The families of people such as Matthew Carrington, Shaun Summa, Brett Olson, Carly Callaghan, and Mason Sumnicht never thought that Chico was a dangerous place, but it is now all too obvious that an insidious culture of intoxication is showing its effects. As a person with deep roots to this community, I am in full support of the city's efforts to bring peace to these families and see to it that Chico State students are just as much a part of this community as anyone else.
The city of Chico should represent safety and security for everyone from kindergartners to doctorate students (including my family and yours), but we can only achieve that if those few people committing crimes in our city are held directly responsible for their actions. This is where a Community Court steps in.
Please read the following letter sent to officials at City Hall on March 17, 2013. With your support, a Chico Community Court could become a reality in 2013. Please comment on this post or email me at schuyler.bagwell@gmail.com to demonstrate your support for a pilot project in Chico!
"Dear Mayor Goloff, members of the council, and distinguished community leaders,My name is Schuyler Bagwell and I write to you today in response to Chico’s Call to Action. It is my pleasure to propose an ambitious community-involved justice initiative that I am extremely passionate about.In 2007, after attending Chico schools for more than 15 years, I moved away to take a position as an Operations Coordinator at the Seattle City Attorney’s Office. This position oversaw development, implementation, and expansion of Seattle Community Court—a grant-funded partnership of Seattle Municipal Court, Seattle Police Department, Associated Council for the Accused, as well as numerous neighborhood improvement organizations and social service providers.The purpose of a Community Court is to give low-level, non-violent misdemeanor defendants accused of “quality-of-life” crimes the opportunity to give back to the community where their offenses occurred. Defendants do this by completing targeted service projects alongside other defendants. For example, someone convicted of vandalism could be ordered to remove graffiti, or a person convicted of disorderly conduct could perform litter patrol. This compels the individual to take pride and a sense of ownership in their community.Also, Community Courts seek to work with defendants rather than against them by simultaneously linking them with local social services of which they are in need, based on an individualized needs assessment. This shifts the focus from simply processing cases to mending the fabric of the community. Community Courts test new and aggressive approaches to public safety rather than merely responding to crime with traditional criminal penalties.As someone who still visits Chico several times per year and reads the Enterprise-Record daily, I can’t help but notice the similarities between problems facing both Chico and the neighborhoods I worked with in Seattle. A hypothetical Chico Community Court would be tremendously well-equipped to deal with the the “quality-of-life” problems currently facing the Downtown and South Campus neighborhoods that are all too often alcohol related. Additionally, this program would directly address the increasing number of people released into the community by Assembly Bill 109.In my program in Seattle, participants were combined from two categories:
- Pre-Trial Diversion: those with no previous criminal history and accused of disorderly conduct, minor in possession, criminal trespass, theft, or similar. These participants were offered dismissal of charges upon successful completion of community service and contact with relevant social service agencies, if applicable.
- “Chronic public system users:” those with lengthy criminal histories (though some violent crimes could disqualify them from eligibility) who are more commonly accused of criminal trespass, theft, obstruction, prostitution, or similar. These participants were offered dispositional continuances for one year and could not repeat the program more than three times.
We achieved great success in Seattle in terms of lower recidivism rates, cost savings, neighborhood beautification, and community relations. Seattle Community Court’s inception signified a new tone in our city’s conversation about justice and accountability, specifically in the Belltown neighborhood where our efforts were focused due to a high concentration of bars and nightlife. Over the years, as the program has grown, it has only become more efficient and formidable due to increased visibility and awareness. Community Courts around the world have proven to reduce municipal costs over time because of volunteer efforts, diversion, and lack of recidivism. To learn more about Seattle Community Court’s achievements, please read our inaugural newsletter by visiting http://www.seattle.gov/communitycourt/docs/08Jul_CCourtNews_Inaugural.pdfDeveloping a Chico Community Court would be a very complex undertaking and would require the cooperation of local and county officials, police, the university, and organizations such as the Jesus Center, the Torres Shelter, Clean & Safe Chico, The Greater Chico Homeless Taskforce, and the Downtown Chico Business Association, but with your support, I am confident we could begin to see progress on a pilot project modeled on Seattle very soon.Having been Operations Coordinator of Seattle Community Court for two years, I am happy to provide guidance in any way possible to assist in finding similar success in Chico. Also, I would be happy to speak to the City Council during the March 26th meeting about some of the founding principles of Community Court and how we can pragmatically implement this initiative in our beautiful city.If you have any questions, feel free to contact me any time at the contact information provided below. Thank you for your time!Sincerely,Schuyler Bagwell, CEOCommunity Court Consulting, LLCSeattle, Washington, USA
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