Welcome to the summer 2006 edition of In-Sites, where CCDO gives you quick access to important information from the field. This issue includes stories about incorporating teens into the community, cleaning up graffiti, assessing tribes' technological needs, and more.

Table of Contents

Letter From the Director

Letter From the U.S. Attorney

Law Enforcement

Yuma Gang Leader Finally Out of Site

Tribute to a Weed and Seed Icon: Tim Laun

Barricades Go Up, Crime Goes Down

Gun Tracing Program Helps Crack Case

Resources

Community Policing

"Top Cop" Sheriff Lauds Weed and Seed

Keeping a Watch on Gangs in Manchester

Resources

Prevention

The Dynamic Duo: Partners in Cleaning Up their Community

Teens Can Dance If They Want To, and They Do

Resources

Neighborhood Restoration

Graffiti Abatement: Little Things Matter

VITA Centers Reveal Their Success

Resources

Reentry

Citizen Circles Embrace Ex-Offenders, Community

Training Addresses Access to Housing for Former Offenders

Resources

American Indian/Alaska Native

Tribes To Get More Technology Support

Teen Court Gives Youth a Way Out of Trouble

Resources

Letter From the Director

I am very glad to be writing my first letter for In-Sites; in May of this year I was named as the new Director of CCDO. I am, however, quite familiar with CCDO's work, having been at the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ's) Office of Justice Programs for the past 6 years, most recently serving as the Deputy Director for the Office for Victims of Crime.

From 1999 to 2000, I was the Principal Deputy Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) at DOJ. Before coming to the COPS Office, I was Acting Deputy Director of the Bureau of State and Local Affairs for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Prior to my service in Washington, I held public office for 14 years. I also served as the elected County Executive of the most populous county in Delaware and held the post of Delaware State Auditor.

As New Castle County Executive, I made public safety a top priority. I aggressively supported the New Castle County Police Department's community policing program and developed and implemented long-lasting neighborhood stabilization programs. Under my watch, the county also established the New Castle County Community Partnership, an inclusive and effective abuse prevention effort that partners government, law enforcement, business, and nonprofit entities with grassroots community members.

Because I have served in federal, state, and local government, I understand the importance of coalitions. It is my vision that by working together, sharing ideas, and utilizing successful partnerships as models, we can continue to build on the foundations already established through CCDO. The staff members at CCDO are dedicated and will provide guidance and assistance to our constituents in the field.

I am pleased to announce that CCDO's Law Enforcement Conference 2006 (http://www.ccdoconferences.org/lawenforcement) will be held August 14 to 17 at the Phoenix Convention Center. The conference's theme—The Spirit of Service: Enforce, Empower & Revitalize—emphasizes the importance of building a spirit of service not only for support of law enforcement efforts but for the community as a whole. The conference will focus on the latest technology trends in law enforcement to assist communities with preventing and controlling crime.

I am excited about assuming my new position. I look forward to working with you to better our communities throughout the nation.

Sincerely,

Dennis E. Greenhouse
Director
Community Capacity Development Office

Letter From the U.S. Attorney

As a former U.S. Attorney, now serving as Director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, I understand that public safety in every community is uniquely challenged by violent crime. Two U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) initiatives—Weed and Seed and Project Safe Neighborhoods—demonstrate the department's continued commitment to the safety and vitality of our communities and its focus to rid our streets of gangs. Today, crime rates are down, in part because these initiatives have forged stronger partnerships between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

The U.S. Attorneys are fully committed to developing partnerships with and encouraging cooperation among state and local law enforcement agencies and are doing so by facilitating community-driven efforts through the Weed and Seed strategy. Nationwide, approximately 330 Weed and Seed sites are active. In each site, the U.S. Attorney acts as a liaison between CCDO and the local leadership by serving as chair or cochair to the site's Steering Committee. Today, Weed and Seed coordinators are working closely with the district's Assistant U.S. Attorneys and law enforcement coordinators. This collaboration of resources and efforts results in more offender arrests.

Project Safe Neighborhoods has helped fuel historic lows in gun crime throughout the nation, as well as a 30-year low in the violent crime victimization rate. Since the initiative's inception, federal firearms cases have increased by 73 percent. Of defendants charged with federal firearms offenses, 93 percent receive significant jail time (68 percent receiving sentences of 3 or more years). DOJ has hired more than 200 new federal prosecutors to focus on gun crime through Project Safe Neighborhoods, helped hire more than 500 new state and local gun prosecutors through grants, and helped train more than 19,000 people through a comprehensive training and technical assistance program. The President's proposed FY 2007 budget expands on the initiative by including $59 million for state and local law enforcement agencies. These funds will continue to reduce violent gun crime and gang activity.

In February 2006, the Attorney General announced his plan to focus on combating gangs by building on the strategies and partnerships developed under Project Safe Neighborhoods and other anticrime programs. The Attorney General's Anti-Gang initiative selected six pilot districts with significant gang problems to implement a comprehensive anti-gang initiative. These sites are Los Angeles, Cleveland, Dallas-Fort Worth, Milwaukee, Tampa, and the "222 Corridor" that stretches from Easton to Lancaster, PA, near Philadelphia. By implementing this comprehensive initiative, each district will receive $2.5 million in grants that will bring together three essential strategies: prevention, prosecution, and prisoner reentry. The U.S. Attorneys will combine efforts to prevent gang membership by providing youth with better alternatives, intensifying law enforcement efforts against the worst violent gang members, and assisting offenders as they return to a productive life outside of prison. The U.S. Attorneys will lead their districts in utilizing and incorporating local prevention efforts that have successful track records such as Project Safe Neighborhoods and Weed and Seed.

Nationally, the U.S. Attorney community supports a variety of initiatives and projects that are designed to reduce crime in local communities. Weed and Seed, Project Safe Neighborhoods, and other initiatives are tangible examples of the commitment of the U.S. Attorneys and DOJ to enhance the quality of life for all Americans. As Director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, I am committed to working closely with my colleagues to provide support to these initiatives to make our streets safer. If you want to learn more about the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, I encourage you to visit our Web site (http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/eousa).

Michael Battle
Director
Executive Office for United States Attorneys

Law Enforcement

Yuma Gang Leader Finally Out of Site

After years of effort on the part of law enforcement and the Yuma County Attorney's Office, a Yuma gang leader is behind bars and a neighborhood is feeling safe once more.

Raymond Parra effectively terrorized the Carver Neighborhood Weed and Seed Site, taking away its residents' sense of safety and well-being. Parra's house and street, located in the area adjacent to Carver, were the scenes of violent incidents and drug activity. Parra's well-known and feared gang consisted of younger males, many of them in their teens or early twenties. Parra, who is in his early thirties, befriended these youth—inviting them to parties, supplying them with drugs, allowing them to stay at his house—and also cultivated the friendship of many law-abiding adults. For a time, he was even on a local softball team.

"He had two faces: one was the friendly, nice guy, and the other was a violent, intimidating drug dealer and gang leader," said Mary White, the Deputy County Attorney who worked on the case. Parra had the reputation of being untouchable for many years; when incidents occurred at his residence or where he was seen, his associates would take the blame and victims would not make statements.

According to White, Parra's removal has decreased drug and gang activity in the entire area. White is on both the Weed and Seed Steering Committee and the Law Enforcement/Community Policing subcommittee, and she kept everyone apprised of developments in the case. White and the city prosecutor, who was also on the Steering Committee and subcommittee, compared notes at the meetings and took ideas back to their offices.

The County Attorney's Office and the City of Yuma Police Department—both of which are partners in the Weed and Seed initiative—also joined forces with other state and local law enforcement agencies. "There was great collaboration, though it was unofficial," White said. "Everyone cooperated, and we got someone who was a major problem in the community put away."

Maria Gonzalez, Carver Weed and Seed's site coordinator, believes the success of the Parra case has encouraged all the agencies to be more involved with each other. The police gang unit worked very hard on the Parra case, she said. Weed and Seed pays for those officers' overtime, she noted, and she praised their work and said it was desperately needed.

Eventually, the complex prosecution—which involved filing two separate cases alleging drug crimes, crimes of violence, felon in possession of a shotgun, and obtaining guns by means of fraud—resulted in Parra pleading guilty to three felonies. The cases involved numerous witnesses and more than 500 items of potential evidence, including photos, drugs, drug paraphernalia, and guns.

The Parra case taught many in the Weed and Seed site that it is best to wait out situations and thoroughly investigate before arresting someone, Gonzalez said. Without patience and collaboration there could have been grave consequences, she said, such as prosecutors not being properly prepared for court or sensitive information getting back to individuals being investigated, allowing them either to hide or to get rid of evidence.

Parra's gang is no longer feared in Yuma County. Gang members still commit crimes, but they are so scattered that they are no longer feared as the once notorious gang "The Parras." Gonzalez does not see any evidence of a new gang trying to take hold of the area, either. "I think the neighbors are aware of their surroundings and any suspicious person or activity would have been reported by now."

"I do not hear the rumors that were so prevalent before Ray Parra was arrested," Gonzalez said. "Actually you don't hear about them at all. I guess the neighborhood is finally at peace."

For more information, contact:
Mary White
Deputy County Attorney
mary.white@co.yuma.az.us

Tribute to a Weed and Seed Icon: Tim Laun
By Pete Laun, Former LECC, Northern District of New York

Captain Timothy T. Laun, a long-time advocate of the Weed and Seed strategy, died on April 30. He was posthumously awarded the rank of Deputy Chief of Police of Syracuse, NY, after serving as Commander of the Syracuse Police Department's Special Investigations Division (SID) for more than 4 years.

Since 1996, when Syracuse began its Northside site (the first to achieve "Official Recognition" in New York State), Laun was known and respected by people involved with Weed and Seed. More recently, as the Commander of SID, Laun was responsible for the design, operation, and reporting of the frequent Weed and Seed law enforcement details. These included drug "buy-bust" details, prostitution sweeps and stings, and special arrest and search warrant details. These programs became models of how to design, run, and report Weed and Seed special operations. They were productive, safely run, and included federal, state, county, and local police.

Laun teamed with the law enforcement coordinator for the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York to present workshops on how to design and report Weed and Seed Task Force operations to meet the needs of any community. He became a regular speaker at CCDO's national conferences, meeting with Weed and Seed members at Buffalo's Law Enforcement Conference, at CCDO's National Conference in Los Angeles last year, and at the strategy conference in Birmingham this past March.

The only son of a now-retired Syracuse deputy chief of fire, Laun began his law enforcement career as a police dispatcher while still a teenager. He went on to become a highly decorated police officer, winning more than 20 departmental medals, including 5 medals for heroism and courage. In 2003, he received an award from the Ontario Provincial Police for saving a woman's life while on vacation there.

But Laun was no stranger to activities that filled up his "off-duty" time. He was an active member of a local volunteer fire department and a shift supervisor at the local 911 center. He also became involved in counter-terrorism investigations and operations. In true Weed and Seed tradition, Laun connected with the citizens in neighborhoods, often giving them his cellular phone number so they could call him with problems, whether he was on duty or not.

As outstanding as Laun was at his public service career, he was even more outstanding as a father; his life revolved around his love for his 4-year-old son, Billy. At one time, Laun had even turned down a promotion to deputy chief because of his commitment to his son, according to Syracuse Police Chief Gary Miguel.

Miguel promoted Laun to this rank on May 1, 2006, after Laun suffered an unexpected and lethal heart attack while at home with his son the evening before. Laun's love for his son was foremost to the very end. Even after the onset of his heart attack symptoms, he called his family to come and care for his son. His last instructions to his sister when she arrived were to go and take care of Billy.

At Laun's funeral, many neighbors joined the hundreds of mourners representing several law enforcement agencies and fire departments, as well as family and friends who came to pay their last respects. Community members told stories of calling Laun with problems or of working with him, and of his timely and appropriate service. The mayor of Syracuse and chiefs of the Police and Fire Departments, along with the U.S. Attorney, county executive, legislators, local prosecutors, and judges waited hours to say goodbye in a line that extended more than a block outside the funeral home. The Weed and Seed network that Laun built and worked with was very evident that day.

Laun was very special to all who knew him and will be remembered for his "cool under fire" good humor and his drive to make life better. Of all of his accomplishments, however, he would be most proud to be remembered as the devoted "Father of Billy." The Weed and Seed community is richer for having known him.

Editor's note: Pete Laun is Tim Laun's uncle. He worked very closely with him, teaching the Weed and Seed strategy. CCDO created the Nicholas Sloan Award of Valor to recognize those law enforcement officers in Weed and Seed sites who lost their lives in the line of duty; awards will be presented at the Law Enforcement Conference in Phoenix, August 14-17, 2006. Because Tim Laun did not die in the line of duty, he is not eligible for the award, but his work was so central to the success of Weed and Seed that his story is told here.

Barricades Go Up, Crime Goes Down

In Baltimore, MD, the police are fighting crime with old-fashioned ideas fashioned in new ways.

The Safe Zone project targets high-crime districts for 1 month's time. Police "hold down" an area of high violence and/or drug activity by increasing police presence and blocking off all traffic from 2 to 10 p.m. daily, allowing only residents and people who have legitimate business in the area to enter. The unusual step of almost quarantining a neighborhood and the basic step of having more cops walking the beat have worked well so far.

The project was established jointly by Operation Crime Watch, the Mayor's Office of Neighborhoods, the Baltimore City Police Department, and the Baltimore Police Public Housing Section. Piloted in the western district last year, the police department decided to take the project citywide in 2006.

In Baltimore, drug activity is neighborhood based, and therefore organizing residents in crime prevention and reduction activities is an essential part of gang intervention and gang violence prevention. Community involvement is key to the success of Safe Zone, explained Kevin D. Cleary, the Operation Crime Watch Coordinator of the Mayor's Office of Neighborhoods. The zones can get hot again after police presence is less noticeable, but if residents are partners with police it is more difficult for the drug dealers to get a foothold again, he said.

The sponsoring agencies hold resource fairs and youth nights during the Safe Zone period. Ten to fifteen local agencies participate in these events by staffing booths, doing field work, and providing advocacy and referral services to residents. On youth nights, police play basketball and street hockey and conduct other recreational activities with youth. Police also provide free cookouts during the fairs.

"The goal is to present a visible presence and let law-abiding residents come out of their houses to obtain much-needed resources," said Lou Takacs, Public Safety Coordinator for the Washington Village/Pigtown Neighborhood Planning Council. "[Safe Zones] change the environment and peoples' perception of the police and their community."

When the project began and the first Safe Zone established, residents did not get enough advance notice and therefore did not react well, according to Takacs, but the planning for Safe Zones is now much more extensive. Community leaders are informed, and the Mayor's Office of Neighborhoods and the Baltimore City Department of Social Services reach out directly to residents, providing lists of city services and fliers with safety information. Now the residents are pleased with the Safe Zone project and more interested in helping the police.

Getting the community involved and having residents be more willing to call 911 in an emergency is another police objective. People often are afraid to get involved for fear of retaliation by drug dealers. Citizens are therefore encouraged to sign up for Crime Watch numbers. People who have these numbers can call 911 without the responding patrol car knowing the caller's location or telephone number. Citywide, more than 6,400 citizens have signed up for Crime Watch numbers.

The results and an evaluation of all the Safe Zone projects are still being compiled, but early statistics are impressive. In some of the worst areas, no crime was reported in the area during the period, which Cleary declared to be "almost unheard of" for such violent neighborhoods. Criminal activity seems to be suppressed when a Safe Zone is present. A lot of the drug activity appears to be directly tied to specific houses, which may explain why the violence is not being displaced to an adjacent area. Anecdotally, district commanders are saying crime is down, Cleary said.

"The people are thrilled," Cleary said. "It's the first time in a long time there was peace and quiet in the streets.

For further information, contact:
Kevin Cleary
Operation Crime Watch Coordinator
kevin.cleary@baltimorecity.gov

Gun Tracing Program Helps Crack Case

Interagency linkages and gun tracing have helped lead to the identification, arrest, and extradition of a man believed to have killed a police officer in Virginia. And the gun tracing practices used grew, in part, from a Weed and Seed site's planning process.

On November 26, 2005, members of the Yonkers Police Department's (YPD's) Task Force, Safe Streets Initiative, saw a drug transaction in the Nodine Hill area. After a struggle with police, two men were taken into custody and 420 bags of marijuana were seized from a vacant apartment nearby. One man was charged with selling and possessing drugs and resisting arrest while the other was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, resisting arrest, and obstructing governmental administration.

The case did not end there, however. While searching the apartment, police found a Glock 17 9mm handgun that was reported stolen in Virginia in October 2005. YPD traced the weapon and learned that it had belonged to police officer Stanley Reaves of the Norfolk (Virginia) Police Department. Reaves was killed in the line of duty on October 28, 2005, and his gun was stolen at the time of the shooting.

YPD detectives identified the current owner of the gun, Thomas A. Porter, who was later arrested in White Plains, NY. He has since been extradited to Virginia to stand trial for the murder of Officer Reaves, and the Norfolk Police Department has recovered Reaves' handgun and a box of ammunition, thanks, in part, to the City of Yonkers' Weed and Seed site.

When Yonkers established its Weed and Seed site in 2004, the Weed and Seed planning process highlighted gun trafficking as a major local problem, which led YPD to expand its gun tracing efforts. The Weed and Seed planning process also led YPD to formally join the Project Safe Neighborhoods Task Force that was convened by the U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of New York, which further focused local efforts on reducing gun-related violence.

YPD's participation in these federally supported collaborations also led to an award of additional law enforcement funding from New York Operation Impact, a state-funded multiagency law enforcement initiative patterned after Project Safe Neighborhoods, which later provided additional funding for gun tracing. The strategies, linkages, and focus spurred by Weed and Seed worked in Yonkers to help bring a police officer's killer to justice.

For more information, contact:
Officer Roberta West
Yonkers Police Department
914–377–7352

Resources

Using Closed-Circuit Television To Fight Crime
Video Surveillance of Public Places reviews the use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems as a problem-oriented policing response to crime. The guide explores the benefits and problems associated with CCTV and summarizes the findings of numerous evaluations.
View it on the Web: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/mime/open.pdf?Item=1693

Tackling Gangs
Solutions to Address Gang Crime includes a toolkit for addressing specific gang-related problems; links to resources describing law enforcement responses, gang activity in specific populations, criminal behavior of gangs, and statistics and research; and links to related Web sites. This online resource is also available as a CD-ROM (http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.asp?Item=1543), which includes a video documenting the 2003 Herman Goldstein Award Winner and Finalists.
View it on the Web: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/html/cd_rom/solution_gang_crime/index.htm

Targeting the Most Violent Criminals
According to Violent Crime Impact Teams (VCIT) Initiative: Focus on Partnerships, partnerships are an essential component of the VCIT initiative's success. VCITs identify, target, disrupt, arrest, and prosecute the most violent criminals in targeted community hotspots through the use of innovative technologies, analytical investigative resources, and an integrated strategy. Interviews with site supervisors examine how existing relationships with other agencies and communities were strengthened and how new, solid relationships were formed.
View it on the Web: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/mime/open.pdf?Item=1722

Getting the Latest Administrative Statistics
Local Police Departments, 2003 and Sheriffs' Offices, 2003 present data collected from a representative sample of local police departments and sheriffs' offices nationwide through the 2003 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics survey. National estimates cover issues such as staff and financial resources, technology and equipment in use, and agency policies and practices.
View it on the Web: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/lpd03.htm

Knowing Your Benefits
The Public Safety Officer Benefits (PSOB) Program provides disability benefits to officers who have been permanently disabled in the line of duty and death benefits and educational assistance to eligible survivors of officers who have fallen in the line of duty. PSOB.gov (https://www.psob.gov/) allows people to apply online for officers' benefits, greatly streamlining the claims process.
View it on the Web: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/grant/psob/psob_main.html

Community Policing

"Top Cop" Sheriff Lauds Weed and Seed

When there's a new sheriff in town, you expect things to change. In St. Johns County, FL, one of the top priorities for Sheriff David B. Shoar was to get more funding and personnel dedicated to Weed and Seed.

A former chief of police in St. Augustine, FL, Shoar became sheriff of St. Johns County last year and immediately supported the Weed and Seed mission. Just as the West Augustine Weed and Seed site started up, he secured funding for a new full-time deputy and agreed to serve on the site's Steering Committee. He has encouraged his community policing unit to spend time with residents to earn their trust. "Before you go in and start weeding, you need to start seeding trust," Shoar explained.

The response from the community has been positive, according to Patti Greenough, Site Coordinator for the West Augustine Weed and Seed and Executive Director of EPIC Community Services, Inc., and there has been a "huge" increase in police presence. Efforts are underway to help residents be more engaged with the community and feel more comfortable contacting the police. Greenough praised Shoar for his accessibility, success in raising the Weed and Seed profile, close relationship with Weed and Seed, and for helping the site accomplish more. "We couldn't do half of what we do without the Sheriff's Office," she said.

All this work may make Shoar a hero in some people's minds, and some have already recognized him for his achievements. Shoar became something of a national hero as he garnered the most votes in a "Top Cop" online contest of America's Most Wanted, the television show that helps find criminals. He won the $10,000 prize and promptly handed it over to Steve Bailey, a former deputy who suffered a debilitating stroke and is now in a wheelchair. Shoar's gesture inspired other community members to give money to Bailey and at last count $40,000 has been donated.

Drug trafficking is the area's biggest problem, and Shoar is targeting career criminals with a dedicated unit and hoping to get those perpetrators who commit the most crimes sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Shoar admits more needs to be done with the prison population regarding reentry into the community and drug treatment. Last year, an in-jail drug treatment program was started, and Shoar said there are plans to build a prison farm with a detox unit and transition center.

Shoar made it clear that "law enforcement is not the answer," though people want it to be; parents have to become more involved with their children and the private sector needs to partner more with the community, he said. The holistic approach and emphasis on sustainability are cornerstones of the Weed and Seed philosophy. "Weed and Seed has worked in other places," Shoar said. "I hope and pray that the community embraces it."

For more information, contact:
Patti Greenough
Executive Director, EPIC Community Services, Inc.
patti@epiccommunityservices.org

Keeping Watch on Gangs in Manchester

Thoughts of summer usually include sunny afternoons and ice cream, but the residents of Manchester, NH, are keeping an eye out for less innocent things.

Gang activity has been on the rise over the past few years and gangs have been pushing toward Manchester from other areas. With an excellent highway system and a diverse community—attributes that police say attract gang members—Manchester was becoming a gang destination, and soon graffiti began dotting the region.

At first, residents were very concerned but not well-informed, says Nicole Rodler, the Weed and Seed Site Coordinator. Last summer, Rodler explained, the media played up certain incidents and residents panicked. So Weed and Seed and the police began communicating to the community all that they could about the growing gang problem and put more resources into fighting gangs. Now, with a full-time gang intelligence officer who works very closely with Weed and Seed and a steady flow of information from the police to the community, Rodler feels things have changed a lot. "The residents are more hopeful," she said. "They are being preventive instead of reactionary."

The police are looking at how to target the problem most effectively and at the same time involve the community as the situation changes. They are using surveillance patrols to catalog and identify graffiti and then to arrest "taggers" and make examples of them. Rodler is in contact with the police about reallocating "weeding" funds from prostitution details to these graffiti stings.

The Manchester Police Department believed that its officers could make the biggest impact before summer began and gang activity increased. The department also plans to hold training events for parents so everyone can be on the lookout for indicators of gang involvement. Community informational meetings are also being held.

Residents appear to be taking their own participation seriously. Eight neighborhood watches are now active in the Weed and Seed neighborhood, and residents continue to take part in the police department's Citizens' Police Academy, a 9-week program designed to inform citizens about the role of the agency in their community. Graduates of the academy often work as volunteers in police substations.

"We're trying to educate the community as well as being educated by them," said Sergeant Kevin Kincaid, the Community Policing Unit Supervisor. Overall, relations are good between the police and residents, according to Kincaid. "Certain neighborhoods are not as willing to work with us, but we're all going in the right direction," he said.

Kincaid attributes much of that positive interaction to Weed and Seed's involvement. "All the networking is in place," he said. "We all know each other."

For more information, contact:
Nicole Rodler
Manchester Weed and Seed Coordinator
nrodler@manchesternh.gov

Sgt. Kevin Kincaid
Community Policing Unit Supervisor
603–668–8711

Resources

Training Regionally
The Regional Community Policing Institute Handbook describes the institute's training network and provides informative briefs for each institute within the network. The network trains law enforcement professionals and the citizens they serve on region-specific community policing issues.
View it on the Web: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/mime/open.pdf?Item=1690

Partnering To Address Domestic Violence
Police-Community Partnerships to Address Domestic Violence presents methods and findings from a study of such partnerships, reviews literature on the issue, and offers case studies of 11 local law enforcement agencies that have formed police-community partnerships to address domestic violence. The report highlights successful strategies, lists barriers, and offers recommendations for overcoming these barriers.
View it on the Web: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.asp?Item=1681

Prevention

The Dynamic Duo: Partners in Cleaning Up Their Community
By Renita K. Minor, Community Coordinator

It all started when Walter and Pat Bollinger looked around and saw that their community had all the trappings of a problem neighborhood—drugs, prostitution, trash, tall weeds, and abandoned cars. Neighbors complained and wanted something done, but they didn't want to help.

"I thought, 'How can kids become great kids when they're faced with all of this,'" recalled Pat. Although she is normally a soft-spoken person, Pat was not afraid to get loud when it came to taking back the community.

At first the Bollingers thought no one would listen to them or take them seriously, especially because they had lived in their home for more than 7 years and had never gotten involved before. But after hearing more and more gun shots near their home in 1998, Pat shared her feelings and concerns with the Keep Indianapolis Beautiful organization and then with the Indianapolis Police Department and community leaders. She attended community meetings and learned about Westside Weed and Seed and some of its programs. As a couple, the Bollingers also went to meetings about community policing and meetings of the Westside Cooperative Organization, Inc. (an umbrella organization, also referred to as WESCO, that serves other neighborhoods as well as the Weed and Seed area), and they were asked to become crime watch residents for their neighborhood.

So the Bollingers enrolled in the Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center's (INRC) Leadership Academy. INRC is a private, nonprofit organization that provides tools, training, and skills to neighborhood organizations and residents so they can effectively address the issues that affect their neighborhood's quality of life. Through INRC, the Bollingers learned how to make motions at meetings, how to take minutes, and how to become effective leaders. They also took two Spanish classes through WESCO/Westside Weed and Seed's Hispanic Informational Neighborhood Taskforce on Sensitivity (H.I.N.T.S.) program to better work with the Hispanic population, which is growing rapidly throughout the neighborhood.

In addition, the Bollingers rolled up their sleeves and got involved with Westside Weed and Seed. They supervised youth at the local shopping mall and spoke out about crime and other issues that plagued their community on the "13 Listens" television station that invites residents to come in and talk about community issues. They also set up a tire dropoff campaign to get rid of the many tires abandoned in the neighborhood, and thus helped get rid of mosquitoes, which were breeding in the standing water left in these tires every time it rained.

As a couple, the Bollingers also developed a crime watch club in 1998 for which Pat is recruiting new residents today. Since then, this "dynamic duo" has been involved in Crime Watch Captain trainings; the Citizen's Police Academy; National Night Out; Operation My Town—Keep Indianapolis Beautiful; Adopt a Median (at Concord and Walnut Streets); after-curfew street sweeps with police officers and Marion County prosecutors; and cleanups on their own and with the community, to name a few. Walter is now a Citizen's Volunteer Police Officer, and, as a couple, the Bollingers have received numerous awards and certificates.

"After working with Westside Weed and Seed and seeing all the positive changes in our neighborhood—crime down, cleaner areas, more residents coming to community policing and other meetings to report drug houses and crime, and especially the relationship Walter and I have built with our police department since 1998—there's no way we will back up now, despite being harassed, threatened, and not being liked by some of our neighbors," Pat vowed.

Now in their mid-50s, Pat and Walter are still the "dynamic duo" in their neighborhood. They are very active in community policing meetings, neighborhood cleanups, scouting out abandoned houses and cars, and reporting illegal activities. They continue to get neighbors involved in community events such as National Night Out, the Annual Roundball Challenge, and the Neighborhood Alliance for Child Safety.

For more information, contact:
Renita Minor
Westside Weed and Seed Community Coordinator
indywesco@aol.com

Teens Can Dance If They Want To, and They Do
By Ivette Estrada, CCDO Program Manager

Incorporating teens into the community is a difficult job. Steering them away from the pressure to use drugs and alcohol is often an even bigger mission, but not for the Westside/South Valley Albuquerque Weed and Seed site. Its dances are bringing teens inside and off the streets and their parents love it.

"The Spot" at the Alamosa Community Center is a drug-free place where teens come to dance on Friday nights, usually on a monthly basis. Teens are able to interact socially with other teens, adults, and law enforcement officials at the dances, which are open to middle and high school students. On average, 200 to 250 teens attend, and many of them take a lead role in organizing the dances by selecting themes and music.

The South Valley Male Involvement Project, sponsored by the New Mexico Department of Health, presented the idea of holding dances to the Seed Committee as a way to engage youth. The goals of the project are to reduce sexually transmitted diseases in teenagers, teen pregnancy, and teen violence through healthy recreational activities. During the dances, organizers hand out promotional items to test the teens' awareness and knowledge of health issues and the community center displays information about safe health practices on screens. Dance organizers enforce a strict dress code (e.g., no gang attire), and teens pass through metal detectors and are subject to searches as well. Anyone who misbehaves at a dance is not allowed to attend future events.

By leveraging resources, the City of Albuquerque pays for a professional DJ and use of the center. The Albuquerque Police Department provides security by assigning officers to the dances. The South Valley Male Involvement Project donates staff time to dances as well as meetings.

"As a result of these dances, the teens feel valued and respected by the adults," said Dolores Herrera, Site Coordinator for the Albuquerque Westside/South Valley Weed and Seed site. "They are held up to high standards of behavior and in return trust is established between the youth and adults."

Brian Serna, who helps run the South Valley Male Involvement Project, agrees with Herrera, saying the youth now have an opportunity to network, which gives them a sense of respect and acceptance and a feeling of being safe. "Through these events, kids must conform to rules which make them act accordingly and positively influence their character and morale," he said.

Recruitment is a challenge, though. According to Serna, "It's tough competing with the alternative of drinking and using drugs. It's a high-poverty area, transportation is difficult—the infrastructure is not there." His team invites youth to reach out to their friends, create fliers announcing the dances, and identify individual youth's talents. The fliers are posted at the Eastside Albuquerque and Westside/South Valley sites. Organizers also track attendees by ZIP Code when teens sign in at the dance (signing in is voluntary).

The dances have been rewarding for the community, establishing a true collaboration between service providers, youth, parents, and law enforcement. In addition, parents' reactions to the dances are favorable, according to Serna. "They see police cars and it makes them feel happy and secure. For them, no news is good news."

For more information, contact:
Dolores Herrera
Westside/South Valley Weed and Seed Site Coordinator
dsherrera@cabq.gov

Resources

Helping High School Dropouts
Whatever It Takes: How Twelve Communities Are Reconnecting Out-of-School Youth provides background information on high school dropouts and describes what 12 communities are doing to reconnect these youth to education and employment training opportunities.
View it on the Web: http://www.aypf.org/publications/WhateverItTakes/WITfull.pdf

Serving Youth During Nonschool Hours
Helping Youth Succeed Through Out-of-School Time Programs reviews research on such programs, considers their capacity to meet the needs of youth, and provides policy guidance on how to sustain effective out-of-school time programs.
View it on the Web: http://www.aypf.org/publications/HelpingYouthOST2006.pdf

Neighborhood Restoration

Graffiti Abatement: Little Things Matter
By Kerry L. Goodwin, Site Coordinator

It's often said that little things don't matter. It's a well-known fact that most "Weed and Seeders" take for granted that broken windows, graffiti, and litter—although all are nuisances—are just part of the job. They are a mess to clean up, and they take time, money, and energy away from other things—bigger things.

But, little things do matter.

Dallas, like many big cities, is learning that when people work together and attack small problems, bigger problems become easier to address. During the past several months, the combined efforts of East Dallas Weed and Seed, Ferguson Road Initiative Weed and Seed, Pleasant Grove Weed and Seed, and hundreds of volunteers, other community partners, and the Dallas City Council have had a big impact on the "taggers and gang bangers" who force their "street art" on the community.

Earlier this spring, volunteers spent a Saturday cleaning up and filled more than 100 trash bags with litter from the streets of the Ferguson Road Initiative and Ferguson Road Initiative 2-Points sites. The volunteers also attacked dozens of graffiti sites within the immediate target area. The lessons learned from this early foray resulted in more than 700 volunteers gathering on May 20 for the first annual citywide Graffiti Wipe Out 2006.

Private companies and community organizations donated more than $40,000 in supplies to combat this problem, which degrades neighborhoods and lowers property values. Students from Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas joined hundreds of other volunteers to scrub, scour, and paint over the graffiti on more than 200 buildings, bridges, and other structures throughout the city. All volunteers were treated to a free lunch and music at Dallas City Hall after the event, courtesy of area restaurants and businesses.

To the surprise of some volunteers, including a Dallas city councilperson, one "tagger" appeared to replace his art before the Graffiti Wipe Out paint was even dry. Fortunately, this Weed and Seed and volunteer activity coincided with increased efforts at Dallas City Hall to stop the proliferation of graffiti by increasing the consequences for those caught or suspected of producing it. A quick call to 911 resulted in the tagger's immediate arrest. When graffiti appears and no one cares enough to scrub it off, or when litter accumulates and no one stops to pick it up, serious damage can begin. In a relatively short time, the neighborhood may become damaged beyond the residents' and other stakeholders' ability and desire to fix it, and neglect sets in. Soon, the sense of abandonment felt by the residents becomes reality.

Attacking small and petty problems is rarely a waste of time, according to the "broken window" theory, which states that in a decaying neighborhood, people feel vulnerable and begin to withdraw. Residents become less willing to intervene in problems, maintain public order, or address physical signs of deterioration; offenders become bolder; and crime increases. This happened in the Dallas community. The "broken window" theory suggests that strategies designed to establish neighborhood order help to deter and reduce crime.

Indeed, since the neighborhood was cleaned up, business has begun to return, investments are being made, and new homes are being built. The Ferguson Road Initiative's Weed and Seed target area has helped bring nearly $40 million in growth to the immediate Ferguson Road Weed and Seed target area in the past 5 years. Violent crime is down 61 percent, and overall crime has fallen 27 percent—all true testaments to the value of Weed and Seed.

For more information, contact:
Kerry L. Goodwin
Ferguson Road Initiative and 2 Points Community Site Coordinator
wscoordinator@sbcglobal.net

VITA Centers Reveal Their Success
By Colleen Copple, CCDO Partnerships Coordinator

A simple volunteer program that helps people file their tax returns has become a runaway success.

In partnership with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), CCDO opened 50 new Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Centers in Weed and Seed sites in 2005 to increase the number of low- to moderate-income families who claim Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) (for working families earning less than $37,263 per year) and Child Tax Credits. The 50 centers processed more than 11,000 tax returns worth more than $15 million in tax refunds and credits during the January–April 2006 tax season.

CCDO builds the capacity of Weed and Seed sites to offer VITA services by providing a networked computer lab in each site. The computer lab allows VITA Centers to process income tax returns electronically. More than half of the new sites processed 100 or more tax returns in this startup year.

Many VITA Center coordinators and volunteers worked hard to launch the new centers. Local and regional IRS offices provided software, training, and technical assistance to each of the new VITA Centers, which were instrumental to their success.

Two examples provide a picture of what successful VITA Centers look like and the level of commitment from staff and volunteers needed to produce results.

The Hamilton Heights Weed and Seed site in St. Louis, MO, partnering with the Friendly Temple Church, helped to complete more than 2,000 tax returns worth more than $2 million in tax refunds and EITC to Weed and Seed residents. The church provided this service as part of its community ministry. Five homes for senior citizens were provided with onsite help. In addition, residents were referred to other services when needed, including health, counseling, transportation, senior housing, youth development, and leadership development services. More than 45 volunteers donated over 2,600 hours of their time.

The Crown/Farnsworth Weed and Seed site in West Valley City, UT, partnered with the West Valley Assembly of God to operate a VITA Center in the church's West Valley Community Center (WVCC). In addition to its existing computer lab, WVCC partnered with American Express to obtain three laptop computers to provide mobile income tax preparation services for hard-to-reach or underserved populations (particularly Hispanic and immigrant communities). CCDO matched that donation. WVCC provided mobile VITA services at the Deaf Center, Job Corps, churches with large limited English proficiency populations, and nursing homes and homes for senior citizens. WVCC completed more than 625 tax returns and generated more than $500,000 in tax refunds, EITC, and Child Tax Credits for Weed and Seed residents.

For more information, contact:
Desmond Leong
Friendly Temple Church VITA Coordinator
314–612–4403

John Udseth
West Valley Community Center VITA Center
801–403–5330

Resources

Partnering Against Crime
Partnering With Businesses To Address Public Safety Problems discusses the impact of crime against business and the roles businesses play in contributing to crime. It presents and analyzes forms of partnerships and strategies for forming partnerships and concludes with examples of police-business partnerships and programs.
View it on the Web: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/mime/open.pdf?Item=1702

Reentry

Citizen Circles Embrace Ex-Offenders, Community

One of Bobbie Herron-Boyer's favorite training exercises for people interested in helping ex-offenders reenter the community involves giving everyone a string.

The intersecting strings, which represent all the different factors and forces in the life of an ex-offender (e.g., family, job, corrections), show how overwhelming accountability and responsibility can be. "It's chaos," said Herron-Boyer, a consultant and community resource specialist for the U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Ohio. "It's not surprising [trainees] drop the strings. The system needs to be organized."

Herron-Boyer developed the concept of Citizen Circles, a model that involves many people in the successful reentry of ex-offenders. Essentially, corrections and parole officers, specialists, and trained laypeople work with returning offenders to ensure a more successful reentry. Each Circle, made up of 25 to 30 participants, monitors the ex-offenders' progress, interviews applicants to the program, helps coordinate case management, and reviews the histories of both successful and unsuccessful returning offenders.

The Citizen Circles model is based on a strength-based approach, where more attention is paid to what ex-prisoners are doing right rather than to just their mistakes and problems. The model asks people to change their mindsets and see ex-offenders as people with potential who can bring value to the community. Citizen Circles focus on seven areas: employment, family, social interaction, substance abuse, community functioning, personal/emotional orientation, and attitude.

To Herron-Boyer, the corrections officers and faith-based groups that she saw working with the ex-offender population meant well, but they lectured the ex-offenders and she believed they needed to use a more integrated approach. "You have to look at what are the capabilities of ex-offenders," she said. "Look at the positive things first."

All Circle participants undergo mandatory training to help them alter their perceptions of prisoners and form a more solid support system for returning offenders. Many participants have found the learning process transforming and have changed in how they understand ex-offenders, Herron-Boyer said.

A Citizen Circle is a great forum for educating and informing the public about corrections, ex-offenders, substance abuse, and mental health, according to Scott Sylak, Executive Director of Lucas County Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime. "It allows the community to become part of the solution in dealing with ex-offenders," Sylak, who has worked with Herron-Boyer, said. "This empowers the community to take part in solving their own problems."

Herron-Boyer sees the model as balancing support from corrections with that from the community. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction recognizes the importance of citizen participation and guidance, declaring it "essential for correctional practices inside and outside institutions " (http://www.drc.state.oh.us/web/citizen/citizencircle.htm).

Herron-Boyer is just beginning to work with Weed and Seed sites in a more comprehensive fashion. The first Citizen Circle was established in the Toledo Weed and Seed site; today, Ohio has between 20 and 25 Circles. Although getting a site involved in something new is sometimes challenging, Herron-Boyer believes Circles support the Weed and Seed goals and that Weed and Seed sites can be a "perfect match" for Circles.

Citizen Circles are unique to Ohio, but other states are interested in replicating the concept. Whether the Circles model will expand to the entire country remains to be seen. Herron-Boyer is interested in marketing the Circle concept and developing more training opportunities. Sylak thinks that communities will consider Circles when they are ready for them. "Communities looking for solutions will seek these types of programs out," Sylak said. "We need to be ready to respond when that happens."

For more information, contact:
Bobbie Herron-Boyer
Community Resource Specialist
bobbie@woh.rr.com

Training Addresses Access to Housing for Former Offenders

A new training curriculum—"Housing for a Second Chance: Family, Government and Community Partnerships for Housing People Involved in the Criminal Justice System" (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ccdo/programs/lisc_cdrom.pdf)—addresses the housing challenges and opportunities facing former offenders. With this curriculum, training participants work through case studies, draft sample lease language, and navigate road maps for developing partnerships among law enforcement officials, service providers, and housing organizations.

Because no two communities are exactly alike, the curriculum can be tailored locally. Pilot training sessions held in Toledo, OH, and Providence, RI, provided participants with the opportunity to discuss and dispel the myths about reentry housing. As one training participant reflected, "I will apply how my company enforces its Tenant Selection Criteria in renting affordable units with a more sensitive and flexible review approach to screening individuals with criminal backgrounds."

One of the challenges was to create an effective training for the range of organizations a Weed and Seed site could employ in addressing this issue, such as housing providers, service providers, and police, probation, and parole officers. However, this interagency training provides a unique opportunity for focused discussion among the many organizations that are concerned about adequate and safe housing options for returning offenders. "The most useful/helpful aspect of the training was the opportunity for property managers to sit down at the same table as reentry advocates," commented another participant, "and have both sides come to an appreciation of each other's concerns about tenants."

The Local Initiatives Support Corporation's Community Safety Initiative (LISC CSI) developed the CCDO-funded curriculum in partnership with Family Justice. LISC CSI has long been a partner of CCDO, providing training and technical assistance to a number of Weed and Seed sites where community development corporations are primary partners.

LISC CSI can provide customized onsite training. The curriculum also is available on CD-ROM.

For more information:
Visit CCDO's Web site at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ccdo/programs/reentry.html

or contact

Marisa Omori
CSI Program Intern
csi@lisc.org

Resources

Protecting the Public
Prisoner Reentry and Community Policing: Strategies for Enhancing Public Safety describes the effects of prisoner reentry on communities and the impact on community safety and public perceptions of crime. The report highlights specific examples from the field regarding how new police roles in prisoner reentry have been put into practice across the nation.
View it on the Web: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/mime/open.pdf?Item=1701

Confronting Confinement, Easing Reentry
Confronting Confinement examines the state of prisons in America today after a year of research, public hearings, visits, and interviews by the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons. The report highlights some major reentry issues.
View it on the Web: http://www.prisoncommission.org/report.asp

American Indian/Alaska Native

Tribes To Get More Technology Support

For all those who don't know what a server does or how to fix glitches in their computer systems, help is on the way—in a slim 5- by 8-inch plastic case.

The Tribal Justice Information Sharing System (TJISS) is developing a DVD that will help tribes assess their technological needs and how best to fulfill them. TJISS is mailing pamphlets to all tribes to spread the word. The free DVD will be available in a couple of months.

TJISS advises tribes on which equipment to purchase for their needs and provides technical support through its toll-free number, 1–877–47–TJISS. The idea for the DVD stemmed from the high number of calls TJISS was receiving from tribes with computer problems. It is designed to help people who are not computer savvy learn what equipment they really need and how to shield themselves from predatory software and hardware vendors.

Philip D. Propes, a program director for the Center for Information Technology Engineering who is managing the DVD project, said that many tribes have limited technical personnel, and a lack of computer know-how can lead to inappropriate spending. According to Propes, one tribe was sold a $100,000 server that TJISS found elsewhere costing only $10,000. "Unfortunately, that's not a unique type of story," he said.

The DVD, which is being developed in collaboration with the White Earth Tribe in Minnesota, will expand on the information in TJISS's self-assessment questionnaire, a basic tool that helps tribal organizations better determine their computer technology strengths and weaknesses. Propes believes the questionnaire is too technical for many people and that the DVD will be more helpful.

TJISS also will release an online "knowledge base" this summer through which people can ask questions and find solutions to their problems. For example, if a printer is not working, a user can enter relevant information and get a list of PDF files that outline different possibilities for fixing the problem. Some companies, such as Microsoft, have similar help systems, but their systems only work for their own products. The TJISS system will work for any brand. TJISS, which began in 2004, is part of the Tribal Technology Information Outreach Program of the Center for Information Technology Engineering at the National Center for Rural Law Enforcement (NCRLE). NCRLE is a division of the Criminal Justice Institute, which is part of the University of Arkansas system.

For more information, contact:
Philip Propes
Program Director
pdpropes@ncrle.net

Teen Court Gives Youth a Way Out of Trouble

Because the Choctaw people do not want to give up on youth in trouble, they send them to court and let teenagers decide what to do.

The Teen Court of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians puts the fate of young offenders squarely on the shoulders of the offenders themselves—and their peers. The court, a voluntary alternative to the Tribal Youth Court system, is for youth from ages 13 to 18 who have entered the justice system for the first time.

Teen court is a great equalizer, according to Daniel Mittan, Director of Choctaw Tribal Court Services. It gives kids an option that can steer them away from the vicious cycle of probation, jail, and future offenses.

In teen court, the attorneys, bailiffs, clerks, and jurors are all teenage volunteers. Sentences are determined by teen jurors and then reviewed by an adult teen court judge. Defendants may be sentenced to perform community service, abide by a curfew, serve on the jury, make restitution, write a report, and/or apologize for their behavior and any harm it caused. The sentences are intended to help defendants learn from the consequences of their actions and to rebuild the broken relationships caused by their crime.

Restitution and reconciliation are important parts of the program. Participants must take responsibility for their actions, provide restitution to victims, receive appropriate punishment, and learn more productive ways of living.

"Teen court is not for everyone," Mittan cautions. "Teen court can't help every kid. But it can help a significant number of them."

About 40 youth are participating in teen court this year. After 1 year in the program and some training, offenders can stay with the program as volunteers. The melding of teen criminals with reformed teen criminals turned volunteers works well and allows for mentoring, said Andrew Jones, Youth Court Diversion Coordinator. Some kids enjoy being in the program and do not see it as punishment. Jones hopes they can get others more involved and help them. "Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't," he admitted. "It depends on the kid." Overall, Jones believes the program is successful, mainly because of the partnerships that teen court has formed with schools and prevention groups.

After a slow start in late 2003, the teen court stopped relying on referrals from the youth court system and began collaborating with schools. Kids charged with minor offenses such as disorderly conduct and tobacco possession were given the option to try teen court, and suddenly the program became very popular.

The program, however, involves more than just court proceedings. Jones runs a number of prevention groups, including a substance abuse prevention group that meets with a counselor and a girls empowerment group that invites tribal leaders to come and speak. Teen court members also are expected to take part in community service and to be active members of the Boys & Girls Club.

Mittan believes even more coordination with prevention groups for case management is needed. "We've come to understand that collaboration is a strength," he said.

The success of the teen court program can be measured in the positive feedback from the community and the several former participants who have gone on to college. The court's brochure even suggests that being a volunteer "is a wonderful way to explore careers in law"—and, in fact, one teen court volunteer plans to go on to law school.

For more information, contact:
Andrew Jones
Youth Court Diversion Coordinator
ajones@choctaw.org

Daniel Mittan
Director of Choctaw Tribal Court Services
dmittan@choctaw.org

Resources

Improving Access to USDA Programs
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development office, which administers business, cooperative, housing, utilities, and community development programs for rural areas, designed a new Web site for American Indians and Alaska Natives. The site has information about grants and loans that help federally recognized Indian tribes buy homes, grow businesses, build essential community facilities, and further develop community infrastructure.
View it on the Web: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rd/aian

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