United States Federal Witness Protection Program

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The United States Federal Witness Protection Program is a witness protection program administered by the United States Department of Justice to protect threatened witnesses, before, during and after a trial.

Witness protection is usually required in trials against organized crime, where law enforcement sees a risk for witnesses to be intimidated by colleagues of defendants.

Many states, including California, Illinois, and New York, have their own witness protection programs for crimes not covered by the federal program. The state-run programs provide less extensive protections than the federal program.[1][2]

For more information on other witness protection programs, see Witness protection.

Contents

[edit] History

In the United States, the Witness Protection Program (also known as the Witness Security Program, or WitSec) was established under Title V of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, which in turn sets out the manner in which the U.S. Attorney General may provide for the relocation and protection of a witness or potential witness of the federal government, or for a state government in an official proceeding concerning organized crime or other serious offenses. See 18 U.S.C.A 3521 et. seq.

The Federal Government also gives grants to the states to enable them to provide similar services. The federal program is called WITSEC (the Federal Witness Protection Program) and was founded in the late 1960s by Gerald Shur when he was in the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the United States Department of Justice. Most witnesses are protected by the U.S. Marshals Service, while protection of incarcerated witnesses is the duty of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

[edit] Procedures

Normally, the witness is provided with a new name and location. Witnesses are encouraged to keep their first names and choose last names with the same initial.[3] The U.S. Marshals Service provides new documentation, assists in finding housing and employment and provides a stipend until the witness gets on his or her feet, but the stipend can be discontinued if the U.S. Marshals Service feels that the witness is not making an aggressive effort to find a job. [3] Witnesses are not to travel back to their hometowns or contact unprotected family members or former associates. Around 17 percent of protected witnesses who have committed a crime will commit another crime, compared to the almost 40 percent of parolees who return to crime.[3] This has led to action by Congressional committees requiring WITSEC and other witness protection programs to notify local officials of a witness' transfer before relocating them.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ California Witness Protection Program - California Bureau of Investigation - California Dept. of Justice - Office of the Attorney General
  2. ^ 'LIE OR DIE' - Aftermath of a Murder; Justice, Safety and the System: A Witness Is Slain in Brooklyn - New York Times
  3. ^ a b c Howstuffworks "How Witness Protection Works"
  4. ^ Puerto Rico Is Exporting Many Drug-Case Witnesses to Florida - New York Times

[edit] Further reading

  • WITSEC: Inside the Federal Witness Protection Program, Pete Earley and Gerald Shur, Bantam Books, Hardcover February 2002, ISBN 0-553-80145-7, Paperback April 2003, ISBN 0-553-58243-7
  • Gregg and Gina Hill, On the Run: A Mafia Childhood, Warner Books, October 14, 2004, hardcover, 256 pages, ISBN 0-446-52770-X
  • Betrayed: Outlaw Bikers, Rogue US Marshals, a Failed Witness Protection Program, and Jane Doe, Who Survived It All, by Marcia Mitchell.
  • The Breeding of Contempt: Account of the Largest Mass Murder in Washington, D.C. history, by John W. King, Xlibris Publishing 2003, ISBN 9781401079031

[edit] External links

[edit] See also