Dane County Tries to Cut Violence by Repeat Offenders

A new community notification program in Dane County is helping reduce the violence caused by repeat offenders.

Thursday night at a meeting at the Dane County United Way, seven of the county’s ten most violent repeat offenders sat in a row facing a panel oflaw enforcement officials including the sheriff, the Madison police chief, and the U.S. Attorney. The ten men selected for this program are responsible for more than 50 felonies and more than 70 victims. The seven who attended got a stern lecture and a promise that the next time they broke any law they would face lengthy prison time. Professor David Kennedy of the New York-based Center for Crime Prevention and Control designed this program. He says before this week most of these felons didn’t know the community cared one way or another about them, “They don’t know it until they’re headed for federal prison and then it’s too late, and most important they almost certainly didn’t understand the extent to which their own community needs this craziness to stop.”

Besides the stern warnings these offender were also offered assistance in finding housing, jobs, and drug and alcohol counseling. Jerome Dillard who spent 15 years in prison himself heads a support network called Voices Beyond Bars. He’s been working with some of the 20 men who already went through this process since it began in April last year, “At first impression it was ‘they out to get me’ after looking at resources and engaging in with the different service providers they realized that there was a huge benefit. And they knew anyway they couldn’t go back to prison. For some of the young ones they’ve already lost most of their twenties.”

So far, about half of the 20 men who’ve been thorough the process have jobs only three have committed new crimes and are back in prison.