PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
In Multnomah County, Oregon,
one judge is solely responsible for sentencing hundreds of Driving Under
the Influence of Intoxicants (DUII) offenders yearly, and for monitoring
all probation activities of offenders convicted under the state's DUII
law. Each year, an average of 200 offenders possessing three or more
DUII convictions reappear before the judge. Probation activities comprise
a package of options which may include electronic surveillance, substance
abuse treatment, a formal probation program, or random substance use
testing. Furthermore, many of the individual probation activities are
administered through other branches of the courts and various law enforcement
agencies over which the judge is responsible for monitoring. Attempts
by the judge to reduce the high incidence of repeat offenses through
more aggressive monitoring is almost impossible, given the volume of
convictions and the difficulty of coordinating such varied probation
activities.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The DUII Intensive Supervision
Program (DISP) was developed in 1998 to provide a solution to the problem
of high rates of repeat offenders of Oregon's DUII law. Objectives of
the DISP effort include the following:
- Establish a program to
coordinate all probation activities and the activities of all participating
agencies
- Design a system to track
all DUII cases, providing ongoing data for analysis
- Develop new programs
that support and enhance DISP services
STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
During the
summer of 1998, a multi agency task force created DISP and field-tested
the concept. In September, the polished and refined program became fully
operational. The primary strategy used for ensuring the success of DISP
was the creation of a program coordinator position to handle all administrative
functions of the county's probation program. This new position would
supervise, monitor, coordinate, and expand upon existing probation components.
Specific objectives of the program coordinator position were to:
- Act as
a focal point around which the various probation activities and agencies
responsible for those activities would be coordinated
- Manage
all paperwork and procedures related to the processing of DUII offenders
- Develop
a record tracking system which will provide easy access to DUII offender
data
- Establish
a program evaluation strategy
- Develop
new programs that support DISP, such as indigent defense services
- Develop
a system for consolidation of DUII violations, pleas and sentencing
parameters among neighboring counties
- Coordinate
efforts with the District Attorney's office to assure prompt indictments
of repeat offenders
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