If you have issues viewing or accessing this file contact us at NCJRS.gov. ·-"t-·~\ ,0 li 1f' 1.;. National Criminal Justice Reference Service (",.~ ,.-_ >_J \ ~ncJ,rs-----i:il'~'~ u.s. Department of Justice t 1 : j !. :I .J j This microfiche was produced from documents received for inclusion in the NCJRS data base, Since NCJRS cannot exercise control over the physical condition of the documents submitted, the individual frame quality will vary, The resolution chart on Attorney General's this frame may be used to evaluate the document quality, Task Force on Violent Crime 2 5 :; 111112.8 . 11111 . 1.0 3 2 I~ Illil . I . \ W < ,0 w n~~ ~ Final Report :i I~ ... ~ 1.1 1.i.IL:.~ I August 17, 1981 , ) 111111.25 111111.4 111111.6 i I' MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS-1963-A ~l , r~' "~ ~.,. , .. ',",' '~, Microfilming' proc~d~~e~ used to create this fiche comply with . the standards set forth in 41CFR 101-11.504. Points of view or opinions stated in this document are those of the author(s) and do not represent the official , I .DATE FILMED! position or policies of the U. S. Department of Justice. ~. ". ~':I.....:-.~:y~:-:"" ""'-...c~-~ '."" ___""" b'""' "~' . (;F J~... .' . .. .. -.:-- ! TNati~nal i~stitut~-orJustice .. .. :lA.:· ~ . 12/01/811 .' t··· .. -, ,. .. ,. ,. ---.. -.-.~. --'-'--~ .~.~ ....~.. I , i l}nited States Department of Justice Washington, D. C. 20531 g L ..... .. i 1 I I , i~' " J ..... 1·.. " .~_)... ... r / / .. ' ...... r U.S. Department of Justice : Attorney General's Task Force on Violent Crime Final Report Task Force Members: GRIFFIN B. BELL, Oo-Ohai1'man JAMES R. THOMPSON, Oo-Olw,irman DAVID L. ARlI-ISTRONG FRANE: G. CARRINGTON ROBERT L. EDWARDS WILLL.-\M L. HART WILBUR F. LITTLEFIELD JAMES Q. WILSON JEFFREY HARRIS, Eweautive Director U.S. Departmeni:of justice National Institute of Justice This document has been reproduced exactly as received from the person or organization originating it. Points of View or opinions stated in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the National Institute of Justice. Permission to reproduce this. I material has been granted by Public Domain/DOJ to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS). , Further reproduction outside of the NCJRS system requires permis­ sion of the _owner. " ~~---"""'"""F~.i· - .rask Force Staff u.s. Department of Justice Jeffrey Harris, EweC'l/'tive Direator Percy H. Russell, Jr., Deputy Direator Sue A. Lindgren, Associate Director Attorney General's Task Force on Violent Crime Joseph M. Band JohnM.Beal Robert B. Bucknam Linda S. Clark Washington, D.C. 20530 Harriett C. Coulbourn Griffin B. Bell David S. Davis Co-Chairman James R. Thompson Judith H. Friedman Co-Chairman Daniel N. Rosenblatt David L. Armstrong Alexander H. Williams, III August 17, 1981 Frank G. Carrington Robert L. Edwards Sally G. Willis William L. Hart Wilbur F. Littlefield Acknowledgments The Honorable William French Smith James Q. Wilson Attorney General We gratefully acknow ledge ~he follo:ving persons ~or Jeffrey Harris United States Department of Justice Executive Director their assistance during the hfe of tlns Task Fo:ce . Washington, D.C. 20530 Madeline Armstrong, Michele Coleman, J ~ar:Ita Davis, Janice Ingram, Brenda. Keyes, ,VIllIe Dear Mr. Attorney General: King, Mary Ann Rocheleau, Harry !"-. Scarr, Dana Thompson and U.S. Marshals SerVICe personnel assigned td the Task Forcein cities throughout the Pursuant to our charter and your mandate we have completed yountry. our work within the specified 120 days. The Task Force on Violent Crime herein presents its final recommendations on ,Ve also wish to express special thar:ks to J?ean C. St. ways in which th~ federal government can improve its efforts Dennis Assistant Director of Pubhc AffaIrs, U.S. to combat violent crime without limiting its efforts against Depart~ent of Justice; Kenneth L. Pekarek, organized and white collar crime. Inspector, U.S. Marshals Service; and Ga~y ~. "'tarkman Counsel to the Governor of Ill11101S, At your direction, we have divided our work into two ~or their ~xtraordinary contributions to our effort. phases. Our Phase I recommendations, which were presented to Finally, we wish to th~nk Prisci,na ,Vhitehouse you on June 17, 1981, addressed measures the Department of f the Justice PublicatIOns SerVICe of the U.S. Justice could undertake within the existing statutory framework ~epartment of Justice, Ma.~il!n Marbrook ~f and existing resources. Those recommendations, as they were originally presented to you, are included in the first section the Bureau or J ustice StatI~tICs! and. our edItor of this final report. Peter Smith for their contrIbutIOns III the preparation or this report. Our Phase II recommendations are contained in the second section of this report. They focus on changes in federal statutes, funding levels, and allocation of resources which we believe would increase the federal government's impact on violent and serious crime consistent with appropriate federal­ state relations and the competing needs for federal resources. The recommendations which follow are offered with due respect to the traditional separation of responsibilities between the federal government and the state:';). We reaffirm the wisdom of this separation, although we J.i..d identify a few areas where the federal government is in a unique position to assist state and local governments in fulfilling their criminal justice responsibilities. iii ! ---.........,..,....... .. " - ~-- -~--~--- - 2 - \":1 We wish to emphasize that the federal government's first Preface priority should be to provide adequate resources to its own offices which are involved in fighting violent crime and to assure that its policies are clear and sound in all matters which impact on state and local law enforcement. In this way the states and local governments can better deploy their resources to carry out their responsibilities. We do not believe that the federal government should subsidize the ongoing operations of state and local criminal justice systems. But we do believe that, within the context of each level of government exercising its own authority and bearing its unique responsibilities, much can be done to improve the coordinated federal-state-local fight against violent serious crime. This report presents the final recommendations District of New York. The Task Force was of the Attorney General's Task Force on Violent supported by a staff drawn from throughout the As a final note, we wish to express our deep appreciation Crime. Department of Justice. to the fine staff that 'tV'orked long and hard under very short The Task Force was appointed on April 10, 1981, The overall objective of the Task Force was to deadlines and that prepared our materials in a highly professional by Attorney General 1Villiam French Smith. The manner. We are also appreciative of the many officials and make specific recommendations to the Attorney Task Force consisted of eight individuals with a wide General on ways in which the federal government private citizens who testified at our hearings or who sent us range of expertise in criminal justice at the federal, their views in writing. The combined effect of these communi­ could do more to combat violent crime. The scope state, and local levels of g.overnment. of the Task Force's activities was divided into two cations had an important affect on our deliberations. \ It was co-chaired by former Att.orney General phases. It was indeed a distinct pleasure Griffin B. Bell and Governor James R. Th.omps.on The first phase focused on measures that the opportunity to assist you 'in this most .of Illinois. Griffin B. Bell was a judge of the U.S. Department could undertake within its existing you all continued success in seeing it Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from substantive and jurisdictional framework. In that Oct.ober 1961 t.o March 1976 and was Att.orney phase the Task Force recommended measures the Respecti General fr.om January 1977 t.o August 1979. Department could immediately implement to Governor Th.ompson was U.S. Attorney in Chicag.o combat violent crime without the need for additional }~TS,~ from N.ovember 1971 until June 1975. legislation or funding, and without decreasing the Department's other important offensives Griffin B. Bell James R. Thompson Other members of the Task F.orce include: James Q. WIlson, professor .of g.overnment at Harvard against crime such as the white collar and anti­ Co-Chairman f University and author of numer.ous bo.oks and corruption efforts. The Task Force was directed articles on criminal justice; David L. Armstrong, to complete its Phase I report within 60 days of Comm.onwealth Attorney of Louisville and its first meeting which was held on April 17, 1981. c-llr:~i President of the N ati.onal District Attorneys On June 17, 1981, 15 Phase I recommendations Ass.ociati.on; Frank G. Carrington, Executive were presented to the Attorney General. These ~~ L Hart Director of the Crime Victims Legal Advocacy recommendations, along with supporting Institute, Virginia Beach, Virginia; Robert L. commentary, are presented as the first section to Edwards, Director of the Division .of Local Law this final report. Enforcement Assistance .o'f the Florida Department The second phase of the Task Force's work focused of Law Enforcement; 1Villiam L. Hart, Police on changes in federal criminal statutes, funding ~~~ Chief of Detroit; and 1Yilbur F. Littlefield, the levels, and resources that would increase the federal Robert L. Edwards Public Defender for Los Angeles County. government's impact on violent crime. The Task The Executive Director was Jeffrey Harris, Force was directed to complete this phase within 120 , \/11 Assistant Director for Marketing Abuses of the days of its first meeting.