Community Prosecution Strategies Measuring Impact.pdf

Richard R. Nedelkoff, Director /BJA November 2002 U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance B u ll et in B u r e a u o f J u s t i c e A s s i s t a n c e Community Prosecution Strategies: Measuring Impact by John S. Goldkamp, Cheryl Irons-Guynn, and Doris Weiland Crime and Justice Research Center C ommunity prosecution initiatives put into practice the belief that crime problems are best prevented and solved when community members work with prosecutors and the police. As the community prosecution movement grows, it is critical that communities develop the capacity to measure the impact of these programs. This Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) bulletin, which is organized by seven key dimensions shared by community prosecution efforts nationwide, reviews what we have learned about evaluating community prosecution sites. Generally, community prosecution initiatives deploy prosecutors or, in some jurisdictions, nonlegal staff in the community to identify the public safety concerns of residents and to seek their participation in developing and implementing strategies to address the problems that are the community’s highest priorities. Community prosecution represents a distinct departure from the case and conviction orientation of traditional prosecution. Instead, community prosecution seeks ways to prevent and reduce crime through initiatives that range from cleaning up and maintaining public parks to using civil sanctions to attack nuisance crime. ? 2 ? History of Community Prosecution The immediate origins of the community prosecution movement are often traced to the pioneering efforts of Multnomah County District Attorney (DA) 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. 1 In 1991, community-oriented prosecution initiatives in Kings County, New York, u