There’s a backlog of nearly 19,000 cases in the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program database that need to undergo quality control reviews. urbazon / Getty Images
FBI program to catch serial criminals is underfunded and understaffed, inspector general says
Despite a nearly 3,000% increase in cases submitted to the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program’s database, staffing and funding levels have remained “relatively flat.”
An FBI program that links violent crimes committed across the country to apprehend serial offenders is not “currently positioned for long-term success” because funding and staffing levels have not kept up with an increased workload, a new report says.
The Justice Department inspector general on Wednesday reported that the number of cases submitted into the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program’s database has increased by almost 3,000%, from 463 cases in fiscal 2018 to 13,750 cases in fiscal 2023.
The spikes can be largely attributed to state laws enacted by Texas and Georgia in 2019 and 2021, respectively, that mandate their law enforcement agencies to enter case data into the database, as well as a requirement in the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative grant program under the DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Assistance for grantees to submit case information into the database.
Despite this, the program’s staffing and funding levels have remained “relatively flat” since fiscal 2018 with an average of approximately 10 positions and $3 million in costs.
As of October 2023, there’s a backlog of nearly 19,000 cases in the database that need to undergo quality control reviews. Largely due to this workload, program officials in fiscal 2023 delayed or denied more than 40% of requests for investigative analysis relating to cases in the database.
“While increased case submissions by law enforcement agencies can help produce case linkages and assist with the apprehension of serial violent criminals, such increases would simultaneously accentuate many of ViCAP’s current challenges, including those relating to quality control reviews, investigative analysis, technological improvements and outreach and training,” investigators wrote.
The inspector general also found that the program’s automated case linkage tool, which provides computer-generated links among cases in the database, has not been significantly updated since 2010 and does not use advanced technology like machine learning.
And the office determined, as of October 2023, that only about 9% of U.S. law enforcement agencies were registered program users. Even though an agency might be registered, the inspector general found that many don’t enter a significant number of cases into the database, including the New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles police departments.
The inspector general recommended that the FBI develop a strategic plan for the program that considers anticipated short-term and long-term changes in demand as well as identify information technology improvements. FBI concurred with this and related recommendations in the report.