MEMORANDUM Date: May 27, 1994 To: Senator Dole From: Alec Vachon Re: Attached Letter/Request to AG to Collect Crime Victim Data on Disabled *Attached for your approval is a letter to the Attorney General requesting that the Justice Department's two key crime statistics programs, the National Crime Victim Survey and the Uniform Crime Reporting program, collect information on people with disabilities as crime victims. A one-page description of both programs is attached. *These two programs provide important victim information about other specific groups --the elderly, children, women, and ethnic minorities. See attached 1993 Justice Department report on crime victims. Yet nowhere is any data collected on another uniquely vulnerable group --individuals with disabilities. *This letter builds on your recent, groundbreaking work on crime against the disabled. In November, you sponsored an amendment to add people with disabilities to hate crime statistics reporting. And in the first floor statement ever to broadly address the problem of crime and abuse against the disabled, you noted this lack of information, and that fear-- fear of being hurt, fear of being a crime victim-- was ranked as the number one reason why people with disabilities do not socialize as much as other Americans-- whether going to the movies or visiting with family and friends. Architectural barriers rank only fifth among the reasons why people with disabilities don't go out more. A copy of your crime floor statement is also attached. *DO YOU WISH TO SIGN THIS LETTER (checked) YES NO DO YOU WANT ME TO CIRCULATE THIS LETTER TO OBTAIN COSIGNERS? (checked) YES NO [Date] The Honorable Janet F. Reno Attorney General United States Department of Justice Constitution Avenue & 10th Street Washington, D.C. 20530 Dear Madam Attorney General: We are writing to request the Justice Department include identification of whether crime victims are individuals with a disability in two programs that measure crime in the United States: the National Crime Victimization Survey and the Uniform Crime Reporting program. There are two reasons for our request. First, according to the Beureau of Justice Statistics, no data is currently collected about crime against people with disabilities. We believe they are a uniquely vulnerable population, and there is substantial anecdotal evidence that supports this view. Good, systematic data is essential to define the scope of this problem and to devise solutions, as it has with other special populations, such as women, the elderly, children, and minorities. Second, people with disabilities report fear of crime as a significant barrier to social participation. In a 1986 survey, Americans with disabilities ranked fear -- fear of being hurt, fear of being a crime victim -- as the number one reason for not engaging in social activities as often as other Americans -- whether going shopping, seeing a movie, or visiting with family and friends. Surprisingly, architectural barriers ranked only fifth among the reasons why they didn't go out more. Yet to date little attention has been paid to what people with disabilities say is their biggest barrier. We know you share with us a commitment to fulfilling our nation's goal of full participation by Americans with disabilities. Yet this goal will not be realized if people with disabilities are afraid to leave their homes. And if reliable data should show that this fear is unfounded or exaggerated, it could help allay such fears. We also believe the methodology is readily available to easily identify people with disabilities in these programs. The Honorable Janet F. Reno [Date] Page 2 If you or your staff have any questions, or if we can provide any assistance, please contact Dr. Alexander Vachon of Senator Dole's staff at (202) 224-8959. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, (Name) Bob Dole 202 307 1419 05/27/94 14:54 202 307 1419 OJP 001 (Department of Justice seal) Department of Justice The Nation's two crime measures The U.S. Department of Justice administers two statistical programs to measure the magnitude, nature, and impact of crime in the United States: the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program and the National Crime Survey (NCS). Because of differences in methodology and crime coverage, the results from the two programs are not strictly comparable nor consistent. By complementing each other's findings, the two programs enhance our understanding of the Nation's crime problem. Uniform Crime Reports Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, which began in 1929, collects information on the following crimes reported to law enforcement authorities: homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. The UCR data are compelled from monthly law enforcement reports made directly to the FBI or to centralized State agencies that then report to the FBI. Each report submitted to the UCR Program is examined thoroughly for reasonableness, accuracy, and deviations that may indicate errors. Large variations in crime levels may indicate modified records procedures, incomplete reporting, or changes in a jurisdiction's boundaries. To identify any unusual fluctuations in an agency's crime counts, monthly reports are compared with previous submissions of the agency and with those for similar agencies. Law enforcement agencies active in the UCR Program represent approximately 240 million United States inhabitants- 98% of the total U.S. population. The UCR Program provides crime counts for the Nation as a whole, as well as for regions, States, counties, cities, and towns. This permits studies among neighboring jurisdictions and among those with similar populations and other common characteristics. UCR findings for each calendar year are published initially in a preliminary release in the spring followed by a detailed annual report, Crime in the United States, issued in the summer following the calendar year. In addition to information on crime counts and trends, this report includes detailed data on crimes cleared, persons arrested (age, sex, race) for a wide range of crimes, law enforcement personnel (including the number of sworn officers killed or assaulted), and the characteristics of homicides (including age, sex, and race of victims, victim-offender relationships, weapon used, and circumstances surrounding the homicides). Other special reports are also available from the UCR Program. Following a 5-year redesign effort, the UCR Program is currently converting to a more comprehensive and detailed reporting system, called the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). NIBRS will provide detailed information about each criminal incident in 22 broad categories of offenses. National Crime Survey Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) The Bureau of Justice Statistics' National Crime Survey (NCS), which began in 1973, collects detailed information on the frequency and nature of the crimes of rape, personal robbery, aggravated and simple assault, household burglary, personal and household theft, and motor vehicle theft. It does not measure homicide or commercial crimes (such as burglaries of stores). Interviews are conducted by U.S. Census Bureau personnel with all household members at least 12 years old in a nationally representative sample of approximately 49,000 households (about 101,000 persons). Households stay in the same for 3 years and are interviewed at 6-month intervals. New households rotate into the sample on an ongoing basis. The NCS collects information on crimes suffered by individuals and households, whether or not those crimes were reported to law enforcement. It estimates the proportion of each crime type that was reported to law enforcement, and it details the reasons given by victims for reporting or not reporting. The survey provides information about victims (age, sex, race, ethnicity, marital status, income, and educational level), their offenders (sex, race, approximate age, and victim-offender relationship), and the crimes (time and place of occurence, use of weapons, nature of injury, and economic consequences). Questions recently added to the survey cover the experiences of victims with the criminal justice system, details on self-protective measures used by victims, and possible substance abuse by offenders. Periodically, supplements are added to the survey to obtain detailed information on special topics such as school crime. Findings from the NCS for each calendar year are published in a press release the following April (preliminary data), in a BJS Bulletin in the fall presenting summary final data, and in a detailed report the following June covering all NCS variables. Each year BJS staff develop Special and Technical Reports on specific crime topics. November 18, 1993 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE S16279 and cost-efficient construction, such as modules and other technologies. Again I thank the floor managers for accepting my amendment. COMMUNITY SCHOOLS YOUTH SERVICES AND SUPERVISION GRANT PROGRAM AND OLYMPIC YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTERS Mr. DANFORTH. Mr. President, I would like to say just a few words about the amendment offered by my friend and colleague Senator DOMENCI and I. This amendment builds on S. 1138, the Community Schools Act of 1993, introduced in June by myself and Senator BRADLEY with 20 cosponsors from both sides of the aisle. At the core of community schools was a basic concept-unsupervised children are more likely to get involved in dangerous and illegal activities. Increasingly, parents are unavailable for their children, especially at 3:00 on weekday afternoons. And this problem is especially acute in economically depressed, high crime neighborhoods. Children suffer and grow up to perpetuate the cycle. Sometimes, the absence of parents is a result of their own involvement in drugs or other illicit activities. Sometimes it is because they are struggling to make ends meet. But the issue is not why children are left alone, it is what we can do about it. The issue is: how can we help the children? Children need attention, they need a family. They need encouragement and challenges. If they are not getting these from their parents, they will join up with groups of other kids. Unsupervised, and with only television as an influence, living in a world of drugs, sex, and guns, these groups have become what we all refer to as gangs. Drug dealers capitalize on the disenfranchisement of these kids and use them as pawns. This is how the cycle of drugs and violence is perpetuated. In this crime bill, we are committing over $20 billion to control violent crime. The vast majority is going to police, prisons and rehabilitation programs of various types. I support these measures. We desperately need more police, more prison capacity, and creative programs to deal with offenders and victims. But until we also address root causes as well, we are doomed to repeating the cycle. That is why this amendment is so vital. Prevention must be the centerpiece of any crime package. Police and prisons and alternative sentencing programs all treat symptoms. They are all initiatives directed at people who have crossed the line into criminal activity. This amendment treats the disease. It treats the disease of disenfranchisement and disconnection. And it goes farther. The first generation of children who are given safe, supervised lives will carry inside them the antibody and will transmit it to their own children. This approach carries the hope of actually breaking the cycle. We are committing ourselves to spending billions on prison costing $100,000 for each cell. The cost of keeping a prisoner is $30,000 a year. Let us spend $500 million out of a multi-billion dollar package- just 2 or 3 percent of the package cost- to help kids stay out of trouble. And let us capitalize on existing assets. Public schools are open roughly 7 hours a day, 170 to 180 days a year. Put another way, a quarter of a trillion dollars worth of public school buildings, classrooms, gyms, swimming pools, libraries and other facilities, are locked up and their owners- the communities- kept out, 85 percent of the time. Communities are clamoring for a place to nurture and protect their children and are ready to devote their own time and efforts. With grants provided under this amendment, the communities themselves will be able to keep their public school facilities open after 3:00 and all year round. This is not a new idea. Hundreds of communities have implemented before-and after-school programs with a host of educational and recreational activities. Last year in Missouri alone, 675 public school buildings were kept open for community use after school hours and over 6,000 volunteers contributed almost 100,000 volunteer hours. However, according to a study by the Carnegie Corporation's Task Force on Youth Development and Community Programs, nationally, those who need it most- kids in poverty- do not have such programs. There are exceptions and some, like St. Louis' Walbridge Caring Communities Program and Independence's Schools of the 21st Century Program, have shown how much impact a safe haven for at-risk children can have on a community. That is why the Community Schools Act of 1993 targets distressed areas. This amendment does not tell communities how to reach their children. It does not set up a vast bureaucracy. It does not turn the government into a substitute parent. But it communities come together with a proposal we can now help them save their own children. I want to than Senator DOMENICI for his energy and commitment to working together with me and Senator BRADLEY on this project. I listened to Senator DODD on the floor today, and he has been a leader on this issue. In face, we have incorporated his Ounce of Prevention Council into our amendment. I am certain that with his help and that of the rest of our coalition, including numerous and respected advocates for children, we will see this amendment survive intact through the conference committee. This is an important fight, and if the final version of the crime bill contains provisions such as this amendment, I will have renewed confidence that Congress is truly trying to treat the terrible plague of violent crime in this country. Mr. BIDEN. I thank the Chair. Mr. DOLE. Have the amendments been agreed to? The PRESIDING OFFICER. Yes. Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the amendments were agreed to. Mr. DOLE. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. CRIME AND ABUSE AGAINST PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, despite all that has been said about the crime bill, at least one very important thing remains unsaid. For perhaps the first time people with disabilities have been explicitly included in a crime bill. I sponsored an amendment to collect statistics on hate crimes against the disabled, such as arson of group homes for people with mental retardation. Another provision stiffens penalties for such crimes. I was also pleased to join with Senators COHEN and HATCH to provide for criminal background checks on persons providing home care and personal assistance services. For many disabled persons, daily personal assistance is essential to independent living. That assistance should not be an invitation to exploitation. It is not only these targeted provisions that are important to people with disabilities, but others concerning child abuse and sexual violence. We know too well that all Americans are vulnerable to crime, but people with disabilities are at special risk. For example, children with disabilities are almost twice as likely to be abused as other children, and disabled people are more than one and a half times likely to be victims of sexual violence. I cannot tell you the extent of other crimes against the disabled because no one collects that information-but we should assume it is high. However, I do know that in a 1986 Louis Harris Survey of Disabled Americans, fear-fear of being hurt, fear of being a crime victim-was ranked as the No. 1 reason why they did not engage in social activities as often as other Americanswhether going to the movies or visiting with friends. Although the Congress has done much over the past 25 years to remove architectural barriers, people with disabilities rank these barriers only fifth among the reasons why they don't go out more. Yet, until now, almost no one has paid attention to what people with disabilities say is their biggest barrier. Mr. President, 3 years ago we enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act, determined to pursue a national policy of full participation of people with disabilities in American society. But that policy will remain hollow if people with disabilities are afraid to leave their homes, or afraid of their personal assistants. No doubt about it, this crime bill makes an important start in overcoming the barriers of fear faced by people with disabilities-if only because we can't begin to fix a problem until we recognize one exists. But this crime bill is only a start. We need to know much more about the risks of vi- S16280 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE November 18, 1993 olence and abuse faced by the disabled, and we need good ideas for other solutions, particularly at the State and local level. FEDERAL ANTIGANG STATUTE Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, last week, the Senate adopted an amendment that would make it a Federal crime to participate in, or include others to participate in, a criminal street gang. I want to take a moment to recognize my distinguished colleague from Colorado, Senator HANK BROWN, who was instrumental in drafting this historic legislation and in ensuring its adoption by the Senate. We all owe Senator BROWN & debt of gratitude for his work in helping make our neighborhoods safer from criminal street gang activity. Mr. RIEGLE. The crime bill currently before the Senate contains dozens of provisions aimed at making our communities safer. Some of these provisions will be more effective than others. But our most important goal here should be to send increased Federal assistance directly to those communities facing the most serious crime problems. And some of those communities are scattered far beyond the city limits. We know that crime has grown exponentially all across our Nation-in southern towns, rural midwestern farmlands, and small New England villages. Every Senator here has heard horror stories from their own home State, has met with constituents who live in fear every day, and has made promises to police officers to pass a crime bill which will tangibly Improve our communities and our quality of life. And what kind of quality of life do we have right now across America? We have cases like one involving the 14year old in Detroit who unflinchingly murdered Elizabeth Alvarez, a pregnant mother, at a bank teller machine in broad daylight-he bragged about shooting her in the head to his friends. Or the case of Jon Gamble, a young Michigan teen who was shot dead after he accidentally brushed against the wrong person in a restaurant doorway. Or the four teenagers who confessed to killing and dismembering two young friends at the instruction of three adults. Or the latest case, just 2 weeks ago, of the young Ann Arbor woman who was kidnapped at gunpoint from her boyfriend's car, tied up, stuffed Into the assailant's car trunk, taken to a remote area and repeatedly raped and beaten, and then thrown off a bridge into a river-and this woman actually survived. We must draw on the anger that we feel when hearing about crimes like these, and use that energy in moving this crime bill forward through conference, in joining together to end this insanity, to end this violence, and to break the cycle of crime in this country. Today, we have the opportunity to pass crime legislation that will effectively fight crime, and nothing does that better than increasing funding for local community crime control efforts. Right now, State and local law enforcement agencies are struggling to stop the avalanche of crime that is falling upon them. Communities with high violent crime rates often have the most underfunded schools and health facilities. Those areas are also the ones with the most limited tax bases from which to meet their pressing crime control needs. Oftentimes the most painful choice these cities face is allocating limited funding to education on the one hand, and to law enforcement on the other. We must lend a helping hand to these areas, and I believe that the funding in this crime bill is a critical first-step toward that goal. And violent crime does not stop at the city limits-suburban areas, small cities and towns have certainly not been spared the ravages of violent crime. Drug dealers are moving their operations to suburbs and rural areas to avoid big-city police departments. These areas often employ only a handful of law enforcement officers, and are particularly vulnerable to the criminal element. This bill will put thousands of police officers on the beat in cities, suburbs, and rural areas alike. Many parts of this crime package bill have been contentious, both here and in our home States, and certainly each of us had our own wish list of things we would have liked included or excluded from this bill. But I am hopeful that the final result will take major steps to make our communities safer places to live for everyone. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will read the bill for the third time. The bill (S. 1607) was read for the third time.