Law Enforcement Assistance Administration

IDENTIFICATION: Federal agency created to assist local law-enforcement bodies to combat civil unrest

SIGNIFICANCE: This short-lived federal agency was given responsibility for developing state and local law-enforcement agencies’ riot control capabilities following massive urban riots during the mid-1960’s, but the infusions of federal dollars were principally used for police equipment rather than broader programs to reduce violence.

The Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) was created by Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. In response to a series of studies of urban violence in the 1960s and a growing fear of riots in more cities, the agency was established to provide federal funds and technical assistance to state and local law-enforcement agencies. Its mandates were to encourage state and local officials to adopt comprehensive plans to deal with the specific kinds of urban violence they might encounter and to build local capacities to respond effectively to the violence. In support of that activity, LEAA provided block grants to state and local law-enforcement agencies and undertook research on how to reduce the levels of violence and to improve the effectiveness of law-enforcement efforts. The clear priority in the grant program was to expand state and local capabilities in riot control, although relatively small amounts were also allocated to improve police-community relations and other programs to reduce racial conflict in some cities.

LEAA became a symbol of the “law and order” orientation of the federal government during the late 1960s and, later, of the ineffectiveness of that approach in reducing violence. Over the life of the agency, $5 billion was provided to state and local governments to respond to the threat of riots. The block-grant funding permitted local authorities to spend the money where they believed it was most needed, within the broad guidelines of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act. Most of the money was spent to improve policing capabilities rather than to address the causes of the violence or to reduce the level of tension between police and communities. In fact, so many local governments invested their LEAA grant money in police cars that the program was sometimes referred to as federal funding for “car buying.” Money was also spent on communications equipment and weaponry for special weapons and tactics (SWAT) teams.

For the most part, the expenditures did little to reduce tension and violence. Subsequent studies of civil disorders even indicated that police officers themselves tended to increase the levels of tension and often caused outbreaks of violence because of their poor training and insensitivity to community concerns. During the 1970s, studies by the Office of Management and Budget and other agencies severely criticized LEAA for not addressing the root causes of urban violence or improving relationships between police and other city officials and African American communities. The agency was eliminated in 1982.

Bibliography

Button, James W. Black Violence: Political Impact of the 1960’ Riots. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1978.

Connery, Robert, ed. Urban Riots. New York: Vintage Books, 1969.

Higham, Robin, ed. Bayonets in the Streets: The Use of Troops in Civil Disturbances. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1969.

McKee, Adam J. "Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) Definition." Doc's CJ Glossary, 29 May 2023, docmckee.com/cj/docs-criminal-justice-glossary/law-enforcement-assistance-administration/. Accessed 10 July 2024.

Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders. New York: Bantam Books, 1968.