Planning and Assessing a Law Enforcement Reentry Strategy

• NCJ Number: 223915
• Author(s): Matt Schwarzfeld; Deirdre Mead Weiss; Martha Plotkin; Laura Draper
• Date Published: August 2008
• Length: 158 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2005-HS-WX-K007
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
• Corporate Author: Council of State Governments; Police Executive Research Forum (PERF)
• Sale Source: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Policy/Procedure Handbook/Manual
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded September 2, 2008

Annotation

Focusing on law enforcement reentry strategies, this report integrates information on effective practices with an interactive assessment to form a toolkit for designing and evaluating reentry approaches involving law enforcement agencies.

Abstract

Law enforcement professionals across the United States share the same problem: they have significant numbers of people returning from prisons and jails to their communities with the majority of these returning prisoners likely to commit new crimes or violate the terms of their supervision. In response, an increasing number of law enforcement leaders are looking to reentry programs as part of a comprehensive effort to prevent reoffending and victimizations. The purpose of this publication is to initiate an informed discussion among law enforcement agencies and community partners regarding reentry strategies. It provides an overview of topics that should be considered and addressed within the development process. Reentry is a critical strategy for law enforcement and partner agencies’ efforts to prevent future crimes and victimizations. It is a natural extension of law enforcement’s community policing activities. Using proven problem-solving approaches, law enforcement professionals collaboratively identify the factors that drive recidivism, analyze the causes, and then develop and continually evaluate efforts that address reentry issues. This toolkit is organized into 10 elements that constitute an effective, comprehensive approach to any reentry initiative: (1) viability; (2) stakeholder involvement; (3) initiative’s priority population; (4) mission, goals, and performance measures; (5) initiative’s terms and participant identification; (6) information exchange and systems collaboration; (7) transition planning; (8) enhanced supervision; (9) organizational capacity; and (10) sustainability. The toolkit helps users examine the extent to which their law enforcement agency engages in specific activities to support reentry policies. Each element includes broad assessment questions to assist agencies in exploring the development of a reentry strategy. Any law enforcement agency whose community is receiving people released from prisons and jails knows it is responsible for trying to prevent reoffending and improving conditions in vulnerable neighborhoods. Appendixes A-C