A $110,000 grant to spearhead a national movement for increased citizen involvement in fighting crime has been awarded the St. Louis Women’s Crusade Against Crime by the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, U.S. Department of Justice.
According to Mrs. James McClellan and Mrs. Ann Slaughter, Crusade cochairman, the grant has a three-fold purpose: 1) to assist with the establishment of new crusades in selected cities; 2) to provide advisory services to existing anti-crime groups; and 3) to serve as a clearing house of ideas for all crusades.
Widespread contact was made with many other anti-crime organizations last year when the St. Louis Crusade hosted a National Town Meeting on Crime Control. It attracted delegates from 21 cities including Indianapolis, Des Moines, Tampa and Topeka.
Under the new federal grant, members of the Crusade staff will travel to other cities to participate in the recruitment of citizens for anti-crime movements. They also will counsel volunteers on ways to pinpoint their local problems and how to work for improvements in the justice system. “How to” manuals and starter kits with suggested methods for setting up a crusade will be provided.
Brochures published by the Crusade, either alone or in conjunction with the
St. Louis Commission on Crime and Law Enforcement, will be distributed as models. Similarly, the Crusade will furnish back-up material on successful projects such as Operation Ident, Crime Blockers, Secret Witness and Court Watchers.
The grant, Mrs. McClellan points out, will strengthen the St. Louis Crusade as volunteers here develop new and innovative programs for the community—then refine them as models for others.
U.S. Rep. Leonor Sullivan was instrumental in bringing the .Crusade’s activities to the attention of the Justice Department. This is the first time national funds have been allocated by the Department for the purpose of broadening the Crusade concept. It recognizes an urgent need on the part of criminal justice officials to have strong citizen help if crime is to be reduced. “Action by private citizens is at the heart of community crime prevention,” according to the Justice Department’s National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals. “In the absence of citizen assistance, neither more manpower, nor improved technology, nor additional money will enable law enforcement to shoulder the monumental burden of combating crime in America.”
This is what the Crusade’s aim is in bringing citizens together, explains Mrs. McClellan.
The St. Louis Crusade was founded in January, 1970, for the purpose of improving all facets of the criminal justice system — police, courts and corrections—and to seek ways to preventing youth from becoming involved in the system.
Mrs. Harriet Woods, former public affairs director of KPLR, has been named manager of the national project.
For additional information, contact: Mrs. James McClellan 231-0425
Originally published in The Paper, October 1975.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1975_10.pdf, printed page(s) 1, 7; PDF page(s) 1, 7.
