NCJ Number
183974
Date Published
March 2000
Length
55 pages
Annotation
Operation Safe Streets (OSS) is a collaborative effort involving the Delaware State Police, the Wilmington and Cover Police Departments, the State Department of Correction (DOC), and the Division of Youth Rehabilitative Services (DYRS), which targets adult and juvenile probationers designated as high-risk to ensure that they comply with curfews and other probation conditions.
Abstract
The OSS program was created in response to the sharp increase in the number of shooting incidents in Wilmington in 1996. DOC probationers are selected to participate in the program if they have criminal histories that include violent, weapon, or drug offenses. Upon entry into the program, probationers are informed that the DOC and the DYRS have adopted a zero-tolerance policy for probation violations, that their designation as high-risk offenders makes them subject to increased surveillance, and that probation violations will have immediate and severe consequences. Police and probation officers work as a team to conduct unannounced visits to the homes of targeted probationers after curfew and to visit area hot spots to look for violators. Probationers who are not at home after curfew are ordered to report to their probation officer the next morning. If the probationer reports the next day as ordered, he or she is arrested immediately and an violation of probation hearing is held within 48 hours. Arrest warrants are issued for probationers who do not report. Selection criteria for juveniles under DYRS supervision are similar to those for adult probationers. Detailed statistical data on OSS program operation between January 1 and December 31, 1999 show that police and probation officer teams made 5,868 curfew checks in which 35 percent of DOC probationers were not at home, that 1,160 probationers who violated their parole conditions were arrested, and that 92 percent of juveniles complied with their probation conditions. Tables and figures