a patrol boat to the force.;
Look Inside Your Own Agency: Someone may have a spouse,
relative or friends who works for a company of foundation which
can make a donation. Take advantage of these contacts.
Enact Dedicated Fees: Many jurisdictions have added fees, from $5
to $50, to all criminal convictions to support aspects of the criminal
justice system. Smaller fees, as low as 25 cents, have been added to
phone bills to pay for 911 service or to auto insurance bills to pay for
measures to fight auto theft.
Have a Specific Product: People are most inclined to support
programs that they would benefit from directly. In suffolk County,
New York, a strip mall operator donated to police several thousand
dollars for cameras to fight graffiti artists. The business already
spends $30,000 annually to clean up graffiti, so the investment was a
good deal for them.
Similar techniques can be used to raise funds for crime prevention
programs. In Fresno, California police helped facilitate a program in
which residents in apartment complexes agreed to add $1 to their
monthly rent bill to raise money for youth programs. A Springfield,
Illinois officer said that his community raised over $40,000 for
DARE through a coupon arrangement with a local supermarket
chain. The proceeds from the coupons, placed on products available
in the store, went directly to DARE.
NIJ, which can provide more information about funding sources as
well as information and advice on law enforcement products, can
be reached at (800) 678-6882. For more information about the
conference, which was also addressed by Chief Joe Brann of the
COPS office, Representatives Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Pat
Schroeder (D-CO) and a number of industry executives, call the
conference's organizer, the American Defense Preparedness
Association, (703) 522-1820.
DEWINE BILL WILL CREATE NATIONAL CRIME DATABASE
"We have all the federal technology in the world in Washington,
D.C. but if the police officer can't pull it up in his squad car or at the
police station, what use is it?" asked Senator Mike Dewine (R-Ohio)
upon the introduction of a comprehensive crime bill, dubbed the
"Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act." Dewine, a Member of
the Senate Judiciary Committee, plans to attach his technology
proposals to the Senate Crime Bill, now slated for action in late June
or early July.
The bill authorizes $1 billion to build a national electronic criminal
justice identification system. "My legislation gives direct assistance
to local authorities so that they can contribute their knowledge and
information to the national crime-fighting system," Dewine says.
He likened America's criminal justice system to a stereo with great
components that have yet to be hooked up.
The funds could be used for states to connect to the FBI's Combined
DNA Index System (CODIS) which includes DNA information on
criminals convicted of rape, murder and other violent crime. States
that are already connected could use the funds to upgrade their data-
collection system. Dewine's bill would require convicted sex
offenders and other violent criminals to give blood samples as they
enter or leave prison, so that a truly comprehensive DNA database
could be established.
Fingerprints and criminal histories would also be included in the
integrated federal database. Further, the legislation would allocate
funds to support the expansion of the FBI's DRUGFIRE program.
Dewine said the police in Greene country, Ohio, have a filing
cabinet full of bullets arranged by caliber. The bullets are inspected
under a microscope in the hope that they get a match. Rarely is an
effort made to match a bullet with those from other departments.
DRUGFIRE, which stores a picture of each bullet in its memory can
change this dramatically. "Thanks to DRUG-FIRE, a search through
10,000 bullets takes about a minute. Without DRUGFIRE no one
knows how long it would take because no one would even try to do
it," says Dewine.
"We need to make it possible for any police officer to access a
national databasea fully automated databank including information
on fingerprints, DNA analysis, ballistics and complete criminal
histories," says Dewine. To make a national system work, "We need
the local people to collect data and put it in the national system.
And we need to make sure that local people can get data from the
national system. Unless we invest in the local technology, the local
data collection and retrieval, this just won't happen. Only the
federal government can do the national coordination that's
necessary for this kind of system," he said.
Dewine's bill also provides for more police on the streets in high
crime areas. The new bill would replace the current COPS program,
which partially funds 100,000 police officers for three years with a
formula that fully funds 30,000 slots for five years in the highest
crime areas of the country. Dewine says, "We must target
communities brutalized by rampant crime where police officers are
needed most and give these crime beaten neighborhoods the full
contingent of police they need to combat their very serious
problems.
Dewine's legislation allocates over 5.65 billion in state grants, giving
broad discretion to the local communities in how those funds will
be used. Funds could be used for prevention programs, such as after
school tutoring programs or anti-drug education efforts. This
provision is similar to the House passed bill accept for the amount.
The House measure allocates $10 billion.
In addition, the bill would require each U.S. Attorney to report
monthly to the Attorney General regarding arrests, prosecutions
and convictions of persons accused of crimes committed with a gun.
The Attorney General would be required to report to Congress semi-
annually on the status of these prosecutions. Some Republicans
have accused the Clinton Administration's Justice Department of
allowing the number of gun and drug prosecutions to fall. In
addition the Dewine bill would:
* Require judges to order defendants in sexual assaults to submit to
AIDS tests.;
* Requires the court to order full restitution to the victims of
federal crime and would give federal prosecutors the same number
of peremptory challenges as defense attorneys.
* Codifies a good faith exception to the Exclusionary rule and
reforms habeas corpus procedures (same as the Spector-Hatch bill
introduced in the Senate last month).
Senator Dewine served earlier in his career as a county prosecutor,
as Lt. Governor of Ohio, and as a Member of the U.S. House of
Representatives. Senator Dewine's Washington office may be
