California Career Criminal Prosecution Program - Second Annual Report to the Legislature

• NCJ Number: 83427
• Author(s): N Manske; C Cartwright; R Spindler
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 185 pages
• Corporate Author: California Office of Criminal Justice Planning; Metametrics, Inc
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The report presents the findings and recommendations of an analysis of Career Criminal Prosecution (CCP) programs in California for the first 16 months of CCP program operations. It examines performance measures and objectives and identifies key factors associated with the establishment and operation of the CCP units.

Abstract

Results of statistical analysis of the 12 major CCP units and of monitoring activities indicate that the units are meeting their objectives. They demonstrated that prosecutors were making reasonable efforts to resist the pretrial release of career criminals, that the use of plea bargaining was reduced, and that the use of enhancement was increased. They also demonstrated an increase in conviction rates for career criminals prosecuted by CCP units, a higher rate of conviction on the most serious charges, an increase in sentence length and the ratio of maximum sentences in career criminal cases, and a reduction in the prosecutor's workload. CCP units failed, however, to demonstrate a reduction in the amount of time required to prosecute a case. The report also looks at factors affecting CCP program's success, program implementation and management issues, sentencing constraints, and county statistics. Tables and footnotes are included. The evaluation methodology, relevant provisions of Senate Bill 683, and the attorney general's opinion regarding CCP policies are appended.