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CSOSA is hosting its Community Roundtable Rethinking Violent Crime and the Recycling of Justice Involved Individuals. The Roundtable will take place on Wednesday, November 2, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm, at 633 Indiana Avenue, NW.
A recent essay by JustLeadershipUSA’s Founder and President, Glenn E. Martin, appearing in the October 11th issue of The Hill, challenged readers to reimagine the criminal justice system and take a fresh look at how those convicted of serious crimes are being dealt with (see: http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/crime/300299-obama-proves-smart-on-crime-is-also-smart-politics#.V_0YzO8X8ks.twitter). This can be hard for people in our community to do after they have heard numerous media reports that “repeat violent offenders” are responsible for most of the homicides and other violent crimes taking place. CSOSA has data showing that of the 17,971 active clients that we supervised in CY2015, more than 99.5% of them were not arrested for a homicide and about 98% were not arrested for a violent crime. This low percentage of involvement applies to our returning citizens as well (i.e., those on supervised release or parole following incarceration). Director Ware plans to share this information at the Roundtable. It, along with that contained in the Justice Policy Institute’s recent report, Defining Violence: Reducing Incarceration by Rethinking America’s Approach to Violence, should fuel an informed discussion about violent crime in the District.
We plan to have two panels during the Roundtable. The first panel will include a small group of criminal justice policy experts. We want them to share and comment on relevant data and use it to frame the discussion. The second panel will include representatives from some of our local returning citizen organizations. We want them to comment on the data, share their experience with violent crime and those who commit and are harmed by it and offer their ideas about how to prevent it.
We also want you to be a part of the audience and participate in a moderated discussion about the problem and the solutions and to later share the information presented at the Roundtable with your network and with the community.