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Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee

MINUTES OF THE

LAW ENFORCEMENT AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE INTERIM COMMITTEE

November 19, 1997 - 2:00 p.m. - Room 416 State Capitol

        

Members Present:
    Sen. Michael G. Waddoups, Chair             Rep. David L. Gladwell
    Rep. Robert H. M. Killpack, Chair            Rep. Neal B. Hendrickson
    Sen. LeRay McAllister    Rep. David L. Hogue
    Sen. Pete Suazo         Rep. Susan J. Koehn
    Rep. Perry L. Buckner     Rep. Carl R. Saunders
    Rep. Blake D. Chard         Rep. John E. Swallow
    Rep. Gary F. Cox

Staff Present:
    Ms. Chyleen A. Arbon, Research Analyst
    Ms. Susan Creager Allred, Associate General Counsel
    Ms. Nedra B. Duzett, Secretary

Note: A list of others present and copies of materials distributed in the meeting are on file in the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel.

1.    Committee Business - Sen. Waddoups called the meeting to order at 2:22 p.m.

MOTION: Rep. Cox moved to approve the minutes of the October 22, 1997 meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

2.    Glen Mills School - Mr. Chris Corsbie, Admissions Coordinator, Glen Mills Schools, gave an overview of the school which was founded in 1826 as a residential school for court referred young men ages 15 to 18 from around the world. All candidates for admission must be referred by a juvenile court or other appropriate social service agencies. The school's philosophy is based upon two basic principles: 1) students have great personal endowment and unlimited potential to learn and grow; and 2) students are not intrinsically "bad." The Glen Mills Schools accepts two basic mandates for students: 1) to change behavior from anti-social to pro-social; and 2) to develop life skills that will help sustain this change. The committee viewed a video on the school showing student services, academic opportunities, vocational education, and student achievements.

    Mr. Corsbie said typical students sent to Glen Mills are young men who are seriously involved in gang activities and have a variety of charges such as aggravated robberies and assaults. The school is well equipped to deal with young men with this type of background. During the past three years, between 80 and100 young men from Utah have been in the program. The cost of the program is $103 per student per day. He noted that Utah is requesting an aftercare or follow-up program for students leaving the school.


3.    Project Horizon: Education Recidivism Reduction Plan - Fred Van Der Veur, Director, Institutional Operations, Department of Corrections, introduced Ken Hennefer, Utah State Office of Education, who noted that there have been significant reductions through the recidivism reduction model, and commended the efforts of the Department of Corrections and the State Office of Education in this project.

    Ms. Elaine Peterson, South Park Academy, Utah Department of Corrections, distributed copies of the Project Horizon Report and presented an overview of the program, which was created in 1992 by H.B. 28, and because of its success was renewed in 1996. The program focuses on nine points of recidivism reduction:1) self-assessment; 2) literacy; 3) cognitive restructuring; 4) relationships; 5) occupational training; 6) job placement;    7) transition;
8) multi-agency collaboration; and 9) evaluation.

    Mr. Richard Fowles distributed copies of statistical comparisons of the demographics of participants in the Horizon program vs. those not in the program to demonstrate that the groups were not statistically different types of offenders. He indicated that Project Horizon participant recidivism rates are approximately 20 percent lower than non-Horizon rates. The anticipated long-term recidivism rates for non-Horizon participants range from 71 percent to 90 percent. The benefits of recidivism reduction and the associated decrease in crime are associated with large intangible benefits that amount to millions of dollars annually. Mr. Fowles noted that approximately $3 million is going into the program annually which amounts to $1,000 per person. He asked for help in increasing the building block for the project.

4.    Community Dispute Resolution - Richard Schwermer, Assistant State Court Administrator, spoke on the concept of Community Dispute Resolution in Utah in comparison with the Midtown Community Court in New York City. He noted that the New York system is a local court system run by boroughs, towns, counties, cities, and is loosely coordinated at the state level. He indicated that Utah's needs are different from those in New York; however, some concepts and principles from the New York system could be adopted into the Utah system, such as calendaring court cases, responding speedily to incidents of crime, restorative justice, and alternative ways of looking at disputes such as drug courts.

    Mr. Schwermer reported that a drug court pilot program is now in effect in Salt Lake City which has lowered the recidivism rate. He recommended more drug courts and more collaboration. He reported that Utah's juvenile system has a mediation restitution process where victims and offenders in the juvenile court meet together with a mediator to help the victim and offender work through restitution issues. The program has proven to be very successful, and in the last month a coordinator has been hired to take the pilot program statewide. The recidivism rate of those who participate in this program is 20 percent lower.

    Mr. Schwermer proposed a Neighborhood Dispute Center which would partner public and private entities to provide a forum for the resolution of neighborhood disputes. Issues would be defined and volunteers from the community would serve as mediators to resolve the disputes. Ordinance violations and disputes that are criminal in nature could be referred from the court to neighborhood centers for resolution at that level. He said they were looking at partnering with a private entity who could do the mediation training and provide the administrative support of the program.

5.    New York City Policing Innovations: Application in Utah - Chief Doyle Talbot, Layton Police, presented information on New York City's Compstat program which has resulted in a 38 percent reduction in crime over the last three years. A major component of the program was to revitalize the computer system to allow immediate access to crime data. Rapid deployment of personnel and resources has been combined with a relentless follow-up and assessment. The NYPD's new war on crime has taken an aggressive pursuit of quality-of-life offenses. It has taken the approach that there is no such thing as a minor crime. A group of civil attorneys work with criminal attorneys to eradicate problems.

    Chief Talbot said he would make a video on civil forfeitures available to the committee. He indicated that some of NYPD's methods appeared to be radical, but he felt there were other approaches that Utah's law enforcement officers need to examine.

6.    Report from the Law Enforcement Training Committee & POST Council -
Sid Groll, Director of Peace Officer Standards and Training, distributed the second report on the Law Enforcement Training Study Committee. He gave an historical overview of the committee assignments and presented its findings and recommendations. He noted that the current "peace officer" classification title is confusing and misleading and should be clarified and rewritten. He recommended that the designation for peace officers who perform standard police or law enforcement functions should be "Law Enforcement Officer."

    Mr. Groll said the Academy Feasibility and Training Cost Assessment Subcommittee recommendations endorsed by the POST Council were to keep POST and the Corrections Academy as separate administrative entities, and locate both training facilities in Draper in close proximity to Camp Williams and the Utah State Prison.

7.    DUI Legislation - Rep. Nora Stephens gave an overview of the draft Driving Under the Influence - Conditional Licensing. She noted that the draft is an outgrowth of a DUI study group that has met throughout the interim to find better ways of dealing with DUI offenders, particularly repeat offenders. The bill amends the implied consent provisions and establishes a "not a drop" conditional license for persons with prior driving under the influence convictions. Rep. Stephens distributed a letter of support for the bill from the Utah Substance Abuse and Anti-Violence Coordinating Council.

MOTION: Rep. Gladwell moved to accept the draft Driving Under the Influence - Conditional Licensing as a committee bill. The motion passed with all present voting in favor with the exception of Rep. Chard and Rep. Hogue who voted against the motion.

8.    Adjournment - Rep. Swallow moved to adjourn the meeting at 4:25 p.m.




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