Examining the Role of the Police in Reentry Partnership Initiatives

• NCJ Number: 208073
• Journal: Federal Probation Volume: 68 Issue: 2 Dated: September 2004 Pages: 62-69
• Author(s): James M. Byrne; Don Hummer
• Date Published: September 2004
• Length: 8 pages
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Following an overview of the development of police-corrections partnerships in the United States, this article discusses the roles of policing during the institutional phase of a reentry program, during the structured reentry phase, and during the community reintegration phase.

Abstract

A 1999 nationwide review of the use of police-corrections partnerships in the United States identified five models: enhanced supervision partnerships, fugitive apprehension units, information-sharing partnerships, specialized enforcement partnerships, and interagency problem-solving partnerships. Partnerships between police and corrections agencies are an emerging strategy adopted by several Federal agencies that fund a wide range of offender reentry initiatives at the Federal, State, and local levels. During the institutional phase of reentry, police should be involved in deciding the types of offenders to include and exclude from a particular reentry program. This provides input from the law enforcement perspective and increases the likelihood of police support for the reentry initiative. Typically, the structured reentry phase focuses on the last few months before release and the first month after release. In several jurisdictions, police officers meet with the offender in prison to explain how local policing has changed since the offender's incarceration and to inform the offender that he/she will be monitored by police after release. Police surveillance and contacts provide a supplement to probation and parole supervision. Regarding the community reintegration phase of reentry, offenders who have difficulty with the initial transition from prison to the community will likely have more intensive police intervention. Issues that should be continually monitored under police involvement in reentry programs are the potential for racial profiling in offender/community targeting decisions, the limits of information-sharing across agencies, and the impact of the expanded police role on both offenders released from prison and jail and the neighborhoods to which they return. 5 notes and 20 references