NEIGHBORHOOD PROSECUTOR DIGS TO ROOT OF CRIME

Almost a decade in the courtroom taught Meg Brooks how to prosecute
murderers and child abusers. It did not prepare her for phone calls from
LaNell Brown.

The calls come weekly, even daily, as Brown gives bird's-eye updates about
the Northeast Austin neighborhood where Brooks is stationed as the city's
first and only community prosecutor.

Brown, 60, often reports on the intersection of Manor Road and Rogge Lane,
where she has watched drug dealers working in a dimly lighted shopping
center across from her home.

Brooks, an assistant district attorney, is trying to clean up the area,
working with police and the shopping center's owner to improve lighting and
other conditions on the lot.

``I consider her a trouble-shooter,'' Brown said of Brooks, known as the
neighborhood district attorney.

Trouble-shooting comes close to a job description for Brooks, whose office
was placed in the neighborhood to direct her prosecutorial authority toward
preventing crime in a 30,000-person area.

Brooks approaches her job corner by corner and block by block, working with
police and residents to rid the area of criminals and nuisances. The
37-year-old prosecutor became the neighborhood district attorney in 1998 as
part of Weed and Seed, a federally funded program to combat drugs, gang
violence and other problems.

``The idea we started out with is what we're doing is not working and we
need to try something different,'' said Brooks, whose work is guided by the
theory that crime thrives where there is disorder -- broken windows,
graffiti and such -- because criminals believe no one cares.

Brooks said her goal is to remove the root causes of crime, and she uses
the threat of lawsuits to force landlords to clean up troubled properties.
Brooks also targets criminals.

Neighborhood prosecutors still are relatively rare nationwide, said Travis
County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, whose office adopted the program to
give residents more control over their lives.

``What we're trying to do is share the power of the criminal justice system
in order to give people in those neighborhoods some control,'' he said.

Brooks' duties are diffuse and, she acknowledges, somewhat ``squishy.'' She
arrived in Northeast Austin armed with a book about community prosecution
and stories about programs in other cities. Then the Austin resident began
improvising.

``It's kind of natural. You get out here and you see things that you can do
something about,'' she said.

She spends much of her time targeting properties that receive complaints
about drug dealing, noise and other problems. Under a nuisance abatement
law, prosecutors can sue landlords after a number of arrests occur on their
property. If the judge finds the property a nuisance, it can be closed for
a year.

Brooks said the threat of a lawsuit can prompt voluntary compliance. In 18
investigations of troubled properties since June 1999, she has had to file
only one lawsuit. In most cases, she and police met with landlords to
suggest improvements, such as better lighting and fencing.

Brooks also works on cases involving the neighborhood's hardest criminals.
She has tried several, including an attempted capital murder case that
ended with a 40-year sentence.

More frequently, Brooks tells other prosecutors about details of a
defendant's history and the impact of the crime. The extra knowledge can
affect how a case is prosecuted and secure stiffer sentences.

``I basically supply ammunition,'' she said.

Austin police Lt. Rick Hinkle said Brooks provides valuable experience for
police working in the area. Some detectives consult her for advice about
investigations, and she helps officers with their reports.

Hinkle said Austin's experiment in community prosecution seems effective,
but it's too early to gauge its effect on residents' lives.

``There's still a ways to go, but we're definitely making progress,'' he said.

Brown said the conditions at the shopping center near her home have
improved since Brooks and police began talking to the landlord.

``It's 85 percent better than it was,'' Brown said. ``She seems to know how
to get them to comply. Maybe it's suit power."

Earle said the neighborhood DA program -- combined with the larger efforts
of police and prosecutors through Weed and Seed -- helped to reduce gang
activity in the area by 46 percent from 1998 to 1999. Homicides were down
50 percent and robberies fell 27 percent, he said.

Next year, the county will have to compete to renew the program's $75,000
grant. Earle said his office also is considering whether to seek money to
add two neighborhoods to the program.

Brooks said she measures her progress by observing how the neighborhood
looks and by hearing about problems that improve.

She remembers a conversation with a man who had complained of watching drug
dealers work from a house across the street.

``He said, 'You got rid of all the drug dealers. Thank you. Thank you for
doing something,' '' Brooks recalled.