NCJ Number
200919
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 31 Issue: 4 Dated: July/August 2003 Pages: 295-307
Editor(s)
Kent B. Joscelyn
Date Published
July 2003
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This article provides an outcome evaluation of the community probation component of the Maryland HotSpot initiative, comprised of HotSpot teams joining together to supervise offenders in high crime areas, with a focus on offender recidivism.
Abstract
The American correctional system has evolved to today include the supervision of offenders through the utilization of police departments and a proactive directed patrol. This innovation developed partnerships between police departments and correctional agencies, where patrol officers become familiar with the clients who are under community supervision. This article describes this type of supervision under the Maryland HotSpot Initiative which is a locally based crime-reduction strategy implemented in 36 communities across the State. Communities are chosen based on their showing a disproportionate concentration of crime or fear of crime and their possession of an active community commitment to change. The Initiative is implemented through local HotSpot teams which include probation and parole agencies, juvenile counselors, and community policing officers. The purpose of this article is to empirically evaluate the community probation component of the Initiative, specifically the recidivism patterns of a sample of adult probationers who underwent community supervision in the State of Maryland, under the HotSpot Initiative and compare them to a comparable sample of probationers who were not part of the HotSpot Initiative. The data used in the study were collected from the Division of Parole and Probation’s computerized database Offender-Based Supervision of Criminal Information System (OBSCIS II) and from Maryland’s Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS). A random sample of 500 HotSpot cases was selected from a listing of all offenders, who as of May 1999 were active cases under the Initiative. In addition, 500 Pre-HotSpot cases that were closed cases and underwent normal parole and probation supervision were included. In examining if there was a difference in the rate of rearrest and technical violations for probationers in HotSpot areas who underwent intensive supervision probation compared to a matched sample undergoing normal supervision, this study did not find a significant increase in the number of technical violations imposed upon the intensively supervised group of offenders. However, it found rearrests were more prevalent than citation for technical violations. The results indicate that the police officers may have been more involved in the supervision aspects of the HotSpots Community Probation Initiative than has traditionally been the case in prior Intensive Supervision Probation programs. References