NCJ Number
177743
Date Published
September 1998
Length
50 pages
Annotation
This report presents the findings of a study of various issues concerning the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP's) High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program.
Abstract
The mission of the HIDTA program is to coordinate America's drug-control efforts among Federal, State, and local agencies in designated areas in order to reduce drug trafficking in critical regions of the United States. This study addressed how ONDCP is implementing the HIDTA program, the effect the expansion of the program has had on its administration, what ONDCP is doing to measure how HIDTA programs are meeting the objectives established for the areas they serve, how HIDTA funds are allocated, and lessons ONDCP says it has learned from the HIDTA program to date and how these lessons are communicated among HIDTAs. To explore these issues, GAO researchers visited the ONDCP headquarters of the HIDTA program; the South Florida, Washington/Baltimore, and Southwest Border HIDTAs; and the HIDTA Assistance Center. ONDCP has implemented the HIDTA program within a general framework that allows each HIDTA to tailor its own program and areas of emphasis to local needs. Headquarters' officials and the three HIDTA directors reported that the value of collocation and of intelligence-sharing among Federal, State, and local law enforcement officials are the key lessons learned from the HIDTA experience. ONDCP encourages communication of specific lessons learned among HIDTAs and has implemented a number of methods for disseminating information on these lessons learned. 2 tables, 4 figures, and appended characterization of HIDTAs and year designated