What is the Witness Protection Program?
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The Witness Protection Program is a service provided by the United States Government which protects witnesses in major criminal cases from physical harm and intimidation. Among law enforcement, the program is better known as the Witness Security Program, or WITSEC. Under the Witness Protection Program, someone will be provided with physical security as well as a new identity and a place to live. The program applies to witnesses and close family members who may also be under threat. Some Americans are surprised to learn that many of the people in the Witness Protection Program are former criminals, who made a bargain with the State to avoid prosecution.
In order to be eligible for the Witness Protection Program, the witness must be providing major evidence relating to a grave felony. Witnesses in organized crime, drug running, and terrorism cases may be offered protection if they qualify. If the life of the witness is considered to be at risk because of his or her testimony, protection will be offered. Frequently, family members are included as well. The threat of death or intimidation must be substantial, as protecting a witness is very expensive.
The Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 included a provision to establish the Witness Protection Program. Under the Act, the Attorney General has final say over who will enter the program. Typically, a State Attorney recommends a witness for inclusion in the program, although witnesses may also apply for protection. The protection offered by the program is provided for life, as long as the witness does not commit a crime again, and the recidivism rate in the Witness Protection Program is around 17%. Some individual states also offer Witness Protection Programs of their own.
In addition to providing physical security, the Witness Protection Program also relocates witnesses after the trial, and provides them with new identities. A small living stipend is offered until the witness finds a new job, and other assistance may be provided on an as-needed basis. When the witness is relocated, local law enforcement are informed if he or she was a criminal, so that they can keep an eye on the witness as well.
The program also includes restrictions. The witness is not allowed to return to his or her former hometown, and is not supposed to contact former friends and acquaintances. Every witness who has complied with the terms of the Witness Protection Program has been successfully protected, although witnesses who broke with the terms have been killed.
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23
How and who can i talk with about me being in a situation where I'm not allowed to have friends or access to a car for help. I'm very scared and have no one to help me! my family are the ones who are doing illegal activities. please someone help me soon! I'm in Texas. - anon51944
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I'm just curious: is there any possible way for a witness in the program to get out of the program? - anon49994
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To anon44296: I will answer your questions if I can. I believe all belongings are destroyed or thrown out. I really don't know on that one. But, I do know you keep the name they give you in the program and get a job and live a low key life. My grandfather drove a truck for 40 years and moved the family several places in the country. I have been considering contacting him again to ask some questions I have. He is 85 years old and I would like to know some things from him personally. Please respond if you have more questions. - anony4589
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To anon44296, I really don't know; my guess is everything is thrown away or destroyed. But I do know that after you leave the program you just start over; you will keep the name the program gives you and just go on. My grandfather was a truck driver for forty years so he was never in the same place; he was always on the road. Always changing homes from certain states. It is a real fear and a huge burden to come from a family like that. I really feel that I have no true identity. I asked him the one and only time I spoke to him 4 or 5 years ago about our family name(s). he refused to answer my questions; said it was something that happened a hundred years ago and should be left alone. He is a liar and a killer bottom line. But I cannot tell you what I would give to know the entire truth and to know about my heritage on his side of the family, I don't even know his real first name or his true age. I have been thinking of contacting him; he is (supposedly) 85 years old and I may never get the opportunity to ask again. I would be willing to answer all questions you have if I can. - anony4589
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I have had death threats to my family from Irish mafia supposed family members. Nothing was ever taken into serious consideration and I am still being assaulted seasonally. Appearantly this program only will protect criminals. - anon45313
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I'm doing an assignment.
What happens to their belongings after they move from their house? How do they go back to everyday life after the program? I have these questions and i can't find any answers on it. Please help me. - anon44296
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I am a granddaughter of a man who was in the witness protection program; he left it years ago. I don't know why. I was told he contributed to an organized hit and it culminated with him snitching to save his own hide with the feds. I was told my entire life about never telling anyone who we are or they will come after us. I have no ties to anyone in my family at all. I would like to know if I really need to worry that the ones he betrayed will find him and lead to me and others in the family. My mother said that they will kill anyone that he would care about and then finish him off. I have changed my first name and am now married (to a cop), but I don't know how diffiult it is for those bad types of people to figure things out. I heard one man who has been around the "wiseguys" say that the grudges are passed down through the generations and the names of those that ratted them out on anything are remembered and kept alive until if ever it can be "settled". It's difficult to come from a family with that kind of history. I can't even do a family tree on my father's side of the family and know about my grandfather's family - it goes to a complete stop at my grandfather; everything is just erased. You feel completely manufactured in that life; you know everything about yourself is mostly a lie and and no one in my husband's family even knows about my father's family history. I can tell you that when one leaves the program neither you nor your family are protected an longer. Some leave the program because they feel that they could probably do a better job to hide out than to rely on the feds. Hiding out in public seems to work thus far for my grandfather. - anony4589
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The program is to keep those safe from harm. When you call the FBI or State Attorney they all will give the same answer "Call you on what I find." The u.s marshall service will sometimes visit those who continue to pry for answers. It may be best to leave those alone in the program. lives are quickly destroyed by us. that's why we vanish or our deaths are staged. think: would you want to be associated with someone in the WPP? We sometimes cause more harm then good and then lives are forever changed by just a call or a friend or ex trying to get answers. - anon38533
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You can still be subpoenaed under your new identity.Are you talking about if they were to witness a murder after they were put into the program or before? And what do you mean by legally protected?
- anon28328
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If a person in the witness protection program commits a crime under their new identity, not assumed identity(you are given a new name, ssn, birth certificate, and background) you can get prosecuted.The federal witness protection program really protects you with a new identity and relocation. I don't personally know if they would do plastic surgery. You can't go back to your old identity even if the person or people who were after you are deceased. - anon25807
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a long time close friend emailed me several days ago and said they were in the witness relocation program and i would never hear from them again. suddenly today i got a call from them. they told me the general area they were in and their new name and the reason they were moved there. they also said the people or persons that were after them had gotten into their email and all their friends and family were at risk, including me. part of me is scared to death, part of me thinks this is too outlandish to believe. b/c this is the weekend, everywhere i have called, the fbi, the deputy chief for witness security, and the federal marshals are all closed and, sorry, out of luck! call back tomorrow! i find it even more outlandish that none of them work on the weekend! any suggestions that can help me verify if they are being truthful or a liar? thank you - anon21426
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question put more editorially is - does someone in the federal witness protection program have immunity for future prosecutorial crimes or testimony? - writeTHISway
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To what extent will the federal government go to hide/protect/change a persons identity in the program? Plastic surgery, feign death........how far? - lilliths
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I'm working on a book. My question is this...
How legally protected is someone in the Witness Protection Program?
If that person witnessed a murder, while using his assumed identity, can he still be subpoenaed?
That is the theme of my book for, which I am currently doing research, whereby attorneys are arguing for and against this witness being subpoenaed for a trial in which he witnessed the murder of a prominent judge.
Please advise and thanks in advance.
- writeTHISway
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Written by
S.E. Smith
Last Modified: 10 November 2009
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