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APRI Highlights - Spring 2002
National Center for Community Prosecution
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Director, National Center for Community Prosecution
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The community prosecution movement continues to expand around the country. APRI’s National Center for Community Prosecution (NCCP) is constantly assembling information on creative and exciting programs that prosecutors are developing and implementing nationwide. These programs deal with everything from drug free zones and reentry courts to nuisance abatement and gun violence prosecution. The key that connects these programs to community prosecution is the prosecutor’s effective use of partnerships and creative legal strategies to enhance community safety and improve the lives of neighborhood residents.
In the next few months, NCCP will continue promoting community prosecution initiatives in several ways. For example, in response to many prosecutors who have requested more publications on topics related to community prosecution, NCCP recently hosted a symposium on emerging issues in community prosecution. Ten experienced community prosecutors joined NCCP staff in Alexandria, VA, to identify important issues and topics for publications and trainings over the next two years. Symposium participants have agreed to assist NCCP in drafting papers and revising the Community Prosecution Implementation Manual to incorporate new lessons and more effective practices that have emerged since the manual was originally published in 1995.
NCCP also continues to offer training to help prosecutors implement community prosecution in their jurisdictions. “Developing a Community Prosecution Program” is a new course scheduled for the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina, from March 18-22, 2002. This course will cover the basic principles involved in implementing a community prosecution initiative. The course will also highlight various creative programs that have developed long-term solutions to chronic livability problems.
NCCP is planning several regional conferences for this summer. We will also be hosting the Second National Community Prosecution Conference in Washington, D.C. in November. (The First National Community Prosecution Conference was attended by almost 200 faculty and participants, including the U.S. deputy attorney general and congressional and academic leaders.)
Check our Web site (http://www.ndaa-apri.org/apri/programs/community_pros/index.html) for updates on training opportunities, new research in the field and contact information for local community prosecution sites. NCCP staff is also available to provide technical assistance for your community prosecution efforts, to assist with your local workshops and provide on-site assistance. For more information, contact us at (703) 518-4386 or communityprosecution@ndaa-apri.org.
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