United States Federal Witness Protection Program
From The D Archives
The United States Federal Witness Protection Program is a witness protection program administered by the United States Department of Justice and operated by the United States Marshals Service that is designed to protect threatened witnesses before, during, and after a trial.
A few states, including California, Illinois, and New York, as well as Texas, 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.
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 United States Attorney General may provide for the relocation and protection of a witness or potential witness of the federal or 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 United States Marshals Service, while protection of incarcerated witnesses is the duty of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
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, in order to make it easier to instinctively use the new identity. 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. A witness is not allowed to travel back to their hometown or contact unprotected family members or former associates. In order to do everything possible to preclude the possibility of the witness being followed, the witness is made to adhere to a convoluted and indirect transportation path before finally reaching the location where they will live under the new identity. Often, the transit involves a long chain of seemingly random air flights with times and locations which are intended to be difficult for a potential adverse party to anticipate. Around 17 percent of protected witnesses who have committed a crime will be caught committing another crime, compared to the almost 40 percent of parolees who return to crime.
