SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS Senator PASTORE. We will recess now until 2 o'clock. [Whereupon, at 11:45 a.m., the subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene at 2 p.m., the same day.] [AFTERNOON SESSION, 2:10 O'CLOCK, TUESDAY, MAY 18, 1976] DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE LAW ENFORCEMENT ASSISTANCE ADMINISTRATION NONDEPARTMENTAL WITNESSES Senator PASTORE. Now we have a number of public witnesses who want to testify on the LEAA. We have Mr. Travisono, Mr. Lawrence Walsh, Mr. Ferris Lukas, Ralph Tabor, Richard N. Harris, Father T. Byron Collins, and Father William George. I would hope if you have long statements, inasmuch as we have gone into this matter in quite some detail, that you will submit them for the record and then just give us a recapitulation of the highlights of your statement. Mr. Travisono first. STATEMENT OF ANTHONY P. TRAVISONO, AMERICAN COR RECTIONAL ASSOCIATION (FORMERLY RHODE ISLAND DE- ACCOMPANIED BY OLIVER J. KELLER, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN PREPARED STATEMENT Mr. TRAVISONO. Thank you, Senator Pastore. We do have a prepared statement which we have submitted for the record. [The statement follows:] (329) Senator John O. Pastore, Members of the Senate Subcommittee on State, Justice, Commerce, the Judiciary, ladies and gentlemen: It is my honor and privilege to have this opportunity to appear before you today, and to present, on behalf of the American Correctional Association, testimony regarding the efforts and continuation of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration. deliberations. I hope this testimony will assist you in your The American Correctional Association represents approximately 10,000 correctional professionals throughout the United States and Canada, and 38 affiliate professional and geographic organizations. The sole function of ACA is the improvement of correctional policy, programs, and practices. For both the protection of the public and the restoration of the offender to the community as a productive and lawabiding citizen, modern-day correctional experts advocate the development of a balanced correctional approach, consisting of both institutional and community programming. Because of the complexity of human behavior, and the often deep-seated and longterm nature of individual criminal patterns, these goals are far more easily stated than achieved. The American Correctional Association advocates the con finement for those individuals who commit violent crimes and who, in the interest of public safety, must be separated from the general public. Property-crime and other non-violent offenders can most often be diverted from costly confinement through the use of community-based programs. Probation, parole, halfway houses, and other supervised community programs, such as work-release, group homes, crisis centers, and self-help programs are both cost-effective and demonstrably more helpful than confinement in the re-direction of criminal careers to productive employment and law-abiding careers. In order to attain this type of balance within and throughout the correctional systems of the Country, every element of the broader criminal justice system must be carefully coordinated and orchestrated. Standards for joint planning, coordination of activities, and evaluation of results must be encouraged and implemented at every level of the criminal justice system. Continuous research and demonstration programs are equally important as a basis for future and more effective policy and practice. All of this requires leadership on a national basis. And the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration has been providing this leadership in an increasingly effective manner. The battles in the "war on crime" are being fought and will be won. They will be won through the resolve and hard work of local governments, and with the continuation of strong and effective support, encouragement, and assistance from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration. LEAA's 1975 annual budget of 888 million dollars represents more than a substantial growth in financial support from the 1969 budget of 63 million dollars. During this same period of time, serious crime in the United States has not only increased substantially it has increased in spite of our efforts, and at an entirely unacceptable pace. This contradiction between the growth of crime and the resources that have been made available to combat it must be considered in light of the following: 1. One has to wonder what kind of crime rate this Country would now have if, over the past five 2. years, we had not committed major resources to the police, to the courts, and, in a less signifi cant manner, to the correctional systems at each It is common knowledge that more than half of our and, of course, the decreasing capacity of governmental units to manage their criminal justice systems. 3. It is interesting to note, too, that we have had real difficulty in this Country in reporting crime accurately. Recent studies, in many instances supported by LEAA, have shown that in some communities as much as 50% of the actual crime experienced has not been reported accurately (or in some cases, at all) to law enforcement agencies. LEAA's studies of unreported crime and the victims of crime have, of course, led to both more and more accurate re- 1 porting of crime. Thus, in a sense, LEAA's work has lead directly to a major criticism of its activities. |