The Proactive Prosecutor in Alternative Courts

1. The Proactive Prosecutor in Alternative Courts Tammy Westcott, Assistant District Attorney Director of Alternative Courts Tulsa County, Oklahoma

2. A Different Animal • Non-adversarial courts • An effective prosecutor has a different mindset • Therapeutic approach • Teamwork with the judge, defense attorneys, and the drug court team • Works toward recovery and productive citizenship rather than incarceration • Belief in the effectiveness of alternative courts

3. Proactive: What’s it mean?* • Action and result oriented behavior, instead of one that waits for things to happen and then tries to adjust (react) • Identifies and explores opportunities • Takes preemptory action against potential problems rather than solving a problem after it occurs *from Business Dictionary

4. Core Competencies of the Prosecutor in Alternative Courts* • #1: Participates fully as a Drug Court team member, committing him or herself to the program mission & goals and works as a full partner to ensure their success. *from Adult DCPI Trainings

5. Core Competencies of the Prosecutor in Alternative Courts* • #2: The prosecutor participates as a team member, operating in a non-adversarial manner, promoting a sense of a unified team presence. *from Adult DCPI Trainings

6. Core Competencies of the Prosecutor in Alternative Courts* • #3: As part of the Drug court team, in appropriate non-court settings (i.e. staffing), the prosecutor advocates for effective incentives and sanctions for program compliance or lack thereof. *from Adult DCPI Trainings

7. Core Competencies of the Prosecutor in Alternative Courts* • #4: Ensures community safety concerns by maintaining eligibility standards while participating in a non-adversarial environment which focuses on the benefits of therapeutic program outcomes. *from Adult DCPI Trainings

8. Core Competencies of the Prosecutor in Alternative Courts* • #5:Monitors offender progress to define parameters of behavior that allow continued program participation and suggests effective incentives and sanctions for program compliance. *from Adult DCPI Trainings

9. Core Competencies of the Prosecutor in Alternative Courts* • #6:Is knowledgeable about addiction, alcoholism and pharmacology generally and applies that knowledge to respond to compliance in a therapeutically appropriate manner. *from Adult DCPI Trainings

10. Core Competencies of the Prosecutor in Alternative Courts* #7:Is knowledgeable of gender, age and cultural issues that may impact the offender’s success. *from Adult DCPI Trainings

11. Core Competencies of the Prosecutor in Alternative Courts* #8: Contributes to the team’s efforts in community education and local resource acquisition. *from Adult DCPI Trainings

12. Core Competencies of the Prosecutor in Alternative Courts* #9: Contributes to the education of peers, colleagues and the judiciary on the efficacy of Drug Courts. *from Adult DCPI Trainings

13. What does that all mean to me as a prosecutor? Practical ways to be a proactive prosecutor

14. #1: Encouraging Applicants • Become active in pre-screening defendants and encouraging application to drug court • Work with Court Services or other agency at the jail to pre-screen possible applicants • Notify the arraignment judge and/or fellow prosecutors that a person might be a good candidate for an alternative court (not a guarantee) • Scan intake or charges ready to be filed for potential candidates and have a way to ‘flag’ cases

15. Pre-Screening at booking/jail

16. Releaserequired

17. Data Transferred into Report

18. Final Reports Generated

19. Identify potential candidates in files

20. Active Participant Count Increases in Tulsa County Court Programs since implementing active pre-screening procedures March 2010 – March 2011: 11% increase March 2010 – March 2012: 14% increase March 2010 – Feb 2013: 39% increase End of year active counts 2010 vs. 2011: 8% increase 2010 vs. 2012: 28% increase

21. Increase in new pleas per year since implementing active recruitment 2010 to 2011: 28% increase 2010 to 2012: 53% increase

22. #2: Educate Your Office & Other Prosecutors • Write articles for local criminal law publications (handout – “Collaborative Justice”) • Hold training events for all assistant district attorneys in your office • Who are good candidates for the program • Admission procedures • Get a group associated with alternative courts to provide lunch • Try to encourage the administration to allow new attorneys to shadow you for a day or two

23. #3: Encourage Graduation & Pro-social behavior • Orientation speech • Reminders at review dockets • Holidays • Warning if you see trends (i.e. K2 use) • Be present in staffing and at review dockets • Congratulate participants at promotions & encourage continued compliance (*post-plea adjudication) • Attend Graduations

24. Increase in number of graduates since developing ways to encourage compliance & graduation 54% increase in # of graduates

25. Research confirms that the presence of the prosecutor at staffing and review dockets matters • Courts where the prosecutor attended staffing meetings had an average graduation rate of 58% versus 43% in courts where attendance occurred only occasionally or not at all. • For drug courts where the prosecutor attended drug court sessions, graduation rates were higher (55% vs. 46%) and there was substantial improvement in participant outcome costs compared to courts where the prosecutor did not attend (34% improvement in lowering outcome costs relative to their comparison group. ) NPC Research March 2008 http://www.npcresearch.com/Files/NIJ_Cross-site_Final_Report_0308.pdf

26. Recognize Promotions and Encourage Continued Success

27. Recognize Promotions and Encourage Continued Success

28. Recognize Promotions and Encourage Continued Success

29. Recognize Promotions and Encourage Continued Success

30. Recognize Promotions and Encourage Continued Success

31. Recognize Promotions and Encourage Continued Success

32. Wrapping It Up: • Maintain a mindset of working with your team on therapeutic approaches toward recovery and productive citizenship, rather than incarceration • Continue to educate yourself about best practices, addiction, alcoholism, and pharmacology • Make efforts to educate peers, colleagues, the judiciary, and the community on the efficacy of Drug Courts (write articles, hold training events)

33. Wrapping It Up: (cont.) • Seek ways to encourage more applicants • Be present at staff meetings and at court reviews as much as possible • Encourage Pro-Social Behavior and Graduation (orientation speech, recognize promotions, attend graduation)

34. Contact Info: Tammy Westcott, ADA 918-596-4893 twestcott@tulsacounty.org