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Neighborhood Justice Project
Rachel Smith, Director
- Created by Jennifer Joyce in 2002 as the Circuit Attorney's community prosecution efforts
- PROJECT is in its infancy
- Goals include:
- Establishing neighborhood offices for Neighborhood Assistant Circuit Attorney's throughout St. Louis City.
- Working primarily in neighborhood offices as partners with neighborhood stakeholders and district officers to direct and focus the prosecution efforts of the Circuit Attorney's Office in that neighborhood to reduce crime and improve the area.
- Developing and improving communication between the Circuit Attorney's Office and the people it serves - - citizens of Missouri that live, work and visit the City of St. Louis.
- Increasing community awareness, focusing on education, about the criminal justice system in the City of St. Louis.
- Neighborhood Justice Project is a grassroots approach to crime prevention, focusing on a target area and involving a long-term, proactive partnership between the Circuit Attorney's Office, the police department, public and private organizations and residents.
Mission statement: The Neighborhood Justice Project seeks to identify and develop solutions to neighborhood specific crime issues and problems as an extension of the prosecutor's responsibility to enforce and reduce criminal conduct. The Project will formulate of long-term proactive partnerships between the Circuit Attorney's Office, local organizations and other community stakeholders to identify and develop solutions to crime. The partnerships will use re-active and proactive components to combat crime.
Guided by three principles:
- Prosecution: target particular crimes, specialized training, traditional law-enforcement and courtroom activities of prosecutors
- Problem solving: focusing on partnership
- Prevention: traditional and non-traditional approaches to prevent crime from occurring
Neighborhood Offices:
- First Neighborhood Office: In the Forest Park Southeast Neighborhood opened February 2002. One Assistant Circuit Attorney assigned to the office in the Adams Park Community Center.
- Additional offices in the Walbridge Elementary School in the Walnut Park neighborhoods, and in the Prince Hall Family Support Center in the Penrose/O'Fallon neighborhoods.
Components of Community Prosecution
- Proactive Approach: Prosecution and enforcing the law includes crime prevention
- Clearly delineated geographic boundaries
- Neighborhood Based Partnerships: forming partnership between community agencies and court system
- Residents
- Neighborhood stakeholders
- Police
- Local and city agencies
- Social service providers
- Businesses
- Community Input:
- On pending felony and misdemeanor charges
- Helping identify neighborhood problems
- Communication: Open communication with residents of area and other officials
- Varied Enforcement Methods: "thinking outside the box"
- Long-term Strategies: Make firm commitment for the long run
- Commitment: Only with steadfast commitment of top and middle managers will those on the front lines be convinced those efforts are priorities
- Continuous Evaluation: Collection of data at all stages. Continuous Careful evaluation of program
What it means to be a prosecutor?
Prosecutor's special goal: Not to simply to win but to seek justice. Prosecutor's job is to seek the truth. One place in the practice of law where that is allowed . . . "Minister of justice." (Outlined by the United States Supreme Court in Berger v. U.S., 295 U.S. 78, 88 (1935).)
Thus, while prosecutors remain obligated under the code of ethics to zealously advocate for our client - - that zealous advocacy means to seek the truth and protect the rights of all - - not simply win. We get to care about truth. We get to care about right and wrong. We get to care about whether the person is actually guilty. We have the responsibility to seek justice.
Community prosecution: Includes in the traditional definitions of prosecution, the recognition that the crime enforcement responsibilities of a prosecutor encompass the obligation to work for crime prevention.
Central goal: prosecution of individuals responsible for crime - - criminal prosecution includes preventing the individual from offending or re-offending.
View of prosecutor as facilitator and coordinator, linking disparate actors.
Community Education Program
Direct education program. Educates attendees on the Circuit Attorney's Office and its role in the criminal justice system. Using the principle that knowledge is power - - the Circuit Attorney's Office seeks to empower citizens by educating them. The course aims to help citizens to understand the framework of their prosecutor's office, the criminal justice system while fostering communication between them and the CAO.
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