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Victimization, Processes & Other Topics |
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(Criminal justice, Gender justice, immigration, drugs, victimization surveys, corruption studies etc.)
Dreams, Gangs, and Guns: The Interplay Between Adolescent Violence and Immigration in a New York City Neighborhood
Pedro Mateu-Gelabert
Vera Institute of Justice
New York, USA
April 2002
Published in English and Spanish
To prevent violence among adolescents, we must understand its causes. This report draws on five years of field work in an immigrant community in New York City to describe how the generation gap separating immigrant adolescents from their parents, made wider by immigration, leads these children to rely on violent peer groups for protection. Previous research has tried to explain adolescent violence among immigrants in terms of cultural alienation, but this research suggests that much violence among immigrant adolescents is a pragmatic response to neighborhood conditions. Once these adolescents leave their neighborhoods or the threats to their safety disappear, they generally end their involvement with violent peers.
Families as a Resource in Recovery from Drug Abuse: An Evaluation of La Bodega de la Familia
Eileen Sullivan, Milton Mino, Katherine Nelson, and Jill Pope
Vera Institute of Justice
New York, USA
May 2002
Published in English
This report describes and evaluates a unique program that the Vera Institute of Justice created in New York City to work with the families of drug users who are under justice system supervision, with the goal of promoting the users' recovery. Drug users involved in the program were much more likely to report reduced or no drug use than a comparison group and their family members were more likely to receive the medical and social services that they needed.
Communication as a Strategy to Guide Citizens in the face of Violence and Crime
Cecilia Dastres and Eva Muzzopappa
Center for Studies on Public Safety
Santiago, Chile
January 2004
Published in Spanish
This paper reviews several initiatives around the world that used communications strategies in order to reduce fear of violence or to change attitudes and behaviors in response to violence and crime. For each program, the authors examine the objectives and target audiences, the strategies employed, and success in changing attitudes and behaviors. The paper’s conceptual framework helps readers understand these initiatives within their particular cultural contexts and glean lessons from them that are relevant across cultures.
A Rape Investigation in the Western Cape: A Study of the Treatment of Rape Victims at Three Police Stations in the Cape Flats, South Africa
Virginia Francis and Michelle India Baird
Vera Institute of Justice
New York, USA
March 1999
Published in English
This study tracks 15 rape survivors for a month following the day they reported the crime at the police station. The study provided the framework for the Thuthuzela Care Centre which the Bureau of Justice Assistance (a joint project of the Vera Institute of Justice and the South African Ministry of Justice) designed and first implemented in the Cape Flats in June 2000.
Combating Violence Against Women in the Punjab
Rainuka Dagar
Institute for Development and Communication
Chandigarh, India
2001
Published in English
This publication captures the nature and extent of violence against women living in the Punjab crimes ranging from female foeticide to sexual harassment (eve-teasing) and rape to dowry death. It ends by suggesting strategies for overcoming societal bias against girls and women and socially sanctioned gender violence for making women’s lives safer and moving towards gender justice.
Confronting Confinement
Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons
Vera Institute of Justice
NYC, United States
June 2006
English, Spanish, Portuguese
On June 8, 2006, the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons released its report on violence and abuse in U.S. jails and prisons, the broad impact of those problems on public safety and public health, and how correctional facilities nationwide can become safer and more effective.
Dollars and Sentences: Legislators Views on Prisons, Punishment, and the Budget Crisis
Robin Campbell
Vera Institute of Justice
New York, USA
July 2003
Published in English
State governments in the U.S. are facing the worst budget crises in a generation and need to cut spending. But how can they spend less on corrections without jeopardizing public safety? This report on a roundtable discussion among a diverse, bipartisan group of elected officials reveals how some states are managing to save money and improve results by paying increased attention to rehabilitation and prevention.
Homicides in Rio de Janeiro: A Tragedy in Search of Policies
Leonarda Musumeci
Center for Studies on Public Security and Citizenship
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
July 2002
Published in Portuguese
This report reviews a study of trends in homicide patterns over the last 20 years, using two sources of data: the police and the health service. The purpose of the study is to discover whether the data indicate anything about the effectiveness of social policies during this period or suggest a more effective way to promote public safety and reduce homicide. While the study documents a substantial reduction in homicide in the middle of the 1990s, the data are too aggregate and unreliable to reveal the causes for the “tumble,” causes that could include: social mobilization, economic change, the low penetration of crack cocaine into the market in Rio, and other factors. The study also explores the influence of gender, community, youth, poverty, employment, and drugs and guns on the homicide rate and also looks at changes in the level of deaths caused by police action. This longitudinal perspective on homicide shows the complexity of the epidemic and points out how each successive government used the numbers to claim victories in the war on violent crime and, in each case, actually masked the persistence of a very high level of lethal violence. The review ends by suggesting several strategies that promise to improve public safety.
Identifying and Controlling Female Foeticide and Infanticide in Punjab
Rainuka Dagar
Institute for Development and Communication
Chandigarh, India
2002
Published in English
Since the 1980s, boys have increasingly outnumbered girls in India. This report examines the need for a holistic intervention to ensure that girls not only have the right to be born but also have the right to a dignified life.
Issues of Consistency in the Federal Death Penalty: A Roundtable Discussion on the Role of the U.S. Attorney
Robin Campbell
Vera Institute of Justice
New York, USA
2002
Published in English
A U.S. Justice Department survey released in 2000 showed that since the mid-1990s, when the number federal death penalty-eligible crimes was greatly expanded, a disproportionate number of defendants considered for the sanction were racial minorities. This publication draws on a roundtable discussion among former U.S. Attorneys who served during the study period—a meeting that Vera convened—to examine the challenges prosecutors faced in reconciling local conditions against nationwide laws that many considered unduly focused, for political reasons, on urban, drug-related crime.
Judging Judicial Reform: From the Conception of Judicial Reform of 1991 to the Present
Mikhail Krasnov
Center for Justice Assistance, a project of INDEM Foundation
Moscow, Russia
2001
Published in Russian
This was the first publication in Russia to take stock of recent judicial reforms in Russia and evaluate where they have succeeded and where they have failed. The paper reviews judicial reforms and compares them with the Conception and the Russian Constitution.
Justice and Safety for All: Promoting Dialogue between Public Defenders and Victim Advocates
Lori Crowder and Jennifer Trone
Vera Institute of Justice
New York, USA
December 2002
Published in English
The lawyers who defend individuals charged with domestic violence and the advocates who work just as passionately for the rights and needs of victims tend to fall into opposing camps. Misunderstanding, suspicion, and occasionally open hostility exist between these professionals. Yet because defenders and advocates often serve the same families, improving their relationship is part of providing just and safe resolutions in domestic violence cases. Structured dialogue between defenders and advocates can help them understand each others' roles and perspectives and can lead to mutual respect and cooperation. Filled with the voices of a handful of defenders and advocates talking about each other and their work, Justice and Safety for All is written to help other advocates and defenders begin their own conversations.
Justice Initiatives - Legal Aid Reform and Access to Justice
Open Society Justice Initiative
New York, USA
February 2004
Published in English
The February 2004 issue of “Justice Initiatives” examines legal aid reform, with a focus on state-provided legal representation for indigent persons charged with crimes and featuring in-depth coverage of developments in Lithuania, where the Justice Initiative has been particularly active. Several articles explain the origins, present course, and future challenges of a project in Lithuania that has established two pilot legal assistance offices, trained a cadre of public defenders, refashioned the legal and institutional framework for providing public defense, and revolutionized the debate about legal aid in Lithuania by exposing policy makers and the public to alternative ways of providing representation. Other articles in this issue explore legal aid in East Timor, Sierra Leone, Chile, England and Wales, Israel, and Bulgaria and Central and Eastern Europe. “Justice Initiatives” is a publication of the Open Society Justice Initiative.
Juvenile Justice Administration in Nigeria: Philosophy and Practice
Etannibi E. O. Alemika and Innocent C. Chukwuma
CLEEN Foundation
Lagos, Nigeria
2001
Published in English
Analyzes the laws, processes, and institutions for juvenile justice administration in Nigeria, which were inherited from the colonial government, and investigates the experiences and perceptions of juvenile offenders and officials responsible for the administration of juvenile laws and detention facilities. The report reveals gross inadequacies in Nigeria’s juvenile justice system and calls for urgent review of the laws, policies, and programs that govern the treatment of juvenile offenders.
Law Enforcement Review
Edited by Innocent Chukwuma
CLEEN Foundation
Lagos, Nigeria
Published in English
A quarterly magazine published by the CLEEN Foundation since 1998
Measuring Progress Toward Safety and Justice: A Global Guide to the Design of Performance Indicators across the Justice Sector
Vera Institute of Justice
New York, USA
November 2003
Published in English
Governments and citizens who are committed to improving public safety and access to justice need objective measures of progress. But knowledge about how to develop practical, effective performance indicators is in short supply. To meet this need, a team of researchers at Vera produced this plain-language global guide to the design of indicators for the safety and justice sector as a whole and for specific institutions. Each chapter: describes traditional indicators used to measure performance across the justice sector or within a particular institution; provides examples of specific policy goals that require new indicators; suggests innovative indicators capable of reflecting progress towards those goals and possible sources of data; and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the suggested indicators. The Guide was produced with funding from the British Department for International Development (DFID) in partnership with staff of DFID's program on Safety, Security and Accessible Justice.
Media and Racism
Silvia Ramos
Pallas
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2002
Published in Portuguese
Media and Racism is an anthology of interviews and papers from the seminar by the same name held at Candido Mendes University on August 21, 2001, in Rio de Janeiro. Journalists, researchers, and artists reflect on racism and the struggle to overcome it in the Brazilian press, television, cinema, theater, dance, and music. The seminar that resulted in this book took place just one week before the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Forms of Intolerance in Durban, South Africa. The seminar was an opportunity for intellectuals, artists, activists, and journalists to share their experiences, reflections, and attitudes to foster changes in the representations and images of African descendant Brazilians.
Opening the Station House : Five Practical Ways to Improve Service and Reduce the Opportunities for Corruption at Any Police Station
Altus Global Alliance
The Hague, the Netherlands
April 2004
Published in English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian
This short report describes common approaches to improving service at police stations in Russia, India, and Brazil that are increasing citizen satisfaction and reducing opportunities for some kinds of petty corruption.
This report describes reformed police stations in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia that now feature Citizen Assistance Centers inside the stationhouses; Community Policing Resource Centres populating Punjab State in India, which are buildings adjacent to the station house and jointly governed by the police and community; and Open Space Delegacia, a new type of police station in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. By looking at what these reformed stations have in common, the report offers five globally relevant and practical ways to improve police station practice anywhere. Select results from the three experiments, including a robust set of findings on the reformed stations in Russia provide strong indicators of their success so far.
Patterns of Criminal Conviction and Incarceration Among Mothers of Children in New York City
Miriam Ehrensaft, Ajay Khashu, Timothy Ross, and Mark Wamsley
Vera Institute of Justice
New York, USA
December 2003
Published in English
Maternal incarceration can affect the number of children entering foster care and the length of time they spend in care. In collaboration with the New York City Administration for Children's Services, Vera researchers examined the patterns of arrest and incarceration of mothers of children in foster care by matching child welfare and criminal justice records, focusing on children who entered foster care in 1991 and 1996. This report presents the rates of conviction and incarceration of mothers of children in foster care and examines the sequence in which maternal arrest, incarceration, and foster care placement occur. In particular, the findings suggest that a child’s placement is foster care placement is part of a downward spiral in the family that can culminate in the mother’s arrest and incarceration. Consequently, efforts to reunify families would be aided by providing more services to mothers, particularly those in need of substance abuse treatment.
Personal Views, Ideology, or Media Marketing? An Analysis of the Forces that Shape How Reporters Cover News About Public Security
Cecilia Dastres Abarca
Center for Studies on Public Safety
Santiago, Chile
November 2002
Published in Spanish
Based on interviews with journalists and editors who work for national media outlets and on analysis of news coverage, this report explores how crime and justice are covered in Chile. In particular, it looks at how the media industry and individual professionals are influenced by prevailing public opinions, ideology, and the marketplace. As a result, print and television reporters often present a distorted picture of crime, highlighting less common crimes and raising the level of fear while overlooking more common but less “interesting” crimes.
Planning Robberies
Luis Barros
Center for Studies on Public Safety
Santiago, Chile
March 2003
Published in Spanish
This paper analyzes the experience of people convicted of robbery in order to understand why robberies have been on the rise in Chile and to reduce this type of crime and its impact on the public. The study reveals that most offenders do not rationally plan the robberies they commit although they do see themselves as functioning within a culture of delinquency and abiding by the codes of that culture. As a result, the threat of punishment does little to deter them.
Portrait of Incarcerated Women in the State of Rio de Janeiro – 1999/2000
Barbara Musumeci Soares
Center for Studies on Public Security and Citizenship
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
July 2002
Published in Portuguese
Although the number of women prisoners is growing much faster than the increase in male prisoners, there have been no effective efforts to understand the motivations and circumstances that lead these women to commit crimes. Nor has there been any effort to design corrections policies and programs for women inmates. This portrait of women in prison provides some of the information necessary to remedy this oversight. Among the key findings: convictions for drug possession, use, and trafficking account for a large and increasing number of new admissions to prison, and nearly half of all women in prison have a current or past history of drug abuse. Young, non-white women with limited schooling are over-represented among female inmates. Nearly three-quarters of women prisoners report suffering physical, psychological, or sexual violence during childhood, and the same number report similar victimization during marriage.
Preventing Homelessness Among People Leaving Prison
Nino Rodriguez and Brenner Brown
Vera Institute of Justice
New York, USA
December 2003
Published in English
Policymakers and practitioners around the world are looking for ways to help offenders transition effectively from prison to home, but many inmates do not have home. This Issue in Brief examines the problem of homelessness among recently released prisoners, discusses examples of local efforts to prevent homelessness, and outlines insights from Vera’s Project Greenlight, a prison-based program to prepare inmates for release that offered housing assistance.
Problems in Juvenile Justice
A.S. Mikhlin, Editor
Center for Justice Assistance, a project of INDEM Foundation
Moscow, Russia
2003
Published in Russian
A collection of articles about problems teenagers face as they move from the penal system back into the community. As a group, these articles offer a profile of young repeat offenders that is intended to help policy makers understand the causes of these crimes and how to use available resources to reduce recidivism.
Prolonged Pretrial Detention in Haiti
Anne Fuller with Philippe Texier, Michel Brosseau, Dilia Lemaire, and Patrick Pierre-Louis
Vera Institute of Justice
New York, USA
July 2002
Published in English and French
There are now twice as many inmates in Haiti's prisons than in 1995, and nearly eighty percent of them have not even been charged. With support from the Open Society Insitute and the United Nations Development Program, Vera assembled a team of researchers to revisit Haiti's often-studied but never-solved problem of prolonged pretrial detention and the related issue of poor prison conditions. This research shows that the situation is especially dire around the capital, Port-au-Prince, compared to provincial jurisdictions where limited training and procedural reforms have yielded some benefits. This report reviews the previous initiatives, identifies causes of persisitent problems, and recommends incremental reforms, immediate and long-range, for the Ministry of Justice and related government agencies.
Robbery in Greater Santiago: Magnitudes and Characteristics
Eduardo Goldstein
Center for Studies on Public Safety
Santiago, Chile
January 2004
Published in Spanish
This study draws on official reports and accounts of robberies committed in Santiago. It describes those incidents and the violence that is a feature of them. In particular, the study defines certain factors that determine whether victims are likely to be injured during a robbery.
The Administration of Justice Under Emergency Conditions: Lessons Following the Attack on the World Trade Center
Oren Root
Vera Institute of Justice
New York, USA
January 2002
Published in English
In the first hours and days after the terrorist attack on September 11, the courts in lower Manhattan were inaccessible; prosecutors and defense lawyers lost access to phones, files, and computers; and police officers were not available to testify at hearings and trials. This report describes how the courts not only reopened quickly but were committed to upholding the principle of individual rather than mass justice and offers recommendations that officials in New York City and elsewhere can follow to plan for future emergencies.
The Bakassi Boys: The Legitimization of Murder and Torture
CLEEN Foundation and Human Rights Watch
Lagos, Nigeria
May 2002
Published in English
Describes the activities of vigilante groups like the Bakassi Boys and the deviation from their original crime-fighting “mission.” Based on interviews with victims of abuses, human rights activists, lawyers, police authorities, and vigilante leaders themselves.
The First Month Out
Marta Nelson, Perry Deess, and Charlotte Allen
Vera Institute of Justice
New York, USA
September 1999
Published in English
In 1999, researchers at the Vera Institute followed a group of 49 people who had just left a New York State prison or New York City jail to discover exactly what happens to them in the first month after release. Their stories reveal patterns of success and failure in the effort to find a place to live and land a job, to comply and feel satisfied with parole supervision, to reunite with family, to stay away from alcohol and drugs, and to avoid a return to crime. This study reveals why and how the initial re-entry period is so difficult for people. At the same time, it provides evidence of the strong desire among most newly released prisoners to turn their lives around. The report offers concrete suggestions for how to prepare inmates for the predictable challenges they will encounter the moment they return home.
The Meanings of Violence in Robberies
Luis Barros
Center for Studies on Public Safety
Santiago, Chile
October 2003
Published in Spanish
This study looks at how perpetrators of robberies view the violence they commit. It describes concretely how attackers think, feel, and evaluate their aggressive behavior. These meanings of violence are explored in the context of the culture these robbers ascribe to and how intensely they are involved in that culture. The study also examines how these perpetrators have been victims of violence themselves within their families, in confrontations with police, and in prison and how those experiences shaped their identity.
The Оrganization of Free Legal Services: Basic Principles, Different Models, and their Adaptation in the Russian Federation
M. Peyser, Y. Adrova, and D. Platigin
Center for Justice Assistance, a project of INDEM Foundation
Moscow, Russia
2004
Published in Russian
In the wake of a wide range of judicial reforms in Russian, officials are reevaluating how the government provides free legal services and reconsidering whether it is wise or even possible to create a unified national system that is equally effective in every region of the country. This report explores the market for free legal services in Russia and examines various models of this crucial service order to understand how to tailor and implement good legal services in Russia.
Trends in the Development of Federalism in Russia
Georgi A. Satarov et al.
INDEM Foundation
Moscow, Russia
2002
Published in Russian
This paper describes the relative advantages and disadvantages of dividing authority between federal and regional powers and proposes a more democratic alternative to the strict subordination of regional powers to the federal center.
Urban violence, public safety policies and responses from civil society
Julita Lemgruber & Silvia Ramos
Social Watch
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2004
English
In 2000, 45,233 Brazilians were murdered, a national rate of 27 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, which places Brazil among the most violent countries in the world. For young people in impoverished urban areas, the rate is 230 killings per 100,000 inhabitants, which almost amounts to genocide. Civil society has been responding more and more to this violence with demonstrations, projects,programmes and local initiatives as ways to tackle the problem and promote human security.
Victimization and Fear in Chile: Theoretical Review – An Empirical Study of Twelve Communities in the Country
Lucía Dammert and Alejandra Lunecke
Center for Studies on Public Safety
Santiago, Chile
October 2002
Published in Spanish
This report describes communities in Chile with the highest victimization rates and fear of crime and analyzes the impact of certain risk factors that aggravate both problems. It is an empirical study on victimization and fear structured on the basis of a 2001 survey by the Ministry of the Interior in twelve boroughs that form part of the Safe Community Plan.
Victims of Militancy
Pramod Kumar and Rainuka Dagar
Institute for Development and Communication
Chandigarh, India
2001
Published in English
This study of children and women in the Punjab who have been affected by militancy and the pervasive culture of violence is the first of its kind and reveals a pattern of re-victimization while also questioning the assumption that these victims are entirely passive and merely need relief or rehabilitation rather underlines the relevance for peace building.
Common Ground and Cross-Cutting Themes on Funding Public Security Initiatives in Latin America
Emma Phillips, Todd Foglesong, Cecilia Ales, and Gustavo Palmieri
Vera Institute of Justice
New York, USA
July 2003
Published in English
Crime and the quality of policing have become matters of profound and immediate importance to international foundations working to build democratic capacity in developing countries. In September 2002, the Ford Foundation, the Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales / CELS (Center for Legal and Social Studies), and Vera organized a meeting of donor organizations engaged in Latin America to begin a collective discussion of public security and police reform initiatives in the region. Drawing on that discussion and donor program materials, this report describes a range of approaches and strategies that donors and their grantees are deploying to reduce crime, improve public safety, and make policing more respectful and effective. It also explores how programs are developed and grantees selected, the common problems that donors face, and the opportunities for closer cooperation between donors.
The Challenge of Freedom
Author: Olga Espinosa y Carolina Viano
CESC
Year: 2008
Abstract: The research upon which this book was based was undertaken in order to describe the procedures for conceding, suspending and revoking intra-prison privileges, understood as permits for leave granted by Chile's Gendarmería (Prison Guards) to male and female inmates serving prison sentences.
In terms of social reintegration, what makes this topic relevant is that there has been a reduction in the granting of such privileges in recent years, a situation that contributes to increasing rates of imprisonment. One of the conclusions of this study is that there is a need to establish technical, standardized criteria to regulate procedures for conceding, revoking and suspending intra-prison privileges. Likewise, what is needed is the implementation of a regulation that includes the principles of Chile's criminal procedure reform and which unifies the diverse mechanisms that regulate the prison system (through a sentence enforcement law), to facilitate the modernization of the system.
Toward a Post-prison Policy in Chile
Author: Carolina Villagra
CESC
Year: 2009
Abstract: This book is unprecedented, as the bibliography and studies on this topic in Chile are quite limited. This work represents an interesting academic effort to contribute to the debate on public security and social reintegration.
The study in this book analyzes specialized evidence, providing a significant theoretical contribution based on current conceptual and empirical developments. In addition, it contains a comparative analysis of recidivism reduction strategies used in prison policies in Canada, the United States and Great Britain. In this context, the Chilean experience is analyzed on the basis of a participative assessment developed from interviews with experts, people involved in prison and post-prison activities and people who have served prison sentences.
Post-prison Assistance in Chile
Author: Fernando Martínez
CESC
Year: 2008
Abstract: This book focuses on existing programs in Chile, both government-supported and non-government supported, which provide social reintegration assistance to people leaving the prison system. The results and conclusions arrived at in this study make evident that, given the large number of former prison inmates, the available reintegration programs are too limited to respond to the needs of such persons and to the needs of public policy in citizen security matters.
This work provides important information for stimulating serious debate about the characteristics that a post-prison assistance policy should have, regarding the existing legal and budgetary limitations as well as the fact that efforts undertaken should include closer collaboration between the public and private sectors.
The New Criminal Procedure in Chile
Author: Alejandra Mohor y Victor Covarrubias
CESC
Year: 2007
Abstract: The scope of Chile’s criminal procedure reform and the expectations generated regarding its potential impact on crime rates and concern about crime were the principal motivations for the study, the results of which are described in this publication. The text presented here brings together the work of researchers Alejandra Mohor (the study coordinator) and Víctor Covarrubias. This text is a starting point for discussion of an empirical foundation and on a more detailed level, of the relationship between criminal procedure reform and variations in crime rates and perceptions of insecurity manifested by citizens. This is an initial, exploratory approximation, the results and conclusions of which will be refined in future studies which are based on more complete information.
Police Work and Criminal Investigation
CESC
Author: Luis Barros
Year: 2006
Abstract: This text constitutes one of the few studies published in Chile which focuses on the criminal investigation process and the working dynamics established between Chile's Investigative Police and officials from the Public Prosecutor's Office. Likewise, it is one of the first studies based on surveys and interviews with police officers.
This work, by Luis Barros, reveals the perspective of the Investigative Police from Chile's 5th Police Region. Based on this perspective, the author develops conclusions and recommendations to improve those aspects of the investigative process which are observed to be weak or in need of improvement.
Victimization in Chile
Author: Muricio Olavarria G.
CESC
Year: 2006
Abstract: The work carried out by Professor Olavarría is an effort to describe crime victims in Chile, based on a study using data provided from the 2003 National Urban Study. Together with this description, the study compares the impact of victimization in Chile with its impact in countries included in the United Nations “International Crime Victim Survey”. Finally, it seeks to identify the variables associated with individual victimization incidents. This investigation is centered on the relationships that exist between victimization and personal and contextual characteristics, community participation and neighborhood conditions.
Police-Community Relations Manual: Cases and Solutions
Author: Azun Candina
CESC
Year: 2006
Abstract: This manual is designed to provide material for collaboration in the training of police officers who are willing to carry out this task. It is structured around cases for study and debate: the objective is that users of the manual not only read the information about community relations strategies, but that they also critique what they read, compare it to their own experience and engage in exercises to design alternative methods for crime prevention and conflict resolution.
Prosecution and racial justice: using data to advance fairness in criminal prosecution
Authors: Wayne McKenzie, Don Stemen, Derek Coursen, and Elizabeth Farid
Issue Date: Mar-2009
Publisher: Vera Institute of Justice
Abstract: Vera’s Prosecution and Racial Justice Program (PRJ) works with district attorneys and their staffs to collect and analyze data that can identify inappropriate racial disparities in prosecutorial decision making and guide corrective action when necessary. This report discusses PRJ’s methods and identifies lessons learned from its government partners in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin; Mecklenburg County (Charlotte), North Carolina; and San Diego County, California.
Bridging the language divide: promising practices for law enforcement
Authors: Susan Shah, Rodolfo Estrada,
Issue Date: Feb-2009
Publisher: Vera Institute of Justice
Abstract: Law enforcement officers need to communicate with the people they serve to do their jobs safely and effectively. Yet due to changing demographics across the United States, police officers in many areas interact almost daily with people who do not speak or understand English well. To meet this challenge, a growing number of police agencies are developing programs to effectively communicate with diverse communities. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (the COPS Office) partnered with the Vera Institute of Justice to conduct a national assessment of best practices in the field. This report the result of that assessment describes the most promising practices, highlighting model programs developed by six police agencies. It also includes practical resources, such as job descriptions, to help other agencies adapt or replicate the programs.
The experiences of New York City foster children in HIV/AIDS clinical trials
Authors: Timothy Ross, Anne Lifflander, Sally Trued, Allon Yaroni, Rachel Wetts, Reena Ghadia, and Tania Farmiga
Issue Date: Jan-2009
Publisher: Vera Institute of Justice
Abstract: In 2005, New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services asked the Vera Institute of Justice to conduct an independent review of the experiences of foster children who were enrolled in clinical trials for conditions related to HIV and AIDS beginning in the early 1980s. After interviewing people familiar with the trials, reviewing policy documents, and examining the child welfare files of 796 children, Vera staff identified 532 children who were enrolled in 88 clinical trials and observational research studies. This report identifies the procedures established to enroll and monitor these children, determines whether the procedures were followed, and discusses children’s outcomes. It also includes the recommendations of Vera and its Clinical Trials Advisory Board to help child welfare staff, elected representatives, and community advocates address the concerns raised by some of the findings.
Widening the lens 2008: a panoramic view of juvenile justice in New York State
Authors: Annie Salsich, Paragini Amin, and Ben Estep
Issue Date: Dec-2008
Publisher: Vera Institute of Justice
Abstract: New York State’s juvenile justice system is run by several agencies that each collect and report their own data. Until recently, this data had never been compiled or distributed to offer a comprehensive understanding of the system. To address this problem, CYJ and the New York State Task Force on Juvenile Justice Indicators published the state’s first-ever set of juvenile justice indicators in 2007. Widening the Lens 2008, a follow-up to that publication, tracks four key areas of the juvenile justice system—court referrals, detention, court processing, and disposition—to offer insight into how the system has been operating for the past three years. The report seeks to help officials monitor the system, alert managers to demographic shifts or policy changes, and allow stakeholders to identify promising trends and opportunities for reform.
Proposals for New Orleans' criminal justice system: best practices to advance public safety and justice
Author: Vera Institute of Justice
Issue Date: Jun-2007
Publisher: Vera Institute of Justice
Abstract: Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, destroying not only the city’s infrastructure and the lives of many of its residents, but also its justice system. To identify practical steps can New Orleans take to make its criminal justice system more reliable, effective, and just, the Vera Institute of Justice interviewed key stakeholders—including justice system leaders, representatives of nonprofit research and advocacy groups, and several members of the city council—and reviewed data on how the system has been operating after flooding devastated the city. Specifically, our investigation indicates that New Orleans can improve public safety by pursuing the following new policies or programs: Early triage of cases and routine communication between police and prosecutors; a wider range of pretrial release options, community-service sentencing and greater use of alternatives to prison; and more appropriate and cost-effective sanctions for municipal offenses. For each of these policy areas, this report identifies specific areas of need and proposes solutions that are based on effective practices used in other jurisdictions. Moreover, it focuses on practical steps that over the next six to 12 months promise the “biggest bang for the buck.”
Reconsidering incarceration: new directions for reducing crime
Authors: Don Stemen
Issue Date: Jan-2007
Publisher: Vera Institute of Justice
Abstract: Little empirical study had been done to confirm or refute the effectiveness of incarceration in reducing crime rates when America began its historic reliance on prisons in the 1970s. Today, conversely, policymakers are faced with a large, complex, and sometimes contradictory body of research. This paper seeks to help officials make sense of this information and offers an up-to-date understanding of what works best. It also examines research on several of the other factors that might be developed as part of an expanded notion of public safety. Informed by this more inclusive understanding of current research, it suggests that effective public safety strategies should move away from an exclusive focus on incarceration to embrace other factors associated with low crime rates in a more comprehensive policy framework for safeguarding citizens.
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