APRI Highlights - Spring 2004

Momentum Continues for Community Prosecution

Michael Kuykendall Director National Center for Community Prosecution

With community-based prosecution initiatives in approximately half of the prosecutors’ offices in the U.S., there is a continuing need for highly specialized training, technical assistance, and information resources to make the adjustments required to accommodate community-oriented work.

APRI’s National Center for Community Prosecution (NCCP) works closely with the 10 community prosecution leadership sites named by the Bureau of Justice Assistance and with the Center for Court Innovation (CCI), to maximize its technical assistance efforts. NCCP staff also conducts and participates in community prosecution trainings for prosecutors and allied professionals around the country. The next training will be March 9-12, 2004, in Dallas, TX. Experts in the field, including representatives from the leadership sites, will participate in panel discussions about specific neighborhood problems, ethical issues, program evaluation, and sustainability of community prosecution programs.

NCCP will also host two advanced community prosecution trainings in the next 18 months. Anyone interested in attending the advanced trainings is welcome to attend; there is no registration fee for these trainings. Contact the NCCP at communityprosecution@ndaa-apri.org or (703) 549-4253 for details on dates and locations.

The NCCP also assists prosecutors by conducting on-site visits at no charge, maintaining a web site and national database of program information, and answering questions via phone, fax, e-mail, and in-office meetings. In addition, NCCP publishes a quarterly newsletter, Building Bridges, and will soon release the revised Community Prosecution Implementation Manual as well as other publications of special interest to community prosecutors.

NCCP and CCI are currently preparing Community Prosecution Profiles, summarizing the BJA leadership sites’ community prosecution programs. This document will assist prosecutors with identifying strategies that may be implemented successfully in their communities. Over the coming months, NCCP will explore how prosecutors can apply community prosecution techniques in the areas of gun violence, homeland security, drugs, juvenile delinquency and gang violence.