Community Involvement Project

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2009

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office prosecutes all adult felonies and all juvenile crime in Hennepin County. Increasingly over the past decade, and particularly in the city of Minneapolis, neighborhoods have been seeking protection from so-called “livability crimes,” often non-violent crime that significantly detracts from their quality of life. It became clear that listening to community concerns and devising methods to bring their voices into the courtroom resulted in better outcome is criminal prosecutions. In effect, this approach recognizes “community” as crime victim. Building upon humble beginnings in one part of south Minneapolis, the Community Prosecution Division was established in 2007—a division of prosecutors now devoted to the twin goals of establishing relationships and communication with community and bringing the community’s voice into the courtroom. Prosecutors attend numerous community and police meetings and tune into the concerns of the neighborhood. “Court Watch” programs have expanded into several Minneapolis precincts, chronic offender lists are compiled and tracked, community impact statements are presented at sentencing and geographical trespass orders are obtained to keep chronic offenders out of the neighborhoods they have troubled. Prosecutors more successfully win probation revocations based upon citizen information and generally the community is involved at an unprecedented level in the criminal court process. Because of significant community concerns over specific crime trends or neighborhood blights, community prosecution has been expanded into the juvenile delinquency area, nuisance properties have been closed down and the office has aggressively and successfully prosecuted mortgage fraud in an area of the city most devastated by foreclosures. Recognizing the diversity of its neighborhoods allows community prosecution efforts to target the specific needs of each community.