TREASURY DIRCTIVE 55-01

Date: January 9, 1999

Reaffirmed: December 12, 2001

Sunset Review: December 12, 2005

SUBJECT: Victims and Witness Assistance

1. PURPOSE. This Directive states policy and guidelines to be followed by Treasury law enforcement personnel in responding to the needs of crime victims and witnesses. The guidelines seek to ensure that all victims and witnesses receive the assistance and protection to which they are entitled under the law.

2. SCOPE. This Directive applies to law enforcement bureaus engaged in detection, investigation, or prosecution of Federal crimes. Where specified, the Directive also applies to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC). These guidelines apply in all cases in which individual victims have suffered physical, financial, or emotional trauma or in which witnesses provide information regarding criminal activity. In cases where the United States or the public generally are the victims, victim services normally will not be applicable.

3. DEFINITIONS.

a. Law enforcement personnel. For the purposes of this Directive, the term is limited to personnel of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Criminal Investigation and Internal Security, Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Customs Service, the U.S. Mint, and the U.S. Secret Service, who come into contact with victims and witnesses as defined by this Directive.

b. Victim. For the purposes of this Directive, a person who suffers direct or threatened physical, emotional or financial harm as a result of the commission of a crime, or, in the case of an institutional entity, an authorized representative of that entity. When a victim is a minor (under 18 years of age), incompetent, incapacitated, or deceased, the term victim also includes a spouse, a legal guardian, a parent, another family member, or a person designated by the court. Federal departments and agencies shall not be considered victims for purposes of this Directive.

c. Witness. For the purposes of this Directive, a person who has information or evidence concerning a crime and provides such information or evidence to a law enforcement agency. Where the witness is a minor, the term "witness" includes an appropriate family member or legal guardian. The term "witness" does not include defense witnesses nor those individuals involved in the crime as perpetrators or accomplices. The term "witness" also does not include confidential informants.

4. POLICY. It is the policy of the Department of the Treasury to provide victims and witnesses with the information and services described in this Directive; to keep on file the procedures and materials used to provide assistance; and to coordinate with the Department of Justice to provide this information and these services.

5. DESIGNATION OF RESPONSIBLE OFFICIALS. For cases under investigation, but in which the Department of Justice prosecutors or State or local prosecutors have not yet assumed responsibility, application of this Directive will be the responsibility of the following Treasury officials:

a. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The Director.

b. Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The Director.

c. Internal Revenue Service. The Assistant Commissioner (Criminal Investigation), for investigations under the jurisdiction of Criminal Investigation; the Assistant Chief Inspector (Internal Security), for investigations under the jurisdiction of Internal Security.

d. U.S. Customs Service. The Commissioner.

e. U.S. Mint. The Director.

f. U.S. Secret Service. The Director.

6. RESPONSIBILITIES. The responsible officials designated in paragraph 5., or their designees, shall:

a. within 90 days of the date of the issuance of this Directive, develop a plan which will ensure that victims and witnesses obtain the information and services they are entitled to under the law.

(1) As part of this plan, the responsible official shall appoint a victim/witness coordinator(s) who will be responsible for implementing the plan, and establishing a process that ensures that victims and witnesses obtain the information and services they are entitled to, unless and until the Department of Justice prosecutors or State or local prosecutors accept a case for prosecution. When necessary to enable the bureau to fulfill the requirements set forth in this Directive, the responsible official shall appoint victim/witness coordinators located in the field, rather than at Headquarters or another centralized location. If instead it is appropriate to appoint a centralized victim/witness coordinator, contact persons shall also be appointed in the field to provide assistance to the centralized victim/witness coordinator.

(2) All law enforcement personnel covered by this Directive must be provided with training concerning their responsibilities in carrying out this Directive. Each bureau's plan must describe how this training will be provided to the bureau's law enforcement personnel.

b. within 90 days of the date of the issuance of this Directive, submit the bureau's plan to the Office of the Under Secretary (Enforcement) for approval.

c. file an annual report with the Under Secretary (Enforcement) which summarizes the implementation of the plan for that year.

7. IDENTIFICATION OF VICTIMS. The plan must ensure that reasonable and diligent efforts are made to: (a) identify victims of crimes under the jurisdiction of that bureau; (b) inform victims of their rights under Federal law; and (c) inform victims of their right to receive on request the services described in this Directive and the name, title, business address and telephone number of the official to whom such a request should be addressed.

In order to comply with these informational requirements, it is recommended that a printed brochure (listing victims' rights, the services victims are entitled to, local service providers, and the name and phone number of the victim/witness coordinator) be given to victims as soon as they are identified. A model brochure is available from the Office of Enforcement.

8. SERVICES PROVIDED TO CRIME VICTIMS. The plan must ensure that at the earliest opportunity after detection of a crime, reasonable and diligent efforts are made to inform crime victims about:

a. emergency medical and/or social services;

b. compensation or restitution to which the victim may be entitled; and

c. private and public programs that are available to provide counseling, treatment, and other support services.

9. PROTECTION OF VICTIMS AND WITNESSES. The plan must ensure that the victim/witness coordinator shall make necessary and appropriate arrangements to enable victims and witnesses to receive reasonable protection against threat, harm and intimidation from a suspected offender and persons acting in concert with, or at the behest of, a suspected offender. The victim/witness coordinator shall have this responsibility unless and until the Department of Justice prosecutors or State or local prosecutors accept a case for prosecution.

10. PROVIDING INFORMATION TO VICTIMS AND WITNESSES. The plan must ensure that the victim/witness coordinator shall make diligent and reasonable efforts to ensure that a victim or witness who provides a current address or telephone number is consulted and provided the earliest possible notice concerning the:

a. status of the investigation to the extent it is appropriate to inform the victim or witness and to the extent that it will not interfere with the investigation, including the decision not to seek an indictment or otherwise commence a prosecution; and

b. arrest of a suspected offender.

The victim/witness coordinator shall have this responsibility unless and until Department of Justice prosecutors or State or local prosecutors accept a case for prosecution.

11. ADDITIONAL SERVICES PROVIDED. In addition to the services described in paragraphs 8., 9., and 10., additional assistance should be extended as follows:

a. except as provided by law, law enforcement personnel will not disclose the addresses of victims and witnesses.

b. the plan shall ensure that for any case which is not brought to and/or accepted for prosecution by Department of Justice prosecutors or State or local prosecutors, any property of a victim which is held for evidentiary purposes shall be maintained in good condition and returned to the victim as soon as it is no longer needed for evidentiary purposes.

c. the plan shall ensure that if requested, the victim/witness coordinator should assist in notifying the:

(1) employer of the victim or witness if cooperation in the investigation causes absence from work; and

(2) creditors of the victim or witness if the crime or cooperation in its investigation affects his/her ability to make timely payments.

d. the plan shall ensure that victims and witnesses are provided with information or assistance with transportation, parking, and translator services while assisting law enforcement during an investigation.

e. the plan shall ensure that a sexual assault victim does not assume the cost of a physical examination which an investigating officer determined was necessary or useful for evidentiary purposes.

12. REPORTING SUSPECTED CHILD ABUSE. Law enforcement personnel engaged in a professional capacity or activity on Federal land or in a Federally-owned (or contracted) facility, learning of facts that give rise to a suspicion that a child has suffered an incident of abuse, shall as soon as possible make a report of the suspected abuse to an investigative agency designated to receive and investigate such reports. Failure to report is deemed a Class B misdemeanor under 18 U.S.C. 2258.

The responsible officials designated in paragraph 5., or their designees, must provide all law enforcement personnel in their bureaus who are covered by this provision with training in their obligation to report and in the identification of abused children.

13. FLETC TRAINING. FLETC shall provide training to all law enforcement personnel who attend FLETC concerning their responsibilities in carrying out the provisions of the Victims and Witness Protection Act of 1982, the Victims' Rights and Restitution Act of 1990, and the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990. The Director of FLETC, or his/her designee, shall:

a. within 90 days of the date of the issuance of this Directive, submit FLETC's plan for providing this training to the Office of the Under Secretary (Enforcement) for approval; and

b. file an annual report with the Under Secretary (Enforcement) which summarizes the implementation of the plan for that year.

14. JUDICIAL REVIEW. The guidelines set forth in this Directive do not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by a party against the United States, its agencies, its officers or any person.

15. AUTHORITIES.

a. Pub. L. 97-291, as amended, ?Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982.

b. Pub. L. 101-647, ?Crime Control Act of 1990"; Title V, "Victims" Rights and Restitution Act of 1990"; and Title II, Subtitles D and E, ?Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990.

16. CANCELLATION. Treasury Directive 55-01, "Victims and Witness Assistance," dated July 7, 1994, is superseded.

17. OFFICE OF PRIMARY INTEREST. Office of the Under Secretary (Enforcement).

/S/
James E. Johnson
Under Secretary (Enforcement)