Jackson County, Oregon, Arrest Policies Project: A Process Evaluation

• NCJ Number: 201883
• Author(s): Deborah L. Spence
• Date Published: August 2000
• Length: 19 pages
• Grant Number(s): 98-WE-VX-0012
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation

Annotation

This report presents the findings and recommendations of a process evaluation of the Arrest Policies project in Jackson County, OR, which was funded under a Federal grant intended to encourage jurisdictions to implement mandatory or proarrest policies as an effective domestic-violence intervention that is part of a coordinated community response to domestic violence.

Abstract

The first section of the report provides an overview of Jackson County, including its demographics, the criminal justice system, the nonprofit community, and Oregon laws relevant to domestic violence. The section of the report that discusses the development, implementation, and performance of the Arrest Policies project notes that the overarching goal of the project was to develop a new model for intervening with and supervising convicted perpetrators of domestic violence. Specific objectives were to develop standards and policies as well as a specialized team approach to work with convicted domestic-violence offenders; to improve communication and collaboration among the individuals, agencies, and programs that deal with domestic violence in the county; and to instruct criminal justice professionals in the phenomenon of domestic violence and in the concept of shared responsibility for victim safety. The project was implemented by Jackson County Community Corrections (JCCC), which is in charge of probation and parole for the county, with the assistance of Dunn House, a local nonprofit service provider, and the Jackson County Domestic Violence Council. The latter is composed of representatives from Dunn House, the District Attorney's Office, JCCC, local law enforcement agencies, private attorneys, treatment providers, legal services, and the county Victim-Witness Office, as well as representatives from various social services providers. The evaluation reviewed project performance in four areas: agency activity, collaboration, policies and procedures, and training. The evaluation concluded that although the Jackson County Arrest project was not as comprehensive as some of the Arrest Policies projects in other jurisdictions, it did meet its goal of improving the supervision of domestic-violence offenders in the community. Recommendations for improving project performance focus on the development of a comprehensive evaluation component, the expansion of the partnership to include law enforcement, and an increased focus on training criminal justice system personnel.