City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: MARCH 18, 2015
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, ACTING CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration of a Grant Application to the United States Department of Justice for $362,561 to Fund a Strategic Prosecution Initiative in Alexandria.
BODY
ISSUE: Consideration of a grant application to the Department of Justice for the purpose of funding a Strategic Prosecution Initiative in Alexandria that studies the incorporation of evidence-based and data driven decision making into criminal prosecution.
RECOMMENDATION: That the City Council:
1. Approve the submission of the $362,561 grant application due March 26, 2015 for the funding of a Strategic Prosecution Initiative in Alexandria; and
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute the necessary documents that may be required.
BACKGROUND: The U.S. Department of Justice is soliciting proposals for initiatives that seek to apply data-driven, evidence-based practices to the field of criminal prosecution. Broadly speaking this is defined as prosecution programs and practices whose effectiveness has been demonstrated by causal evidence through one or more outcome evaluations. This evidence documents a relationship between an activity or intervention strategy and the intended outcome. Grants are being made by the U.S. Department of Justice of up to $425,000 that would cover a 24-month period, beginning in October of 2015. Applicants must be paired with a research partner who has the capacity to statistically assess the initiative's success. The Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney proposes requesting $362,561 to a fund this 24-month initiative which would pay for a Senior Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney to serve as a Strategic Response Prosecutor, whose activities would parallel and work in coordination with the Alexandria Police Department's Strategic Response System. T...
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