Education City Examples: Safety and Youth Violence Prevention

Corpus Christi, Texas
(population 277,454)

The Corpus Christi Parks and Recreation Department runs a Juvenile Assessment Center (JAC) as an alternative to incarceration or punishment for youth who violate day-time or nighttime curfews.  Youth offenders are brought to the JAC where they are referred to a variety of social services and are offered three months of free case management services. 

The local school district, the County Juvenile Justice Center, the local Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Planned Parenthood, and Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi are all part of the JAC partnership.  Many youth are also referred to the JAC by the Corpus Christi Municipal Juvenile Court for minor offenses.  JAC is funded by the city General Fund along with revenue from the Crime Control and Prevention District. 

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Fort Worth, Texas
(population 534,694)

In 1995, the citizens of Fort Worth passed an initiative to increase the sales tax by $.01 to fund a Crime Control and Prevention District (CCPD).  The CCPD was created to reduce crime and enhance the city’s police force, crime fighting tools, and strategies for crime prevention.  To address school safety and youth, the CCPD funds afterschool programs, a School Security Initiative, and the Safe Haven program.  The Safe Haven program operates as a prevention program by providing a safe environment and enrichment activities for youth. 

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Littleton, Colorado
(population 40,324)

The Littleton Police Department (LPD) and the Littleton Public Schools (LPS) have a long-standing relationship and a history of cooperation. The LPD has three full-time school resource officers; one is in each high school and the third is responsible for the three middle schools in the city. The positions are partially funded by the school district, with the remainder provided by the city.

The police department SWAT team works in close cooperation with the LPS security officers on training and incident response, including providing joint training sessions.  LPS allows the police department to use its facilities for emergency shelters and provided the LPD with floor plans of the schools on both paper and computer to aid in incident responses.

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Phoenix, Arizona
(population 1,321,045)

Local School Safety Teams are a partnership between the Phoenix Police Department, school officials, juvenile probation officers, and social workers.  These school based teams provide a variety of services to students such as case management and Law Related Education. Working with parents, administrators, and teachers, the teams aim to reduce youth drug use, violence, and crime.  More information can be found on the Web site at http://www.phoenixpd.org/EDUCATN/schlsfty.html. 

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San Antonio, Texas
(population 1,144,646)

Prior to establishing a special tax district, the city of San Antonio conducted a study to look at the effects of Crime Control and Prevention Districts (CCPD) as well as examine public support.  In 2005, voters approved a 1/8 percent sales tax increase to create a Crime Control and Prevention District to enhance the city’s crime fighting capabilities and support community-based crime prevention initiatives.  Revenues from the sales tax generated over $18 million in 2006 and are expected to raise over $20 million in 2007.  One of the five initiatives outlined by the CCPD plan is juvenile safety.  CCPD funding will support the following programs:

• Juvenile Safety Officer Program: Fourteen San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) officers will be assigned as Juvenile SAFETY Officers to focus specifically on the juvenile community.  
  Source: http://www.sanantonio.gov/sapd/CCPD/CCPD_BOOK.pdf
  
  
• San Antonio Police Department Gang Detail Officers: Funding from the CCPD will support programs, personnel, and equipment to reduce school crime and gang activity. 
  
  
• Teen Safety Driver Program: CCPD funding supports a peer-to-peer education initiative to increase awareness of teen driving risks and decrease accidents involving teens.  The program offers educational materials, promotional items, a Web site, and assistance for student organizations. 
  
  
• Campus Crime Reporting Program: The CCPD administers a Campus Crime Reporting Program, available to all public and private schools in the city, to encourage and enable students to report criminal activity through a safe and anonymous mechanism.  Students are rewarded for information based on the severity of the reported crime and after receiving approval from a committee of students. 
  
  
• Student Bully Prevention Program: The Student Bully Prevention Program provides literature and other educational materials to elementary and middle schools in San Antonio.  CCPD staff will present to parent-teacher and community groups on preventing bullying behavior in school. 
  
  
• Community Initiatives Teen Court: The all youth Teen Court consists of a teen judge, teen defense attorney, teen prosecutor, teen bailiff, and teen jury.  The court serves first-time, non-violent youth ages 13-17, who commit class C misdemeanors or status offenses and are referred by the Municipal Court.  Sentences include letters of apology, life skills classes, jury duty, community service, Victims Impact Panel, alcohol awareness classes, or tobacco cessation classes.
  
  
• Recreation and Afterschool Initiatives: The CCPD provides funding to expand and enhance afterschool programs administered by the San Antonio Parks Department and those administered by community-based organizations.  Many activities are offered on Friday nights to keep youth off the streets and have a specific focus such as music or sports.

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