Community Probation Evaluation: Year One Final Report

• NCJ Number: 214566
• Author(s): Nicole Leeper Piquero Ph.D.; Charles F. Welford Ph.D.
• Date Published: May 2001
• Length: 23 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Maryland Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention
• Sale Source: Maryland Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report summarizes findings from year 1 of the community probation evaluation, the final part of a three-part evaluation by the University of Maryland, of the Maryland HotSpot Initiative.

Abstract

Through a comparative evaluation of recidivism, recidivism analyses did not reveal significant differences in either aggregate re-arrest rates or rates of technical violation citations. However, HotSpot probationers were found to be significantly less likely to be rearrested for a property offense, as well as no more likely than the Pre- HotSpot probationers to be cited with a technical violation. It was also found that the crime reduction effect of probation centered mainly on property and drug dealing offenses. Probation supervision did not appear to influence the commission person offenses (assault and robbery) or fraud/embezzlement. It is recommended that future research should evaluate the manner in which the HotSpot program has been implemented, how closely the community probation supervision in practice matches community probation supervision in theory, whether probationers are actually supervised according to program protocol, and whether the program implementation varies across jurisdictions. This evaluation was intended to assess whether HotSpot team supervision influenced probationer recidivism. The Maryland HotSpot Communities Initiative is a locally based crime reduction strategy that currently exists in 36 communities across the State, with at least 1 HotSpot identified in each county across the State. The HotSpot Initiative was implemented in 1997. It is designed to foster partnerships between groups that in the past have worked toward the same goal. The Initiative links criminal and juvenile justice agencies, as well as communities with State and local agencies to reduce crime and the fear of crime in high crime, at-risk areas. This report is the third and final part of a three-part evaluation conducted by the University of Maryland evaluating the community probation component of the HotSpot Initiative. It summarizes results from year 1 of the community probation evaluation. Tables and appendix