Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
42 Appendix B MITRE CORPORATION EVALUATION OF IMPACT CITIES The d r a f t f i n a l r e p o r t of the M i t r e evaluation discusses the p o l i t i c a l dimensions of Impact C i t i e s i n the f o l l o w i n g way: Among the p o l i t i c a l requirements imposed upon the program from i t s i n c e p t i o n were: ⢠a h i g h l y emphasized a c t i o n focus; ⢠q u a n t i f i e d o b j e c t i v e s f o r the program (the 5 percent and 20 percent reduction f i g u r e s ) t h a t were n e i t h e r based upon any e m p i r i c a l evidence t h a t they could be a t t a i n e d , nor even o p e r a t i o n a l l y defined; ⢠a c i t y s e l e c t i o n process based upon u n c l e a r l y s p e c i f i e d c r i t e r i a ; o use of the New F e d e r a l i s t philosophy t h a t had become a p o l i t i c a l r e q u i s i t e f o r LEAA programs; and o a three-way partnership among f e d e r a l , s t a t e , and c i t y a u t h o r i t i e s without any very clear s p e c i f i c a t i o n and d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n of the r o l e s and funct i o n s of each. The a c t i o n focus and q u a n t i f i e d o b j e c t i v e s were p o l i t i c a l , as opposed to research-based, because the program was openly an attempt t o demonstrate effectiveness i n crime-reduction t o the American p u b l i c . One reason the c r i t e r i a f o r c i t y s e l e c t i o n were u n c l e a r l y s p e c i f i e d was t h a t the c i t i e s were chosen on p o l i t i c a l grounds by a decision made w i t h i n the Nixon Adminis- t r a t i o n . The New F e d e r a l i s t p o l i c y i s f u r t h e r commented on i n the M i t r e
43 r e p o r t as f o l l o w s : The New F e d e r a l i s t approach s i g n i f i e d , i n Impact, t h a t c i t i e s (having determined t h e i r own p r i o r i t i e s based on t h e i r analyses, and chosen t h e i r p r o j e c t s ) would also have c o l l e c t e d t h a t data they saw f i t t o collect...New Federalism meant...that no mandatory e v a l u a t i o n standards had been established f o r the s t a t e s , t h a t no requirements e x i s t e d f o r comparable and uniform data across the s t a t e s , and t h a t no r o u t i n e f e d e r a l monitoring of the adequacy of st a t e planning and assistance f u n c t i o n s had been i n s t i t u t e d . Thus, New Federalism had not only precluded p r e s c r i p t i o n s t o the c i t i e s about e v a l u a t i o n designs (Impact c i t i e s were being allowed t o conduct t h e i r own evaluations and no par- t i c u l a r design s p e c i f i c a t i o n s , no c o n t r o l groups had been mandated), but even the leverage t o insure t h a t some data were being c o l l e c t e d , and t h a t some SFAs were checking on t h a t data c o l l e c t i o n , was also missing. The three-way partnership was described i n t h i s way: The program would be administered w i t h i n the s t r u c t u r e established f o r LEAA block grant programs w i t h the f e d e r a l r e g i o n a l o f f i c e s (ROs), the s t a t e planning agencies (SPAs), and the l o c a l governments a l l p l a y i n g a r o l e i n the IMPACT eff o r t . . . T h e LEAA Regional O f f i c e s (ROs) would r e t a i n f i n a l approval a u t h o r i t y f o r Impact plans, a c t i o n p r o j e c t s , and evaluat i o n components. At LEAA i n Washington, the N a t i o n a l Impact Program Coordinator, the N a t i o n a l I n s t i t u t e f o r Law Enforcement and Criminal J u s t i c e , a P o l i c y Decision Group (made up of three high-ranking LEAA o f f i c i a l s ) and the Na- t i o n a l C r i m i n a l J u s t i c e Information and S t a t i s t i c s Service would monitor the development and progress of the program.
