Creating a Community Prosecution Program
States and Counties Work Together to Stop Crime
Most see the prosecutor's office as a far away organization where involvement is only as result of crime, either as the perpetrator or victim. A Community Prosecution program involves a long-term, partnership among the prosecutor's office, law enforcement, the community and public and private organizations embedded in the community in various forms. Often times it is a coalition of law enforcement representatives paired with prosecutors but it depends on the targeted issue in the community and the concerns of residents.This is a departure from the case and conviction strategy, according to a 2002 U.S. Dept of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance.
Different Names, Same Goal
The umbrella term of Community Prosecution contains many different types of programs based on the needs of the population. One such program is the Lake County, Indiana Drug Free Alliance which is a coalition formed by the joint efforts of the Lake County Prosecutor and Lake County Sheriff., It was established to identify and address the "complex problems related to alcohol, drug, tobacco, and gambling addictions" by the efforts of various public and private prevention, treatment and criminal justice entities.
Community prosecution program initiatives can range from cleaning up and maintaining public parks to using civil sanctions to attack nuisance crime.The Lake County Drug Free Alliance works with 19 cities and towns in Indiana to help these diverse communities gain a more complete understanding of the problem presented by drug, alcohol, tobacco and other addiction issues and how to comprehensively approach substance abuse, addictions, and their related problems.
In uniting under one coalition, the public can understand that it is the collaboration that allows the county to accomplish together what it could not possibly accomplish alone, according to research from the Lake County Drug-Free Alliance, where Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter and Lake County Sheriff Roy Dominguez co-chair the organization. Comprising the coalition in Lake County, Indiana are law enforcement, treatment providers, prevention specialists, businesses, parent volunteers, youth, faith-based organizations, health care providers, judiciary, media and government.
Components of a Community Prosecution Program
The Department of Justice outlines seven key dimensions characterize community prosecution initiatives. These dimensions are the target problems, the geographic target area, the role of the community, the content of the response to community problems, organizational changes within the prosecutor’s office, case processing adaptations, and inter agency collaboration and partnerships relating to the initiative. Any willing county can develop a community prosecution program to address the needs of the residents.
A county's problems are diverse, so the highest priority is usually selected as the target. Some focus on drug abatement, youth leadership initiatives and others violent crime prevention and still others, prostitution. Each program is specific to a problem area. Once the problem area is identified through crime patterns a program can be developed to address the issue. Crime patterns indicate what types of quality of life issues residents face. A community of senior citizens may at first glance, not seem to need youth initiatives however if there is an indication of robbery and other types of assaults on seniors and a pattern of multi-generational living arrangements, a youth leadership program may halt the crime pattern.
Origin of Community Prosecution
Origins of the community prosecution movement are often traced to the pioneering efforts of Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk, who established the Neighborhood DA Unit in Portland, Oregon, in 1990 in response to business leaders’concerns that quality-of-life crimes would impede development of a central business district,according to a U.S. Dept of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau report. The American Prosecutors Research Institute recently estimated, based on a national survey of prosecutors’ offices, that by the end of 2000, nearly half of all prosecutors’ offices may have been engaged in activities that would qualify as community prosecution.
The Cook County State's Attorney's Office in Illinois has had a Community Prosecution Program since 1998. During that time, then Cook County State's Attorney, Richard Devine, indicated that prevention of crimes that affect quality of life issues would better serve the community. While speaking with a then reporter for one of Chicago's African-American newspapers, Devine mentioned that the then new initiative would have a stationary place in the community. Today, the two locations for the Community Prosecution programs are still standing. Leading the South Side location is Kathleen Bankhead and the newly re-opened North Side location, Joy Repella, according to a spokeswoman.
Community Prosecution programs work.
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