Department of Justice Peacemaking Programs

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Contents

[edit] DoJ Mission

To enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law; to ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; to provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.

[edit] DoJ Programs Related to Reducing Levels of Violence

[edit] Fight Trafficking In Persons (modern-day slavery)

[edit] Protections for Victims - Victim Services

The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) offers victim support, protection services, prosecutorial and law enforcement strategies, and education resources to trafficking victims and victim service providers. OVC also offers funding to provide direct services to victims of trafficking under programs like the Trafficking Victims Protection Act Grant Program.
The Office of Special Counsel for Unfair Immigration-Related Employment Practices (OSC) in the Civil Rights Division provides assistance to individuals who allege they were rejected for employment or fired because of their immigration status or type of work authorization. The protections pertain to victims of trafficking who may receive employment authorization documents under the TVPA.

[edit] Prevention Through Outreach and Research

Outreach. Prosecutors and other Justice Department personnel frequently assist in training local law enforcement agencies, non-governmental organizations, and international representatives both in the United States and overseas on human trafficking issues.
Research. The National Institute of Justice International Center supports research and exchange of information on activities by offering grants for academic research into the subjects of trafficking in persons and child exploitation.
The National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) in the Office of Justice Programs offers information to support research, policy, and program development worldwide on various criminal justice issues, including international trafficking.

[edit] Foster Safe Communities

[edit] Gun Violence Prevention

Project Safe Neighborhoods: America's Network Against Gun Violence. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nation-wide commitment to reduce gun crime in America by networking existing local programs that target gun crime and providing those programs with additional tools to be successful. Under Project Safe Neighborhoods, each United States Attorney will establish strategic partnerships between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in an intensive offensive against gun crime. The Bush Administration has committed $901 million to this effort over three years. This funding is being used to hire new federal and state prosecutors, support investigators, provide training, distribute gun lock safety kits, deter juvenile gun crime, and develop and promote community outreach efforts as well as to support other gun violence reduction strategies.

[edit] Reducing Drugs in the Neighborhood

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) works with the Office of National Drug Control Policy to administer the Drug-Free Communities Support Program. Drug-Free Communities Grants fund coalitions of young people, parents, media, law enforcement, school officials, religious organizations, and other community representatives that target young people's use of illegal drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. The coalitions also encourage citizen participation in substance abuse reduction efforts and disseminate information about effective programs.
Each Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) field division has a special agent designated as the Demand Reduction Coordinator, whose role is to provide leadership and support to local agencies and organizations as they develop drug prevention and education programs. The DEA Demand Reduction Program stands out from other federal agency programs because it provides people - special agents and support staff - to promote drug prevention and education within the community. DEA Field Divisions. Publications.
Methamphetamine abuse has become a tremendous challenge for the entire Nation. Education, prevention, and community involvement are key parts of our National Strategy to reduce the demand for meth. People who know about the destructive effects of meth on the user and the community, are far less likely to use meth. Visit the Meth Awareness site.

[edit] Cops in the Neighborhood

Tackling Crime and Other Public Safety Problems. This compilation of 48 short case studies illustrates how communities have successfully addressed a wide variety of persistent crime and disorder problems, including burglary, robbery, drug dealing, prostitution, auto theft, park crime and others using creative problem-solving techniques. Community members interested in tackling public safety problems in a new way will find this publication provides useful information.
The Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office promotes community policing through hiring grants, promoting innovative approaches to solving crime, and through training and technical assistance to implement and sustain community policing.

[edit] Community Revitalization

The Community Capacity Development Office (CCDO), assists communities around America as they seek to prevent crime, increase community safety, and revitalize neighborhoods. CCDO works with local communities to develop solutions that deter crime, promote economic growth, and enhance quality of life. Through training and technical assistance, CCDO helps communities to help themselves, enabling them to develop solutions to community safety problems confronting them, as well as developing the leadership to implement and sustain those solutions.
Weed and Seed is a community-driven strategic planning process that has demonstrated a positive impact on many communities as federal and local law enforcement agencies join forces, share resources, set common goals, partner with community groups, and work together to address troubled areas in neighborhoods. Communities work with U.S. Attorneys to develop a Weed and Seed strategy that involves "weeding out" criminals who participate in violent crime and drug abuse and "seeding" the areas with services linked to prevention, intervention, treatment, and neighborhood revitalization. A community-oriented policing component bridges weeding and seeding strategies. More than 300 Weed and Seed sites operate across the country. For information about Weed and Seed, visit the Community Capacity Development Office Web site.

[edit] Cyber/Internet Safety

Children need guidance when using the Internet. Learn about Cyberethics for Kids at our Kidspage. Find Safety Tips for Kids on the Internet. The FBI also has a Parent's Guide to Internet Safety available on its site, in both English and Spanish.
How to report Internet-related crime.
Cyberstalking: A New Challenge for Law Enforcement and Industry
Appendix II contains tips on "How You Can Protect Against Cyberstalking" and "What to Do If You Are a Victim."

[edit] Reentry of Offenders into the Community

Nearly 650,000 people are released from incarceration yearly and arrive on the doorsteps of communities nationwide. The federal government, through the Office of Justice Programs, offers guidance and direction to communities as they prepare for ex-offenders going and staying home.

[edit] Community Outreach

Under the FBI's Community Outreach Program (COP), experienced FBI employees are assigned to serve as coordinators in each of the FBI's field offices nationwide. The coordinators serve on committees and boards of local and regional planning organizations for integrated, comprehensive, community-based prevention services for crime, drugs, and violence. They serve as speakers at crime prevention events, form partnerships with local and national organizations (such as Boys and Girls Clubs), and participate in school-based programs. For further information, contact the FBI Field Office nearest you.

[edit] Kidnapping/Missing Persons

When Your Child Is Missing: A Family Survival Guide. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. CyberTipline: Report Child Pornography and/or Sexual Exploitation of Children

[edit] Statistics

The FBI's Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) provide extensive crime data on Arson, Assault Offenses, Bribery, Burglary, Counterfeiting/Forgery, Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property, Drug/Narcotic Offenses—Drug/Narcotic Violations and Drug Equipment Violations, Embezzlement, Extortion/Blackmail, Fraud Offenses, Gambling Offenses, Homicide Offenses, Kidnaping/Abduction, Larceny/Theft Offenses, Motor Vehicle Theft, Pornography/Obscene Material, Prostitution Offenses, Robbery, Sex Offenses, Stolen Property Offenses, and Weapon Law Violations
The UCR also provides arrest data for the following additional offense categories: Bad Checks, Curfew/Loitering/Vagrancy Violations, Disorderly Conduct, Driving Under the Influence, Drunkenness, Nonviolent Family Offenses, Liquor Law Violations, Peeping Tom, Runaway, Trespass of Real Property, and All Other Offenses.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), a component of the Office of Justice Programs, is a primary source for criminal justice statistics.
BJS collects, analyzes, publishes, and disseminates information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government. These data are critical to Federal, State, and local policymakers in combating crime and ensuring that justice is both efficient and evenhanded.

[edit] Prevent Youth Violence

[edit] Resources for Parents

The National Criminal Justice Reference Center Web site has publications and resources for parents and families.
The NCJRS site offers information that focuses on the concerns of family members who have experienced, witnessed, or been victimized by crime in schools and gang activity. The substance abuse subpages guide parents and others to helpful resources, support groups, publications, and organizations. Resources on keeping our schools safe are also provided on the site.

[edit] School Violence

The Department of Education and Department of Justice have issued a guide to help schools and communities prevent school violence. Safeguarding Our Children: An Action Guide emphasizes early intervention and prevention, and teamwork among educators, mental health professionals, parents, and students.
The Department of Justice and the Department of Education also issued a guide for parents, educators, and other individuals to help them identify early signs of troubling and potentially dangerous behavior. Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schoolsis available at the Department of Education's Web site.
The FBI has posted The School Shooter: A Threat Assessment Perspective. This report presents a model procedure for threat assessment and intervention, including a chapter on key indicators that should be regarded as warning signs in evaluating threats.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives provides resources about School safety programs, and training opportunities. Other programs available under the ATF include:
Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T): Among other things, the GREAT Program provides classroom instruction for school-aged children and a wide range of community based activities that result in the necessary life skills, a sense of competency, usefulness, and personal empowerment needed to avoid involvement in youth violence and criminal activity.
Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative: The annual Crime Gun Trace Reports began in 1997 as part of ATF’s Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative (YCGII), a youth-focused firearms enforcement program that is a component of ATF’s overall firearms enforcement program, the Integrated Violence Reduction Strategy. For this reason, YCGII is referred to throughout this report.
Project Surefire: Project Surefire began as a collaborative effort among ATF, the Chicago Police Department, and the U.S. Attorney's office to deal with one of this Nation's primary public safety issues, firearms violence. The partnership was further cemented when two rookie Chicago police officers were murdered. Vicious crime and recent shootings at schools across the country have catapulted this issue to the forefront of public sentiment. The partners began the project with the object of increasing prosecutions of illegal firearm traffickers and others who use firearms violence as a way of life.
Operation Target: Operation TARGET (Taking Aim to Reduce Gun Violence and End Trafficking) is Western District of Pennsylvania's Firearms Violence Reduction Initiative that is a multifaceted team approach to reducing firearms related violence in the communities of Western Pennsylvania. The TARGET approach, use many past proven strategies, such as have been employed in other cities, along with innovations unique to our area. The TARGET strategy can be broken-down into five major components, each with elements that are being implemented as Operation TARGET progresses.
National Institute of Justice was mandated by Congress in 1999 to develop new, more effective school safety technologies to provide communities with tools to enhance school safety. NIJ was challenged to assist the nation's schools in achieving the perception and reality of a safer learning environment for students, teachers, and staff through the development and evaluation of safety and security technologies. Click here to find out more about NIJ's Safe Schools Technology Initiative.
National Crime Prevention Council: The U.S. Department of Justice and the Advertising Council, Inc., working through the National Crime Prevention Council, are developing a campaign to encourage Americans to store their firearms safely. The campaign, planned to extend over three years, includes television, radio, print, and out-of-home public service messages distributed nationwide.
Additional resources on school violence can be found on the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Web site.

[edit] Reducing Drugs in the Neighborhood

The Drug Enforcement Agency's Get it Straight, The Facts About Drugs, explains why drugs are harmful.

[edit] OJJDP Programs

Association of Missing and Exploited Children’s Organizations

Serves the cause of missing and exploited children, their families, and the community at large.

Children’s Advocacy Centers Stress the coordination of investigation, treatment, and prosecution of child abuse cases.

Court Appointed Special Advocate Program Ensures that abused and neglected children receive high-quality, sensitive, effective, and timely representation in dependency court hearings.

Crimes Against Children Research Center

Combats crimes against children by providing high-quality research and statistics to the public, policymakers, law enforcement personnel, and other child welfare practitioners.

Disproportionate Minority Contact

Addresses the overrepresentation of minority youth in the juvenile justice system at all points in the juvenile justice process.

Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Supports and enhances efforts by states and local jurisdictions to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages to minors and the purchase and consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors.

Evaluation of the Child Development-Community Policing Program

Offers interdisciplinary intervention to children and families exposed to violence and serves as a national model of a collaborative alliance.

Federal Youth Court Program Promotes the activities of youth courts, which offer communities a program in which youth are judged by their peers for minor delinquency, status offenses, and problem behaviors.

Formula Grants Program Supports state and local delinquency prevention and intervention efforts and juvenile justice system improvements.

Gang Reduction Program

Designed to reduce gang activity in targeted neighborhoods.

Gang-Free Schools and Communities Program

Addresses and reduces youth gang crime and violence in schools and communities throughout the nation.

Girls Study Group The Girls Study Group assists OJJDP in understanding risk and protective factors associated with female juvenile offending and the consequences for youth involved in such offending.

i-SAFE America Provides Internet safety information to students, parents, and other community members.

Information Sharing to Prevent Juvenile Delinquency: A Training and Technical Assistance Project Juvenile Information Sharing (JIS) aims to increase the capacity of youth-serving agencies to build multiagency partnerships in which information is exchanged in a timely and secure way.

Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program Helps state and local law enforcement agencies develop an effective response to cyber enticement and child pornography cases.

Juvenile Accountability Block Grants Program Helps states develop programs that promote greater accountability among offenders and in the juvenile justice system.

Juvenile Drug Courts/Reclaiming Futures Program Builds the capacity to develop and establish juvenile drug courts adopting the Reclaiming Futures model for juvenile offenders who are abusing substances.

Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse Provides individuals and organizations with easy access to a comprehensive collection of information and resources on juvenile justice topics.

Juvenile Justice Evaluation Center Enhances the capacity of state and local juvenile justice program personnel to conduct and participate in the evaluation of juvenile justice programs and systems.

Juvenile Justice Resource Center Assists the Administrator, plans events, and administers the consultant pool and peer review process, among other responsibilities.

Model Dependency Courts Initiative Provides intensive training and technical assistance to improve the courts' handling of child abuse and neglect cases and to ensure more timely decisionmaking in permanency planning.

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Collects and distributes data regarding missing and exploited children and operates a national toll-free hotline.

National Youth Gang Center

Assists policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in the development and implementation of effective, community-based gang prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies.

Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency

Improves the understanding of serious delinquency, violence, and drug use by examining how youth develop within the context of family, school, peers, and community.

Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative

Provides schools and communities with federal funding to implement services that focus on promoting healthy childhood development and preventing violence and substance abuse.

Safe Start

Prevents and reduces the impact of family and community violence on young children and their families.

Safe Start: Promising Approaches for Children Exposed to Violence

This is the second phase of the Safe Start initiative, created by OJJDP in collaboration with federal partners in OJP and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative Develops, implements, enhances, and evaluates reentry strategies that will ensure the safety of the community and the reduction of serious, violent crime.

Targeted Community Action Planning Helps communities, states, and federally recognized Indian tribes and Alaska Native groups assess their needs and assists them in developing targeted responses.

Team H.O.P.E. Operates as a support network for families with missing children, offering them resources and support.

Teens, Crime, and the Community Seeks to reduce the incidence of teenage victimization and engage youth as crime prevention resources in their schools and communities.

Title V Community Prevention Grants Program Funds collaborative, community-based delinquency prevention efforts.

Tribal Youth Program Helps tribal communities prevent juvenile delinquency, reduce violent crime, and improve tribal juvenile justice systems.

Truancy Reduction Demonstration Program The Truancy Reduction Demonstration Program began in 1998 as a cooperative effort of OJJDP, the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, and the Executive Office for Weed and Seed.

Youth Crime Watch of America

Gives youth the tools to design their own solutions to the problems of crime, violence, and drugs.

[edit] What Works--What You Can Do in Your Community

School and Community Interventions To Prevent Serious and Violent Offending describes school and community interventions shown to reduce risk factors for drug abuse and serious and violent juvenile (SVJ) offending. This Bulletin examines eight types of community interventions (citizen mobilization, situational prevention, comprehensive citizen intervention, mentoring, after school recreation programs, policing strategies, policy changes, and mass media interventions) and five types of school interventions (structured playground activities, behavioral consultation, behavioral monitoring, metal detectors, and school wide reorganization).
The Community Capacity Development Office (CCDO) assists communities around America as they seek to prevent crime, increase community safety, and revitalize neighborhoods. The CCDO works with local communities to develop solutions that deter crime, promote economic growth, and enhance quality of life. Through training and technical assistance, the CCDO helps communities to help themselves, enabling them to develop solutions to community safety problems confronting them, as well as developing the leadership to implement and sustain those solutions.
The Office of Weed and Seed is the CCDO's premier community development initiative. This community-based initiative is an innovative and comprehensive multi-agency approach to law enforcement, crime prevention, and community revitalization. Communities work with their U. S. Attorneys to develop a Weed and Seed strategy that aims to prevent, control, and reduce violent crime, drug abuse, and gang activity in targeted high-crime neighborhoods across the country.


Get Help for Your Community--Grants and Other Assistance
The School-Based Partnership (SBP) grant provides police agencies the opportunity to work with schools and community-based organizations to address persistent school-related crime problems. All applicants are required to focus on one primary school-related crime or disorder problem, occurring in or around an elementary or secondary school. Specific problems targeted may include the following: Drug Dealing or Use on School Grounds, Problems Experienced by Students on the Way to and from School, Assault/Sexual Assault, Alcohol Use or Alcohol-Related Problems, Threat/Intimidation, Vandalism/Graffiti, Loitering and Disorderly Conduct Directly Related to Crime or Student Safety, Disputes that Pose a Threat to Student Safety and Larceny.

[edit] Publications

Indicators of School Crime and Safety, 2004 presents data on crime at school from the perspectives of students, teachers, principals, and the general population from an array of sources. A joint effort by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and National Center for Education Statistics, the report examines crime occurring in school as well as on the way to and from school. The report provides the most current detailed statistical information to inform the Nation on the nature of crime in schools.
The National Institute of Justice publication Toward Safe and Orderly Schools—The National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools presents research on what schools are doing to prevent delinquency and promote school safety.

[edit] Links

Afterschool.gov presents information on federal resources for supporting children and youth during out-of-school hours.
For more information about the Department components that are most active in this area, consult the Office of Justice Programs and Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office Web sites.
For information about youth violence on other Federal Government Web sites, please visit the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families Web site and FirstGov for Parents, a government-wide resource page for parents.

[edit] Civil Rights & Liberties

[edit] Disability Rights

[edit] Halt Domestic Violence

[edit] DoJ Programs that Provide Opportunities for Individual and Collective Growth

[edit] Help Victims Of Crime

Although there are a number of useful resources available, the concept of "restorative justice" is not included.

[edit] Promote Dispute Resolution

The Department promotes the use of conflict resolution strategies for deterring crime, promoting economic growth, and enhancing quality of life.


[edit] Resources

The Community Capacity Development Office (CCDO) helps communities help themselves. The goals are to foster mutual respect between police and communities, to provide young people with the skills to resolve arguments peacefully, to encourage partnerships that build on diversity, to prevent crimes of hate and bias, to offer victim-offender and community mediation, and to engage greater citizen participation in local decision-making. Learn more about these resources by visiting the Community Capacity Development Office site.

The Community Relations Service (CRS) is the Department's "peacemaker" for community conflicts and tensions arising from differences of race, color, and national origin. Its services are provided to local officials and leaders by trained federal mediators on a voluntary and cost-free basis. The kinds of assistance available from CRS include mediation of disputes and conflicts, training in conflict resolution skills, and help in developing ways to prevent and resolve conflicts. Contact your CRS regional office for help in your community.

Many Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) disputes can be resolved successfully through informal methods. Through its ADA Mediation Program, the Department refers appropriate ADA disputes to mediators at no cost to the parties. The mediators in the Department of Justice program are professional mediators who have been trained in the legal requirements of the ADA. If you want to work with a mediator and the other party to resolve an ADA dispute through the Department's program, you can follow the usual procedure for filing a complaint (title II (public entities), title III (private entities)) with the Department and note on the complaint that you want to take your dispute to mediation. While we cannot guarantee that everyone who wants mediation will be able to participate in the program, the Department will make every effort to comply with requests for mediation.

The Office of Dispute Resolution coordinates the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) for the Department of Justice. The office is responsible for ADR policy matters, ADR training, assisting lawyers in selecting the right cases for dispute resolution, and finding appropriate neutrals to serve as mediators, arbitrators, and neutral evaluators. The office also coordinates the Interagency ADR Working Group, an organization that promotes the use of ADR throughout federal executive branch agencies, which was created by the President and is chaired by the Attorney General.

[edit] Links

Publications that can assist individuals and communities deal with problem situations can be found on the CRS site.

For more information about the Department components that are most active in this area, consult the Community Relations Service (CRS), Community Capacity Development Office, and Office of Dispute Resolution web sites.

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