JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES

FUNDING TO COUNTER DOMESTIC TERRORISM

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Justice today announced that it is committing $10 million to develop new technologies to combat domestic terrorism. In appropriating these funds, Congress instructed the Justice Department's National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to fund projects that would develop new counter-terrorism technologies to help detect concealed weapons and explosives, track people and weapons, assess vulnerability and improve information and communication systems. NIJ will also establish standards for products in use to fight terrorism.

Currently, NIJ is funding projects that will enable the law enforcement community, including state or local authorities, to deal more effectively with acts of domestic terrorism. These projects include providing better security to public buildings, enhancing methods of locating and tracking individuals through walls, developing alternative ways of detecting and neutralizing explosive devices and establishing information technology to enable information to be shared securely between agencies.

Among NIJ's partners in developing counter-terrorism technologies are the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration and the NIJ-funded Office of Law Enforcement Standards at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the research arm of the Department of Justice, is the primary federal sponsor of criminal justice research and evaluations of programs to reduce crime. For general information about NIJ, the Internet address is [email protected].

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NIJ 97-052

After hours contact: James Phillips at 888/582-6753 (pager)