One of the most important short-term responses to violence is the prompt and successful arrest and prosecution of people who commit violence

This federal Project Grant award in the amount of $963,000.00 was provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, under the Congressionally Recommended Awards program (CFDA 16.753), to the Virginia State Police to establish and operate a Witness Protection Program in Virginia. The primary purpose of this funding is to enable the Virginia State Police to provide temporary lodging, relocation, enhanced security, and other resources to assist in protecting victims and witnesses who face intimidation, in order to support the successful prosecution of violent crimes. This program aims to address the decline in the "solve rate" for violent crimes in Virginia over the past 20-30 years, which has been linked to victims' and witnesses' fear of retaliation for cooperating with law enforcement. The grant award period is from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2027.

Unfortunately, over the last 20-30 years the "solve rate" at which law-enforcement officers can identify and arrest individuals who commit violent crime – and therefore the rate at which prosecutors can hold those individuals accountable in court – has steadily fallen. One important contributing factor to that decline is a well-founded fear among victims and witnesses of crime that criminal actors or their families or associates will retaliate against victims or witnesses who cooperate with law enforcement especially those who testify in court. In the 1990S, virginia established a witness protection program but has never funded that program. This funding would help to jump-start virginia's witness protection program, which would seek to provide temporary lodging, relocation, enhanced security, and other similar resources to victims and witnesses who face intimidation and would assist in holding accountable the small number of people who drive a disproportionate amount of the violence in our communities. Victims and witnesses deserve a government that ensures their safety when they do their civic duty to protect the community. The primary purpose of the witness protection program (WPP) is to allow the department of state police to fund the WPP and thereby aid virginia law enforcement agencies for the protection of witnesses during the prosecution of cases, which meet the established witness protection guidelines. The services of the WPP are available to all law enforcement and criminal justice agencies of all counties, cities, and towns of the commonwealth.