Community Courts: Reducing Crime the Community Way
Just think about it… a research centre whose sole purpose is to think creatively about how the courts and justice system can better serve citizens. That’s what you’ll find in the U.S.-based Center for Court Innovation that grew out of one Manhattan community court experiment in 1993. In 18 years, the evidence for community courts has shown that engaging the community in the court system, where they live, and providing practical, proactive approaches to solving individual and community issues leads to longer and more lasting change.
The Center for Court Innovation maintains a practice of “innovation based on evidence”. And others within the U.S. justice system, at the very top levels, agree. Mary Lou Leary of the U.S. Department of Justice sees the effectiveness of community courts in 5 basic principles; they:
- reduce crime by addressing root causes
- streamline the justice system by providing access directly within the community
- change sentencing practices of the courts by providing the system with more options than just fines and punishment
- solve individual problems with unique solutions
- increase public trust in the justice system
Watch this 10 minute video which highlights examples from across the U.S. My favourite part is at minute 7:15 where the Dallas Police Chief, David Brown, states, “community court is not soft on crime. It’s being smartest on crime; there’s smart, smarter and smartest. The smartest law enforcement agencies attend to the social service needs of the people who live there”.
Justice, community and civic leaders involved in community courts seem to be driven by the passion for change for people and the creative solutions to help them get there. That seems smart on crime to me: evidence-based, collaborative, cooperative, flexible and responsive and with a social change orientation.
There are currently 37 community courts in the United States, one in Vancouver, British Columbia, one in Liverpool, England and one in Melbourne Australia.