NCJ Number
74877
Date Published
1976
Length
29 pages
Annotation
Activities of the Victim/Witness Assistance Project (V/WAP) of King's County, N.Y., from April 1, 1976 through June 30, 1976 are discussed in this operations report.
Abstract
The V/WAP was established in July 1975 to aid crime victims and to manage court appearances of witnesses for the county's district attorney's office. V/WAP is administered by the Vera Institute of Justice in cooperation with the district attorney's office, the courts, and the police department. The project is funded by LEAA and the City of New York. V/WAP offers a number of services to crime victims that are designed to mitigate difficulties encountered as a result of being victimized or appearing in court. Services include a crime victim hotline, emergency repair service for burglary victims, transportation to court, a witness reception center, day care for witnesses' children, and a services counselor. During the report period, V/WAP interviewed 6,363 police officers and 2,069 civilian victims and witnesses in the complaint room. There were an additional 3,222 interviews with arresting officers to obtain information on civilian witnesses who were not present. One of the project's primary objectives is to increase court efficiency by reducing the number of adjournments required to dispose of a case and reducing the number of cases dismissed due to lack of effective prosecution. Project efforts resulted in a decrease in the dismissal rate from 11 percent to 7 percent during this period. With regard to project services, the reception center assisted an average of 540 people per month. Half of these people were awaiting a postarraignment appearance, and 18 percent were victims. The remaining individuals were either visitors accompanying witnesses or people coming for counseling after case completion. A table, charts, and graphs are included.