NCJ Number
74864
Date Published
1977
Length
21 pages
Annotation
The Victim/Witness Assistance Project (V/WAP) of Kings County, New York, is described in this operations report; activities for the period January 1, 1977, through March 31, 1977, are emphasized.
Abstract
V/WAP was established in July 1975 to aid crime victims and to manage appearances of witnesses for the King's County District Attorney's Office. The project is funded by LEAA, with matching funds provided by New York City. The project offers a number of services designed to mitigate difficulties encountered as a result of being victimized or coming to court. These include a crime victim hotline, emergency repair service for burglarly victims, transportation services, a witness reception center for persons awaiting court appearances, day care for children of witnesses, and a services counselor for persons with social service needs. In addition, the V/WAP notification unit works in conjunction with the district attorney's office to regulate the appearances of police and civilian prosecution witnesses; a standby telephone alert system is featured. In accordance with its third year grant, V/WAP will begin a major experiment to test the viability of mediation/arbitration as an alternative to criminal prosecution for selected cases. The experiment is currently in the planning phase. In addition, changes have been effected in data display formats for reports. During the first quarter of 1977, V/WAP processed 15,409 witness appearances, substantially the same number processed during the comparable 1976 period. Of those witnesses processed, 13 percent were placed on alert, 14 percent were excused, and 73 percent were required to appear. V/WAP's notifications unit recently instituted a new procedure to facilitate advising police officers of their court dates. A total of 4,324 officers were placed on alert during the past quarter. V/WAP anticipates that the reorganization of its courthouse operations will facilitate additional recruitment and placement of volunteers. Seven figures and one table are included.