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Community Court
In the mid-1990's, the Marion County Prosecutor's Office developed the Community Prosecution Division as part of a logical extension of the Indianapolis Police Department's (IPD) Community Policing Program. Prosecutors are physically housed in each of IPD's four police beats with the goal of having a prosecutors out in the community to personally assist law enforcement and to connect with neighborhood groups who were increasingly frustrated with the criminal court system and the revolving door of justice. As a result of the community groups' favorable reaction to the community prosecutors, the Prosecutor's Office initiated the project of a community court, based on the highly successful Midtown Community Court in Manhattan, N. Y.
The Indianapolis Community Court opened in April 2001 as the result of intensive planning between prosecutors, judges and other criminal justice agencies in Marion County. Start-up finding came from United States Department of Justice Weed and Seed grants.
This neighborhood court serves people in the IPD East and South Districts. Its main purpose is to address low-level, "quality-of-life" crimes that community residents consistently complain are at the heart of the erosion of safe and economically prosperous neighborhoods.
The goals are twofold: to order defendants to pay restitution to the community by doing community service work and to order defendants to address the social problems of unemployment, substance abuse, homelessness, etc., that lead to the commission of quality-of-life crimes. The Court is one of a vast number of "problem solving" courts (along with mental heath courts and drug courts) that jurisdictions around the nation are developing in an effort to find solutions that work be better than traditional court models by looking at causes and effects of low-level crimes.
Typical offenses slated into Community Court include trespassing, public intoxication, disorderly conduct, prostitution, patronizing prostitution, possession of marijuana and paraphernalia, possession of alcohol by a minor, criminal conversion and criminal mischief. Justice is administered swiftly, with cases often resolved in less than two months. Offenders are ordered to pay restitution to the community by doing community service work in the very neighborhoods where the offense occurred.
To date, more than 25,000 hours of community service work have been completed by offenders at Community Court, worth more than $128,000 in minimum wage labor. Typical sanctions along with communities ervice work include treatment classes, treatment with certified substance abuse centers, English as a second language classes, job counseling or attempts at obtaining employment, stay-away orders, no new offenses for a period of time and attendance at a Community Impact Panel. The latter involves members from the community, who discuss with offenders how their behavior affects the quality of life or families and children. Defendants routinely admit after the panel that they never considered how their actions impact communitys in harmful ways. Due to the individualized attention cases receive, average compliance rates are 86%.
Community Court acknowledges the "broken windows" theory that suggests major crime flourishes in neglected, run-down neighborhoods. The Court seeks to empower nighborhoods by swiftly administering justice for low-level crimes in the belief that strong communities deter more serious criminal history.
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