Community prosecution is an approach that intends to see an improvement in the collaboration and cooperation between prosecutors and parties outside the criminal justice system for instance members of the community and leaders of various businesses. To prosecutors, community prosecution is what police officers view as community policing (Siegel et al. 2015). Community prosecution involves organized response to public safety demands in the grassroots levels where highly concrete terms of expression by the people living in these neighborhoods are considered. Community prosecution addresses a number of issues that affect both the criminal judicial system and members of various communities.
One of the main issues addressed by the community prosecution is the recognition of the role played by the community in promoting public safety. Instead of following the usual approach where the justice system dictates to the public on the handling of all crime and safety issues, community prosecutors engage community stakeholders in handling of concerns such as identification of neighborhood problems.
Another issue addressed by the community prosecution is problem solving at the community level. Community prosecutors do not focus solely on the individual crime that has been committed, but place a particular act of crime in its context. They are aware that such individual acts of crime have a history and most probably a future and therefore, are a part of the community problem that should be solved.
Community prosecution also addresses the issue of partnerships by encouraging development and maintenance of partnerships. The criminal justice system is made up of a network of departments and agencies that rely on each other for effective operation. Community prosecution addresses these natural connections by promoting improved communication, stronger partnerships, and increased coordination.
Reference
Siegel, L. J., Schmalleger, F., & Worrall, J. L. (2015). Courts and criminal justice in America (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River,NJ:Pearson. (Chapter 8).
