BJA's Director, Domingo S. Herraiz
Domingo S. Herraiz was unanimously confirmed by the
U.S. Senate as the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) on March 8, 2004, and President George W. Bush signed his commission the following day. With its three Offices—Programs, Policy, and Planning—Director Herraiz promotes his “One BJA” vision for consistent and streamlined services by providing hands-on leadership to BJA staff as they administer grant programs; shape and promote sound justice policy; and plan for fiscal and legislative changes affecting over 7,000 grants and $9 billion in justice funds.
Before his appointment, Mr. Herraiz served on Governor Bob Taft’s cabinet as the Director of the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services (OCJS), Ohio’s State Administering Agency. His accomplishments at OCJS include building staff capacity while focusing on customer needs and results; creating a user-friendly online grants system, measurably decreasing the time and paperwork required to apply for and manage justice grants; developing the Ohio Justice Information Network (OJIN), a law enforcement and justice search engine; maximizing state and local law enforcement, courts, corrections and service provider collaborations for vital resource sharing, and pursuing timely best practices for practitioners and communities.
Prior to OCJS, Mr. Herraiz was the Executive Director of the Ohio Crime Prevention Association, the largest state crime prevention association in the country. In addition to nonprofit management and planning and policy responsibilities, he served as Executive Committee Chair of the Crime Prevention Coalition of America, designing a national crime prevention model and the McGruff® the Crime Dog Campaign for the Department of Justice and National Crime Prevention Council. Mr. Herraiz also served as the Director of the Ohio School Resource Officers Association, the National Rural Crime Prevention Center, and the International Society of Crime Prevention Practitioners.
His ability to design and articulate comprehensive strategies that reduce and prevent crime has earned him an exceptional reputation throughout the nation. Director Herraiz received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Ohio University.
