| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | VAWO | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1998 | 202/307-0703 |
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FUNDS COMMUNITY INITIATIVES
TO TREAT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AS A CRIME
DOJ Also Releases New Stalking Report
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Justice Department today announced $53.8 million for 90 jurisdictions through the Violence Againt Women Act's Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies to help investigate and prosecute domestic violence as a serious crime. The Department also today released a report on the incidence of stalking and domestic violence and the effectiveness of state anti-stalking efforts and legislation.
"These funds will allow police departments to implement policies that mandate or encourage the arrest of batterers and enforce protection orders," said Attorney General Reno. "It will also provide for the education of judges and others about domestic violence, develop systems to track domestic violence cases and strengthen services for victims of domestic violence -- things that will help communities work together to let offenders know that domestic violence will not be tolerated."
The Office of Justice Programs' (OJP) Violence Against Women Grants Office (VAWGO) is awarding funds to 78 communities to continue projects begun with FY 1996 and FY 1997 dollars. Twelve new grantees will receive funding to implement practices that foster collaboration among law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges and victim advocates.
"This program is helping communities to advance a coordinated criminal justice system response to domestic violence, which improves the safety of women and their children and holds offenders accountable," said Laurie Robinson, Assistant Attorney General for OJP. "In many jurisdictions, from Massachusetts to Tennessee to Colorado Springs, teams made up of police officers, prosecutors and victim advocates are working together to arrest and prosecute batterers, enforce protection orders and ensure victims have access to services."
In Salem, Massachusetts, police officers are using arrest funds to identify offenders in the community with outstanding warrants. Shelby County, Tennessee's domestic violence court program, which involves a collaborative effort among the district attorney's office, pretrial services, victim advocates and law enforcement officers, will use the funds to handle domestic violence felony cases.
Grant recipients will also use their funds to combat stalking. Colorado Springs' Domestic Violence Emergency Response Team (DVERT), a multi-disciplinary team of patrol officers, prosecutors, victim advocates and human services case workers who respond to high-risk-for-fatality domestic violence cases, will implement new protocols for domestic violence cases involving stalking and sexual assault.
The DVERT program is described in more detail in the Department's new report, "Stalking and Domestic Violence: The Third Annual Report to Congress Under the Violence Against Women Act." The report includes information about sentencing and supervision strategies pursued by some jurisdictions and a state-by-state review of antistalking statutes.
"Overall, the report provides evidence that state antistalking laws are making a difference," said Bonnie Campbell, Director of the Violence Against Women Office. "Since enactment of these laws, the number of stalking cases reported to police has increased substantially."
The federal government also has successfully prosecuted several stalking cases under the federal anti-stalking statute passed by Congress in 1996. Some of these cases are discussed in the report. The report also includes information concerning existing or proposed state laws and penalties for stalking crimes against children, as directed by Congress this year.
Criminal justice officials interviewed for the report agree that the sentencing phase is the point at which the criminal justice system can place constraints on stalkers' behavior and that the sentencing of stalkers must center around victim safety and offender accountability. Supervision must be addressed at every stage in managing stalking cases: from arrest of the offender, to conviction and sentencing, to the person's release back into the community.
Attached is a list of the specific grant awards, identified as implementation or enhancement grants. To learn more about the arrest program and other violence against women efforts or to get a copy of the stalking report, visit the Violence Against Women Grants Office website at https://ojp.gov/VAWGO or OJP's website at https://ojp.gov, or call the National Criminal Justice Reference Service toll-free on 1/800-851-3420.
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VAW98204
After hours contact: Linda Mansour on 202/616-3534 or page on 888/582-6750
OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS
FY 1998 GRANTS TO ENCOURAGE ARREST POLICIES
NEW IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS
|
STATE |
GRANTEE |
AMOUNT |
| CONNECTICUT | City of Greenwich |
$370,126 |
| HAWAII | Hawaii Department of the Attorney General |
$64,000 |
| IDAHO | Idaho Department of Law Enforcement |
$49,514 |
| INDIANA | City of Indianapolis |
$518,998 |
| MICHIGAN | Washtenaw County |
$367,930 |
| NEW HAMPSHIRE | Strafford County Commissioners |
$622,751 |
| NEW MEXICO | City of Albuquerque |
$482,168 |
| Pueblo of Taos |
$156,596 | |
| NEW YORK | Borough of Brooklyn |
$862,091 |
| NORTH DAKOTA | City of Grand Forks |
$107,492 |
| OKLAHOMA | City of Tulsa |
$491,540 |
| WASHINGTON | City of Seattle |
$2,375,000 |
| SUBTOTAL |
$6,468,206 |
OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS
FY 1998 GRANTS TO ENCOURAGE ARREST POLICIES
ENHANCEMENT (CONTINUATION) GRANTS
|
STATE |
GRANTEE |
AMOUNT |
| ARIZONA | City of Eloy |
$385,632 |
| Hopi Tribe |
$302,580 | |
| Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community |
$50,000 | |
| White Mountain Apache Tribe |
$50,000 | |
| ARKANSAS | Arkansas Office of the Prosecutor Coordinator |
$371,969 |
| CALIFORNIA | Fresno County Sheriff's Office |
$300,000 |
| City of Los Angeles |
$750,000 | |
| Marin County |
$360,000 | |
| Merced County |
$486,197 | |
| Sacramento County |
$662,193 | |
| San Diego County |
$1,396,985 | |
| Santa Barbara County |
$276,675 | |
| Sonoma County |
$664,864 | |
| COLORADO | City of Colorado Springs |
$1,062,545 |
| Jefferson County |
$800,000 | |
| COLORADO | La Plata County |
$309,000 |
| Pueblo County |
$450,000 | |
| CONNECTICUT | Connecticut Office of Policy and Management |
$1,120,216 |
| DELAWARE | Town of Delmar |
$113,250 |
| DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA | District of Columbia Office of Grants Management and Development |
$750,000 |
| FLORIDA | Metro-Dade County |
$1,110,654 |
| GEORGIA | Cobb County |
$250,000 |
| ILLINOIS | City of Carbondale |
$516,544 |
| Champaign County |
$194,939 | |
| City of Chicago Heights |
$693,111 | |
| City of Chicago |
$808,508 | |
| Cook County Board of Commissioners |
$995,742 | |
| KENTUCKY | Jefferson County |
$1,859,337 |
| City of Louisville |
$913,047 | |
| Rockcastle Fiscal Court |
$164,105 | |
| LOUISIANA | City of New Orleans |
$750,199 |
| St. Tammany Parish |
$746,060 | |
| MAINE | Cumberland County |
$502,140 |
| MARYLAND | Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention |
$2,423,417 |
| City of Baltimore |
$470,753 | |
| MASSACHUSETTS | City of Brockton |
$425,000 |
| Town of Danvers |
$119,134 | |
| City of Salem |
$356,841 | |
| City of Waltham |
$215,472 | |
| MICHIGAN | Bay City |
$230,724 |
| City of Inkster |
$602,163 | |
| Kalamazoo County |
$478,775 | |
| MISSISSIPPI | City of Greenville |
$632,171 |
| MISSOURI | City of Independence |
$301,015 |
| MONTANA | City of Havre |
$182,086 |
| Northern Cheyenne Tribe, Inc. |
$50,000 | |
| NEBRASKA | City of Omaha |
$663,375 |
| NEW JERSEY | Passaic County |
$415,000 |
| NEW MEXICO | Santa Fe County |
$696,397 |
| NEW YORK | New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services |
$2,180,904 |
| New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services |
$492,979 | |
| NEW YORK | Clinton County |
$373,616 |
| Queens County Office of the Borough President |
$1,027,851 | |
| Village of Southampton |
$219,056 | |
| Tompkins County |
$529,483 | |
| Westchester County |
$868,266 | |
| NORTH CAROLINA | City of Durham | $868,323 |
| OHIO | City of Dayton | $948,627 |
| OKLAHOMA | Sac and Fox Nation |
$159,888 |
| Seminole County Commissioners |
$315,988 | |
| OREGON | Klamath County |
$606,407 |
| PENNSYLVANIA | Township of Bensalem |
$296,988 |
| Borough of State College |
$459,819 | |
| RHODE ISLAND | Rhode Island Governor's Justice Commission |
$777,901 |
| SOUTH DAKOTA | Rosebud Sioux Tribe |
$280,396 |
| TENNESSEE | City of Knoxville |
$350,000 |
| City of LaVergne |
$300,000 | |
| TENNESSEE | Shelby County Government |
$749,567 |
| TEXAS | Dallas County |
$1,333,951 |
| VERMONT | Vermont Center for Crime Victims |
$850,000 |
| VIRGINIA | City of Lynchburg |
$500,000 |
| WASHINGTON | City of Everett |
$443,907 |
| City of Longview |
$510,000 | |
| Puyallup Tribe of Indians |
$274,731 | |
| City of Spokane |
$1,495,351 | |
| WEST VIRGINIA | City of Charleston |
$377,977 |
| WISCONSIN | Dane County |
$753,126 |
| Milwaukee County | $575,000 | |
| SUBTOTAL | $47,348,917 | |
| TOTAL | $53,817,123 |