tough-love approach to repeat offenders

[Rob Tucker]

Hawaii finds success with tough-love approach to repeat offenders

A Hawaiian program gets some national attention in dealing with repeat offenders....

"A 2009 study by professor Hawken for the U.S. Department of Justice found that HOPE probationers were 55% less likely to be arrested in a new crime than probationers not in the program. They were 72% less likely to use drugs, 61% less likely to skip appointments with their probation officer and 53% less likely to have their probation revoked, and they were sentenced to 48% fewer days of incarceration. And by offering probationers a chance to get clean on their own, precious drug treatment slots were saved for those who truly needed them."

From the L.A. Times:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-...318.column

[YurtGirl]

I wonder if that study is at all accurate. Having worked and studied with the probation department here as well as in Arizona during college, I found without a doubt that probation is a raging joke on this island. There is no supervision given to people on probation, I have seen countless cases of it, whether intense probation or basic. In Arizona, those P.O.s knew what time their charges got up to use the restroom every night. It was no joke. They did house checks at random looking for drugs, alcohol and firearms. If those on probation were caught with any, and I mean anywhere in the house they lived in at all, they were held responsible and arrested, probation revoked. Here, they don't even look, they don't do house visits etc, so I'm not surprised to hear that the charges are 'less likely to use drugs' (there is less testing and more room for them to 'clean out'), 'less likely to skip appointments' (there are far less appointments!), and hence sentenced to less incarceration. Lack of enforcement here is a vicious cycle that all parts are tied to, we see it mostly from the police but that's because the prosecutors don't enforce, and if they do, the probation officers don't enforce and if they do, the judges don't enforce when they screw up...

Melissa Fletcher
___________________________
"Make yurts, not war" Bill Coperthwaite, 1973

[JerryCarr]

This is welcome, but rare, instance of the Hawaii criminal justice system getting something right on an organizational level.

[oink]

http://www.punaweb.org/Forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14932

Sorry, had to.

Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.