Aurora could soon launch another program to curb youth violence by putting its spin on a national law enforcement model that’s been used to tackle violent crime in other major metros.
The city is developing its version of a “focused deterrence” program, a project that’s been in the works for some time and is entering the final weeks before it might get up and running. Next steps include creating a governing board and committees that will help launch it.
Representatives of the city’s Youth Violence Prevention Program and the Aurora Police Department, which are partnering on the initiative, presented an update to city council at its Monday study session.
Some of the progressive voices on council expressed cautious optimism at the program’s prospects and research supporting its merits. Conservative lawmakers focused on whether it would be lenient on violent offenders, which organizations the program would partner with and if the program focused on the right age groups.
Police officials and city staff said their vision for the initiative is to pinpoint which of the city’s youth are at serious risk of becoming involved in more dangerous crimes and then provide them myriad resources to pursue another life path.
“There’s still hope for a lot of these young people,” Interim Chief of Police Art Acevedo said.
What is it?
Generally, a focused deterrence program is a crime reduction strategy that selects the most prolific violent offenders in a community and places them under concentrated law enforcement attention. It is usually a small but impactful group of people driving most of a community’s violent crime, the programs have found.
Unlike a more traditional law enforcement approach — where a suspect is arrested and police work with prosecutors — a focused deterrence program aims to work more proactively by trying to persuade people with a significant criminal history, or ties to group crime, against committing more offenses.
It relies on the person’s own social network to help them into compliance, while also providing social services to steer them away from further criminal activity. Life coaching, job training, employment, behavioral health treatment, anger management, mentorship and housing are some of the supportive services people might receive through a focused deterrence model.
But people identified by the program are also warned: They will be caught if they perpetrate another violent crime. For that the punishment is promised to be swift, and severe.
Numerous cities have used focused deterrence models. The strategy has been attempted unsuccessfully more than once in Baltimore, although research from Johns Hopkins found failures were possibly due to missteps in its implementation, The Baltimore Sun reported when it was revived a few years ago. The mayor recently declared its latest iteration a success, although the role it played in reducing crime was not without local scrutiny, The Baltimore Banner reported.
Kansas City’s program generated national attention and success, until it didn’t, reported The Kansas City Star. A local focused deterrence program there made significant gains for roughly a year, but then crime rates bounced back.
Councilmember Crystal Murillo asked city staff about Kansas City’s initial but short-term success and how Aurora’s program could prove sustainable.
She was glad to read research showing the model is a promising practice, she said, but wanted to know how Aurora could ensure it would be a long-lasting solution. She also advised against being quick to believe Kansas City’s setbacks were solely because of funding and political woes, as Division Chief Mark Hildebrand said some reports indicated.
“We should take caution,” Murillo said.
How Aurora’s program might look
Although focused deterrence programs across the U.S. often concentrate on adults, and the worst local offenders, Aurora is crafting its program to focus on youth, and will try to identify them before they have committed serious crimes that garner a judicial district’s attention.
“It’s not going to be a plug-and-play kind of endeavor,” Youth Violence Prevention Program Manager Joseph DeHerrera said.
The city’s goals are to reduce the number of homicides, shootings, prevent group violence recidivism, and build community trust. The program will focus on people between the ages of 15 and 25 and launch with 20 to 25 participants to start.
The process would begin with analysis of local crime and social networks to try and learn which young people are involved in lower-level crimes and at risk of becoming involved in more serious crimes.
Perhaps they’ve committed petty offenses or have friends and family in the criminal justice system and are vulnerable to becoming involved, as well. The program will use a score card to evaluate a number of factors when considering who to choose.
Next, juveniles who the city wants to enlist in the program will be notified and informed they are now receiving the focused attention of law enforcement.
While models across the country use what’s referred to as a “call-in” — a meeting among community leaders and service providers with the offenders to tell them the violence will no longer be tolerated — the version Aurora will use for youth might look different.
It could involve a sit-down with the child and their family to let the entire family unit know police are aware the young person is involved in criminal activity, and there are services available to help them start anew.
Partners are still being identified, but are likely to include county health and human services, behavioral health professionals, and city staff, in addition to law enforcement and the local judicial districts.
People who comply with the program will continue receiving social services tailored to their individual needs and case management. They can successfully complete their program, and eventually be removed from focused deterrence.
For people in the program who refuse services and commit another offense, police will file a case, seek expedited prosecution and prosecutors will pursue severe sentencing.
Councilmember Francoise Bergan pressed police officials and city staff about whether they would be enrolling violent offenders into the program in lieu of arrest.
DeHerrera had presented a hypothetical profile of a person who might be selected for other focused deterrence models, which included a lengthy and violent criminal history spanning from an open robbery case to a carjacking to being suspected as the “trigger man” in two shootings.
An individual like that should receive jail time, not an “off-ramp” like focused deterrence, Bergan said.
“I don’t care what age anybody is. That is literally like holding someone up with a gun to rob them,” Bergan said.
Aurora’s program will try to connect with youth before they reach that violent level, DeHerrera said.
Hildebrand emphasized that if police have probable cause to arrest someone, they will be arrested. The program would not be used as an alternative to consequences for serious crime. The social network analysis might point the program toward people who cannot be prosecuted for lack of evidence or someone who was connected to a crime but not violent, he said.
“It’s not giving people who are committing violent crimes an out,” he said.
In other communities’ models that focused on adults, law enforcement did build a case against a suspect and then presented them with a choice: Participate in focused deterrence or the case will move forward, Acevedo, the police chief, said. That’s not going to be Aurora’s approach with its youth focused deterrence program, he said.
Someone who commits murder is not a candidate, he emphasized.
The chief also told councilmembers that focused deterrence has his vote of confidence. He’s seen focused deterrence programs resolve issues in neighborhoods that had a generations-long reputation as crime laden, he said.
The program can work if Aurora structures it thoughtfully, he said.
“So, they don’t become graduates into a lifetime of crime,” he said.
