Mr. GREEN. Mr. Scott?

Mr. SCOTT. Mr. McNamara, I was interested in your comments about crime being a social problem and the police effort being limited. Certainly, we would all agree that we'd want to eliminate social injustices. I was somewhat surprised to have a police officer say that crimes cannot be prevented. Do you want to elaborate on that?

Mr. MCNAMARA. I think that I indicated it cannot be prevented by the police. That's the context of the statement. It's very difficult to prevent crimes that happen in houses, for example, between husband and wife. Most of our assaults and robberies take place inside of buildings. This is what I am referring to.

Mr. Scorr. Crimes against the person; that would include rape and stealing purses and all kinds of murders.

Mr. MCNAMARA. Stealing purses is a different thing. That usually happens out on the streets. Preventive patrol can prevent that, but most of the crimes against the person, such as rape, murder, burglary, and robbery, take place inside of a building where preventive patrol can do very little about it. What I'm trying to indicate is that crime is a product of the social environment, primarily.

Mr. SCOTT. Well, I could argue this for some time with you. It seems to me it's a question of discipline of the individual as well, as there are some people, you know, who are poor, but honest.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Nix. I merely want to thank Mr. McNamara and compliment him on a very forthright statement. I think, due to the limited time, that I have to ask that the staff furnish the committee for its study a description of the California system. Can that be done, Mr. Chairman?

Mr. GREEN. Yes. If Mr. Beattie is willing, certainly the subcommittee would be happy to receive it.

Mr. Waldie?

Mr. WALDIE. Just one question.

Commissioner, I gather that under the present system of reporting it's totally up to the chiefs whether they will report and what they will report. There are no standards?

Mr. MCNAMARA. No; that's not so.

Mr. WALDIE. I misunderstood you.

Mr. MCNAMARA. There are uniform crime standards. This is what the FBI does to guarantee the integrity of the statistics, and to guarantee that there is uniform crime reporting.

Mr. WALDIE. But you voluntarily participate in reporting; is that correct?

Mr. MONAMARA. Well, I say it's a voluntary thing. I wouldn't want to be a major city chief of police who didn't, because the press and public would say, "He's hiding his crime figures."

Mr. WALDIE. Would you have any objections to a law which compelled this reporting on the part of the chiefs?

Mr. MCNAMARA. There are laws in our State now that compel us to report them on the State level. I wouldn't-no, absolutely no. I don't think you can effectively hide crime statistics even if you tried, and if you did I don't think you would be the police administrator very long because we have a very probing press.

Mr. WALDIE. Would you have any objections to a representative, for example, of a State crime statistics collection agency or of the Federal crime statistics collection center having the right to go in and examine your files to determine that the statistics you provided are accurate?

Mr. MCNAMARA. I would not object to it-if I once subscribed to a certain reporting system-being audited from outside.

Mr. WALDIE. That's all the questions I have.

Mr. GREEN. Commissioner, thank you very much. We appreciate your coming here today and I regret that we didn't have more time available for questioning.

I would like to apologize to Dr. Bahmer, the Archivist of the U.S. National Archives and Records Service of the General Services Administration, who was also scheduled to testify today. I understand, Dr. Bahmer, that you have a prepared statement.

Dr. BAHMER. Yes.

Mr. GREEN. We would be pleased to accept your statement for the record, but because it's almost noon we will be unable to discuss it with you. I regret this, particularly, because I understand you are retiring tomorrow. You have my very best wishes and the wishes of the committee and my sincere apologies for having brought you here without having been able to give you an opportunity to be questioned. Dr. BAHMER. It's been a very interesting morning.

Mr. GREEN. May I again say that we would be delighted to have your statement, and that you have our best wishes for your retirement. (The prepared statement follows:)

STATEMENT OF ROBERT H. BAHMER, ARCHIVIST OF THE UNITED STATES

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee. I am Robert H. Bahmer, Archivist of the United States, National Archives and Records Service of the General Services Administration. I have with me Chester L. Guthrie, Acting Assistant Archivist, Office of Records Management; and Murray A. Haber, Director, Technical Assistance Division, Office of Records Management. We wish to thank you for the opportunity of appearing before your subcommittee today in behalf of the Administrator of General Services, Lawson B. Knott, for the purpose of discussing with you some aspects of our experience working with agencies of the District of Columbia government and with their management staff officers in relation to the paperwork practices of correctional and welfare activities, including their use for statistical purposes.

In order to discuss this subject in the briefest space possible, I propose to make a few general comments to lay a background for the studies, give a few examples and draw some conclusions.

As you know, Mr. Chairman, the District of Columbia occupies a unique position in government. By the very nature of its organization it may react like a State, a city, a county, or almost any other governmental entity. Furthermore, the District is confined wihin a very limited geographical area. It is, therefore, an unusually fruitful area in which to make the type of studies we are discussing today. For example, the relationships of criminal justice data and welfare rehabilitation data can be made available, compatible, and comparable. Thus an ideal area is found for making total systems studies of a type which will provide better bases for more effective and complete information and statistics as well as providing safeguards against misuse of information about individuals.

In the District, however, relationships such as those just mentioned have not been heretofore systematically utilized. Each of the departments generally maintained its own records with little interchange among departments.

About 3 years ago, the then Board of Commissioners at the urging of their management office, approached the National Archives and Records Service to work with the elements of the District government to achieve simplifications.

Need for information to top management had underlined in the minds of the management analysis staff and the Commissioners a need for more intergrated systems and for better information and statistics.

Work was begun with the Department of Public Welfare, Department of Public Health, and the Juvenile Courts. Also, procedures which would relate data covering all aspects of youth activities were included in the study plans. The system which we are developing, parts of which are already being installed, has as its heart a "total record" which can itself travel through the paperwork pipelines picking up information as it serves its purpose, and generating byproduct reporting data as it becomes necessary or appropriate. Thus, for example, when a minor is picked up, taken to the Receiving Home, tried in the Juvenile Court, assigned to the Children's Center, and finally turned over to the probation authorities for an aftercare program, a unified record or file will accompany him throughout this process. Such a system, by its very nature, is more just and more considerate of the total needs of the individual.

A total record of this type will be a flexible one, and will be able to accommodate individual situations. For example: (a) an individual will be able to proceed through several or all of the steps in the process, in whatever sequence circumstances require and still be part of the "system"; (b) family relationships will be clearly identified so that socio-economic studies can be made to isolate problems of family, economic status, environment, etc.; (c) programs can be developed to aid in preventing delinquency; and, (d) more useful and reliable statistics can be derived.

In developing such a totally integrated system for reporting youth activities, we considered various factors and technologies. Available to us today are computers capable of ingesting vast quantities of information. Yet we are dealing with human beings, and manual records are more flexible in certain instances when working directly with individuals.

Our society is a humane one, more oriented towards programs which lead to better opportunities for the individual, than programs of police and punitive action. Hence, our system must be able to identify potential crimes and criminal careers, at the earliest possible phase, in order to prevent them rather than to punish after commission. Our system should be designed with these fundamental objectives in mind.

Our records must be of the type that can move easily among District organizational components rather than having each office generate and retain its own record. Such one-office records are time consuming in their preparation, often inadequate in terms of needs of person, and generally not sufficiently complete to reflect more than a limited view of the individual office's segment of the whole.

A central repository or master file lends itself ideally to fast and economical automated techniques. A depository of this nature would concern itself with such questions as: (a) Will the system be on a "real-time" basis? For example, if a person is apprehended, will it be possible to inquire from the computer as to whether or not that person is wanted elsewhere and obtain an instant response? What would be the consequences if such real-time response were not possible? (b) Will the automated system make it possible to identify family relationships, neighborhood or community relationships, repeat offenders, etc.? (c) Will the system have sufficient safeguards to insure that information is made available only to those who need to know?

We are pleased, Mr. Chairman, to be able to report gratifying progress towards the broad objectives expressed in the background statement just made. In capsule form, we have sketched some of the most significant areas which have been surveyed for improvement to date. These capsules follow:

JUVENILE COURT, SITUATION AT BEGINNING OF STUDY

The Juvenile Court handled over 9,000 cases during fiscal year 1967. Two primary types of records are generated on each charge of the court-a legal action file and a social history file. The social history file is not always as complete as the court would like. It is developed by the staff of the Juvenile Court from data available to them by the systems. It may duplicate information already available in the welfare agencies, or may miss some of this type of information.

Besides the obvious waste through duplication of effort, the lack of background and family information makes it more difficult for the court to reach a proper decision. The time delay of developing, anew, information already available in another agency's record tends to bog down the court calendar. The court on the

other hand may fail to provide information to other agencies for their use after court action.

For example, social welfare information developed by the court frequently would not be released to the welfare agency assuming responsibility for the care of the child for weeks or even months.

STEPS TAKEN DURING STUDY TO IMPROVE DATA AND COMMUNICATIONS

As a result of the joint efforts of the agencies concerned and the National Archives and Records Service, steps are being taken to improve the administrative procedures and recordkeeping of the Juvenile Court and communication between the court and related agencies. For example, a digest of the social history is now transferred to the Children's Center on the same day that the child is assigned to their custody. The traveling case folder referred to above will play a sig nificant role in reducing clerical effort and will provide the court with more complete social data for its deliberations. This is an example of a number of such improvements. All of the new Juvenile Court administrative procedures are being incorporated in a new manual of operations.

CHILDREN'S CENTER SITUATION AT BEGINNING OF STUDY

The Children's Center is another facility of the Department of Public Welfare. Juvenile delinquents committed to the custody of the department are kept at the Children's Center. About 800 juvenile delinquents are normally kept at the center at any one time. The admission procedures for juvenile delinquents at the center are quite complex. These procedures reflect the requirement to initiate care and treatment of the child when he arrives at the center. The background history on the child may be fragmentary and incomplete. The social history prepared by the Juvenile Court, as described above, is often received weeks after arrival of the child. Medical examination and inoculation already given the child might not have been recorded. As a result, information is re-created. medical examination and inoculation may be repeated, and a psychiatric evaluation initiated. A mass of population reporting data is being accumulated manually to serve as a head count of children present. This information is further summarized for daily management reporting.

The Children's Center also houses 1,200 mentally retarded, who range in physical age from children to senile adults. The admission and operating procedures for this group are different from those followed for the juvenile delinquents. A Court of General Sessions judge commits the mentally retarded, based on the request prepared by the staff of Children's Center. All necessary background information is accumulated before the case is presented to the court.

STEPS TAKEN DURING STUDY TO IMPROVE DATA AND COMMUNICATIONS

The admission procedure for juvenile delinquents is being improved. The initial step taken was to replace seven documents with a simple list of children being committed, with other key information required by the center to make preliminary assignment of the child to a cottage and school. The Juvenile Court has initiated a procedure to furnish a digest of social history to the center, on the same day the child is transferred from the Receiving Home to the center. The traveling case file previously mentioned will provide the center with all available information developed on the child prior to his arrival at the center. This case file will permit the center to eliminate current efforts being expended on recreating records, repeating psychiatric evaluations already done, and repeating medical examinations already completed.

The reports efforts of the center have been simplified. For example, only a total population report will be furnished daily, in lieu of details on population by sex by cottage. The next step being planned is to automate data from the case and other records. This will assist the District of Columbia government in its efforts to combat juvenile delinquency, since data will be more readily available to evaluation and research.

RECEIVING HOME, SITUATION AT BEGINNING OF STUDY

The Receiving Home is a facility of the Department of Public Welfare. Children awaiting court action, but who are not in the interim released to their par

ent's custody are kept at the Receiving Home. The normal capacity of the home is about 90, but it is usually exceeded. When the home was established, it was anticipated that the child would be under custody for only a limited time of several weeks. Legal delays and other factors have gradually extended the time of retention of the child at the home to periods as long as 3 to 4 months. The preliminary admission procedures are fairly simple. However, the development of background information becomes difficult and complex. No trained professional staff was authorized. The administrative staff tries to develop a background file by contacting the other welfare agencies, the police department, and the Juvenile Court. The present system provides no standard method for accomplishing this.

STEPS TAKEN DURING STUDY TO IMPROVE DATA AND COMMUNICATION

The District of Columbia government, in its reassessment of the juvenile crime problems, is taking steps to provide psychiatric and psychological evaluations for children under custody of the home. The information developed will be available to Juvenile Court as part of its social history and background on the child. It is planned that a copy of the evaluations will be provided as part of the traveling case files for all children committed to custody of the Department of Public Welfare.

A procedures handbook is also being prepared to standardize the new procedures.

AFTER-CARE PROGRAM

The Child Welfare Division, Department of Public Welfare has a program of after-care for juvenile delinquents. NARS has been requested to survey the paperwork and procedures of this activity. While the study has not yet been initiated, the plans for a youth traveling case file will permit this record to be an initial step in improving the after-care procedures, and statistics.

CONCLUSION

We are confident, as a result of our experience in the District government that great improvements are possible in the system as applied to individuals. By this system significant information can then be aggregated in the form of statistical summaries, which will make it possible to evaluate the results of many types of actions. Duplication and inefficiency will thus be reduced and resources will be freed up for more effective operations. Our experience with records for juvenile delinquents can, I am sure, be of benefit in developing systems which can be extended into adult criminal control programs. Standardization of items of information and of definitions, if spread throughout the Nation, would make it possible to develop a national statistical program, which could be adopted with minimum effort by all types of agencies dealing with similar problems.

Improvement, of course, requires a climate of sincere interest and a desire to achieve better methods. While these types of changes are often disturbing and even disrupting to old line organizations, they nevertheless should be made. However, when cooperation and collaboration of the nature found during our work with the District government occur, the fruits of the new computer technology become available. Indeed, the fruits of the older manual systems also become available to about as great a degree.

I thank you for your attention.

Mr. GREEN. The subcommittee is now adjourned.

(Whereupon, at 12 o'clock, the subcommittee was adjourned.)

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