Reducing Racial Disparities in Local Jurisdictions

DEAD HORSENative American Wisdom: When you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.

Bureaucratic Wisdom: The Horse Is Dead—So Let’s---

--BUY A STRONGER WHIP--CHANGE RIDERS--Say “THIS IS THE WAY WE HAVE ALWAYS RIDDEN THIS

HORSE.”--APPOINT A COMMITTEE TO STUDY

THE HORSE. --DECLARE “NO HORSE IS TOO DEAD TO BEAT”.

A Couple of Terms . . .

Disproportionate Minority Confinement (DMC): A racial/ethnic group’s representation in confinement exceeds their representation in the general population

Disparity: Different treatment of individuals who are similarly situated or who have common characteristics

BI Philosophy

Detention facilities are harmful

System stakeholders + Community = new opportunities to develop sustainable alternatives to incarceration

Need System Maturity

Beyond Mere TalkBeyond Mere Talk

• Intentional

• Unapologetic

The work to achieve tangible DMC reduction results will not succeed unless its champions are:

Process TruthsProcess Truths

W. Hayward Burns Institute: DMC Training Institute 2006

Process is not NOT SEAMLESS

Process is not NOT QUICK

•Agency mandates and agendas are inconsistent

•Leadership Changes

•Public Will Changes

•Values must be learned and embraced over time

•Cultural shifts do not manifest immediately

DMC Work TruthsDMC Work TruthsKick-Start by a roll of the.…

ata-driven

ntentional

onsensus-Based

ngagement Focus

DDIICCEE

DATA-DRIVENDATA-DRIVEN

1. Avoid becoming attached to early DMC assumptions or prematurely drawing conclusions

2. Let the numbers tell the story

Because if you don’t . . .

The Global Discussion:

DMC is caused by:

– Racism

– Poverty

– Levels of Criminality

The Blame Game . . .

It’s the fault of: the kids, the families, the community, the parents, society at large, music videos, television, the police, judges, the mayor, the governor, the President, racism, subtle discrimination, overt discrimination, the “system,” drugs, guns, poor education, inadequate housing, the schools, the kids, the families, the community . . .

Being IntentionalBeing Intentional

• Always apply the race lens

• Identify who will do the leg work

• Look for opportunities for new/expanded programs that can impact the DMC population

What Are You Trying to Do?

Raise Awareness Data CollectionChange PoliciesActual ReductionChange Attitudes

The Approach to Reducing Disproportionality

Demographic AnalysisCrimes By Race/Location/TimeCommunity ProfileDetention Process

– Case Processing Issues– Objective Decision-Making

What This Process Is:

StrategicCooperativeVoluntaryData DrivenOpportunities for Intervention

Who is at the Table?

Community Groups/Youth Judges Politicians Law Enforcement Advocates Detention and Probation

Consensus-BuildingConsensus-Building

•Process of building agreement never ends

•Don’t let politeness masquerade as consensus

•Don’t jump into strategy before assessing and unifying will

Data Gathering and Community Profile

Detention Data Disaggregated by:Race/Offense/Time/Location

Community Profile– Quantitative– Qualitative

Community Profile

What is this? And Why Do It? A) Quantitative

– Physical mapping of target – Identify community resources/programs for

youth in target area

B) QualitativeFocus Groups, Interviews, Surveys

Why Community Engagement?

Protection

Accountability

Urgency

Insight

The Louisville Experience

Youth in Secure Detention by Category, 2004

539 523

374

120

35% 34%

24%

8%

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Felony Misdemeanor Violation Non-Criminal

* 333 of the 374 violations are juvenile bench warrants (89%)

Secure Detention Data Findings (2004)

Time Processed into Youth Center, 2003*

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

* Military time

Youth in Secure Detention by Zip Code, 2003

141

434

12217

922

578

3133

185172

2284

9580

3381

3826

113

221

823

49

224

3945

1727

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

40118

40202

40205

40208

40211

40214

40217

40220

40223

40229

40245

40291

Top Offenses for Newburg Youth in Secure Detention, 2004

10

27

11

6 5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Assault BenchWarrant

Burglary Theft StolenProperty

* This chart represents the total number of charges, not the number of juveniles.

Reason the bench warrant was issued

44 of the 68 warrants were issued for a Failure to Appear at a court hearing;

Detention Criteria/Detained or Released

58 of the 68 warrants, did not meet detention criteria on the original charges.

LouisvilleIdentified Strategies to Reduce

DMC

Developed subcommittees to take an in-depth look at the current policies and procedures regarding juvenile bench warrants, and to develop recommendations to enhance the current process.

Juvenile Bench Warrant Subcommittee: Reviewed policies and procedures used for:

• court notification• issuing warrants• executing warrants• application of detention criteria

Strategies to implement the recommendation:

Implemented - The CDW office will verify mailing addresses for any notices returned through the mail for a bad address, including contacting JCPS and notifying the juvenile court clerk (if the case is going to juvenile court).

Implemented - Request contact information from Jefferson County Public Schools.

Pending - Establish a process where the system makes contact with youth to remind and/or notify youth and parents/guardians of scheduled court dates.

Pending - Develop a “Contact Sheet” Form for all youth to complete while in Juvenile Court. The form shall be placed in the court file, so that the latest contact information is available for notification purposes.

Enhance the Current Notification Process Continued:

Key Lessons Learned