CITIES JOIN UNORTHODOX ANTICRIME PROGRAM

At least 30 cities are expected to announce Monday that they are
joining an unorthodox crime-fighting program that relies on
persuasion, rather than arrests, to cut down on criminal behavior.

The initiative, run by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice,
targets violent crime and open-air drug markets that are the scourge
of some communities. The program is potentially controversial because
it involves not prosecuting known offenders if they agree to quit
their criminal activities.

The National Network for Safe Communities, which is slated to be
unveiled at the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, will
be run in cities including Boston, Cincinnati, High Point, N.C., Los
Angeles, Milwaukee and Providence, R.I., where the mayors' gathering
began Friday. Developed by David Kennedy, a criminologist at John Jay
College in New York, the crime program combines elements of
initiatives run in the 1990s in Boston and in High Point in 2004 that
were credited by authorities with helping reduce youth gang and drug
violence.

Boston authorities say their program cut youth homicides by
two-thirds and homicides citywide by half. The High Point plan
eliminated drug markets citywide, the city says. Under the project,
law-enforcement officials and prosecutors in the cities identify
individuals operating in violent-crime areas who haven't yet committed
serious violent crimes, and build cases against them, including
undercover operations and surveillance. The culmination is a "call in"
when the case is presented to the would-be suspect in front of law
enforcement, community leaders, ex-offenders and friends and family.

"The prosecutor talks to them and lets them know: 'we could arrest you
now but we won't because the drug dealing stops today, the violence
stops today,'" said Jeremy Travis, president of John Jay. "If you
continue, you now know the consequences and you've seen the case
against you but we don't want to send you to prison."

Meanwhile, violent criminals who are identified will be arrested. In
the High Point project, drug dealers weren't included in the program
if they had a history of violence; had gun violations that were
considered dangerous; or had pending cases against them.

The goals are to cut violence in neighborhoods where it has remained
high despite drops nationally; lower tension between police and
minority communities; shut down open-air drug markets and reduce
incarceration rates. Mr. Travis said the hope is the project will
become "a new standard of practice" around the country.