NCJ Number
79629
Date Published
1979
Length
108 pages
Annotation
Representatives from the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the General Accounting Office (GAO), the banking community, and local law enforcement agencies testified before a Senate committee in August 1978 regarding the proposed reduction in the FBI's forcible crimes against banking institutions program.
Abstract
These hearings opened with a statement from the residing chairman which traced the FBI's involvement in the investigation robberies of federally insured financial institutions and criticized their proposal to reduce these efforts by 22 percent in 1979. Because this change in Federal policy would force State and local governments to assume more responsibility for bank robbery investigations, the committee is reviewing its potential impact before deciding on the budget. Testimony covered the Department of Justice policy of encouraging the referral of appropriate bank robbery cases to State and local authorities for prosecution; review of Federal efforts to combat bank robberies, which resulted in the recommendation that these programs be substantially reduced, albeit in a gradual manner; and the banking communities' opposition to any reduced FBI involvement in the area of forcible crimes against banking institutions. The hearings concluded with statements from local law enforcement officials in Maryland who described their staffing limitations and opposed any FBI withdrawals from bank robbery cases. The GAO report on the Federal role in bank robbery investigations and prosecutions is appended.