NCJ Number
239006
Date Published
2012
Length
61 pages
Annotation
Based on a series of focus groups, site visits, and a survey, this study examined the state-of-practice of police-corrections partnerships, and it presents a corrections-based information exchange model that should enable police-corrections partnerships to achieve their crime-control objectives.
Abstract
Evidence is mounting that police-corrections partnerships can and do produce significant crime-control and crime-prevention outcomes. Although such evidence does not meet rigorous standards for controlled experiments, it is sufficient to encourage police-corrections partnerships to be part of the operations of both types of agencies. The proposed model for such partnerships is a police-led information exchange model. Under such a model, law enforcement agencies take the leadership role in establishing interactions with corrections officials in sharing data and working together to design and implement research-based, strategic crime-control efforts. Under this model, police develop and institutionalize the corrections data that can be used for traditional and innovative police operations, such as patrol, investigations, special operations, crime analysis, CompStat, proactive policing, and fusion center intelligence exchange. In turn, police would share with corrections agencies the data they have on offenders under corrections supervision. Police agencies would also be responsible for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of the information exchange. The management of the data and the partnership arrangement can be undertaken by existing staff; however, records-management vendors and software developers should create programs that can capture, assimilate, and analyze corrections data alongside traditional police data. Expertise is needed in developing an information exchange packet, advanced/predictive analytics, and shared database protocols. Appended survey results and a sample letter of agreement by and between a police department and a department of corrections