110 HR 638 IH: To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement U.S. House of Representatives 2007-01-23 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 638 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 23, 2007 Mr. Jindal introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to improve efforts to reduce gang activity and violent crime.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Violent Crime Reduction Act of 2007.

2.

Designation of and assistance for high-intensity interstate gang activity areas

Title XV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C 14061 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

150010.

Designation of and assistance for high-intensity interstate gang activity areas

(a)

Definitions

In this section the following definitions shall apply: (1)

Governor

The term Governor means a Governor or other chief executive officer of a State or the Mayor of the District of Columbia. (2)

High-intensity interstate gang activity area

The term high-intensity interstate gang activity area means a specified area within one or more States that is designated as a high-intensity interstate gang activity area under subsection (b)(1). (3)

State

The term State means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States. (b)

High-intensity Interstate Gang Activity Areas

(1)

Designation

The Attorney General, after consultation with the Governors of appropriate States, may designate as a high-intensity interstate gang activity area, any specified area that is located within 1 or more States, based on the criteria for designation under paragraph (4). (2)

Assistance

In order to provide Federal assistance to high-intensity interstate gang activity areas, the Attorney General shall— (A)establish a criminal street gang enforcement team in each high-intensity interstate gang activity area, consisting of Federal, State, and local law enforcement authorities, for the coordinated investigation, disruption, apprehension, and prosecution of criminal street gangs and offenders in such area; (B)direct the reassignment or detailing from any Federal department or agency (subject to the approval of the head of that department or agency, in the case of a department or agency other than the Department of Justice) of personnel to each criminal street gang enforcement team established under subparagraph (A); (C)provide all necessary funding for the operation of such criminal street gang enforcement teams in each high-intensity interstate gang activity area; and (D)provide all necessary funding for national and regional meetings of criminal street gang enforcement teams, and all other related organizations, as needed, to ensure effective operation of such teams through the sharing of intelligence, best practices, and for any other related purpose. (3)

Composition of criminal street gang enforcement teams

Each criminal street gang enforcement team established pursuant to paragraph (2)(A) shall consist of agents and officers, where feasible, from— (A)the Federal Bureau of Investigation; (B)the Drug Enforcement Administration; (C)the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; (D)the United States Marshals Service; (E)the Directorate of Border and Transportation Security of the Department of Homeland Security; (F)the Department of Housing and Urban Development; (G)State and local law enforcement; and (H)Federal, State, and local prosecutors. (4)

Criteria for designation

In considering an area for designation as a high-intensity interstate gang activity area under this section, the Attorney General shall consider— (A)the current and predicted levels of gang crime activity in the area; (B)the extent to which violent crime in the area appears to be related to criminal street gang activity, such as drug trafficking, murder, robbery, assault, carjacking, arson, kidnapping, extortion, and other criminal activity; (C)the extent to which State and local law enforcement agencies have committed resources to— (i)respond to the gang crime problem; and (ii)participate in a criminal street gang enforcement team; (D)the extent to which a significant increase in the allocation of Federal resources would enhance local response to the gang crime activities in the area; and (E)any other criteria that the Attorney General considers to be appropriate. (c)

Additional Assistant U.S. Attorneys

The Attorney General is authorized to hire not more than 94 additional Assistant United States attorneys to carry out the provisions of this section. Each attorney hired under this subsection shall be assigned to a high-intensity interstate gang activity area. (d)

Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.

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3.

Grants to State and local prosecutors to combat violent crime and to protect witnesses and victims of crimes

(a)

In General

Section 31702 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13862) is amended— (1)in paragraph (3), by striking and at the end; (2)in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and (3)by adding at the end the following: (5)to hire additional prosecutors to— (A)allow more cases to be prosecuted; and (B)reduce backlogs; (6)to fund technology, equipment, and training for prosecutors and law enforcement in order to increase accurate identification of gang members and violent offenders, and to maintain databases with such information to facilitate coordination among law enforcement and prosecutors; and (7)to fund technology, equipment, and training for prosecutors to increase the accurate identification and successful prosecution of young violent offenders. . (b)

Authorization of appropriations

Section 31707 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13867) is amended to read as follows:

31707.

Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subtitle $20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2012 .

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4.

Grants to State and local law enforcement to establish State-wide crime prevention databases

Subtitle I of title XXXII of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

320936.

Grants to State and local law enforcement to establish State-wide crime prevention databases

(a)

Authority to make grants

The Office of Justice Programs of the Department of Justice shall award grants, in accordance with such regulations as the Attorney General may prescribe, to State and local programs designed to establish a State-wide database to track criminals, arrests, prosecutions, and convictions. (b)

Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.

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