NCJ Number
136956
Date Published
1991
Length
14 pages
Annotation
In recent years, law enforcement agencies and the judicial system have been moving to reorient their efforts to be more responsive to individual neighborhoods, and the advent of innovative concepts such as community policing (CP) and neighborhood justice (NJ) centers are beginning to give a considerable amount of autonomy to the community.
Abstract
During the 1980's, the increase in drug use transformed inner city neighborhoods into war zones and open drug markets. Citizens and police departments across the country began to realize that the crime and drug problem could not be solved by the police without assistance. Citizens now conduct many crime prevention tasks and also serve as the "eyes and ears" of police/community operations to combat the drug problem. Many communities have formed partnerships between police and citizen groups. As a result, the concept of CP is emerging as a permanent community institution. Another problem that developed in the 1970's involved increasing caseloads and the inability of courts to properly handle minor criminal and civil matters. Neighborhood justice centers were designed to mediate and settle minor disputes and bypass the formal court process. Although this approach has been quite successful, a large part of its success is attributed to the court referral system. Surveys of NJ centers and CP programs indicate that NJ practitioners advocate joint relations with CP programs, whereas CP officials have mixed views on the idea of joint CP/NJ programs. Recommendations to improve relations between CP and NJ programs are offered. 1 reference