Court Watch brings the community’s voice into the courthouse
Court Watch is a collaborative, community-based approach to criminal justice. Concerned citizens partner with police, prosecutors, probation officers, and other resources to prevent and respond to public safety concerns.
Goals
- Hold offenders accountable for their crimes with a proportionate response from the criminal justice system
- Reduce and prevent new crimes in our community
How Court Watch Works
- Criminal justice partners establish a list of criteria for the neighborhoods or offenses the collaborative is going to focus on.
- Using these criteria, a list of chronic offenders is created, who are then monitored by the Court Watch.
- At Court Watch meetings, criminal justice professionals and community members discuss specific offenders as related to:
- Prior convictions
- Police contacts
- Arrests
- Warrants
- Custody Status
- Pending Cases (felony and misdemeanor)
- Probation conditions and/or geographic restrictions
- Housing
- Eligibility for specialty programs such as Mental Health Court or Drug Court
- Community members write impact statements that describe how they have been affected by these offenders and offenses
The community leads and drives a Court Watch by:
- Sharing valuable information about offenders and crimes;
- Having input in the criminal justice process, which increases accountability;
- Educating judges about the personal impacts of being a victim crimes, including home or garage burglaries; and
- Making communities safer.
Active Court Watch Collaboratives
- 1st Precinct and Downtown 100
- 2nd Precinct Court Watch
- 3rd Precinct - Franklin Avenue, Lake Street, Bloomington, and Little Earth
- 3rd Precinct Property Court Watch
- 4th Precinct Chronic Offenders Court Watch
- 4th Precinct Property Crimes Court Watch
- 5th Precinct Court Watch