NCJ Number
194628
Date Published
2002
Length
76 pages
Annotation
This report details the results of 28 STOP Teams throughout West Virginia, and the progress the teams made toward their goals to better protect victims and hold perpetrators accountable for acts of violence against women.
Abstract
The data is for Project Year 1999 (July 1, 2000-June 30, 2001). Twenty-three of the 28 STOP teams assisted 5,445 people during this period. This program is a part of the Department of Justice Violence Against Women Act of 1994. Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 was designed to increase communication and collaboration among departments that handle violent crimes against women: law enforcement, prosecutors, and victim service providers. Over $1.2 million dollars were allocated for this program and awarded based on grant proposals submitted by each county. About $80,000 of the $1.2 million was used for statewide initiatives. Each STOP Team was comprised of, at a minimum, a prosecutor, local or county law enforcement officer, and a local domestic violence provider. An integral part of the program promotes interagency cooperation and protocols have been established to lessen the likelihood of victims slipping through the cracks. This grant allows the STOP Team to work with the local perpetrator intervention programs, which increases the possibility that the perpetrator will have to answer for their crime. Each county, based on the their needs, develops goals and objectives. In this first year, an evaluator met with each STOP Team to assist them in refining their goals and objectives, which in turn would achieve a measurable outcome. Future grants will specifically address how the goals and objectives increase rates of prosecution, arrest rates, and services to victims. Barriers to success were also noted for future grants. Tables, graphs, appendix