If you have issues viewing or accessing this file, please contact us at NCJRS.gov. II• - I -1- • • _. -- ~- . -. .- -' ,- - .. , .~ ·7, / ,/ , . ... .. ; ~ . ~ ._" .__ - ... __ J<.- • -- - ~ - -- ----.,... .~ . FOR -THE-FUTURE Final Report of Trends &.. Issues for the 1990s: An Illinois Criminal justice Forum January 1991 illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority William Gould, Chairman J. David Coldren, Executive Director Barbara McDonald, Deputy Executive Director Kevin P. Morison, Report Author and Editor 13048L:. U.S. Department of Justice National Institute of Justice This document has been reproduced exacUy as received from the person or organizalion originating it. Points of view or opinions stated in thIs document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the National Institute of Juslice. Permission to reproduce this copyrighted material has been 9!'<1nJeQ by. C· . 1 J . LLL~no~s r~m~na us~~ce -I.nf.G.:r;mat~.Q.:);J..b-:tL..::),/-T---­ to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS). Further reproduction outside of the NCJRS system requires permis­ sion of the copyright owner. Copyright © 1991 Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority 120 South Riverside Plaza, Chicago, illinois, 60606-3997 312-793-8550 Printed by authority of the State of Illinois January 1991 Printing order number 91-23 2,500 copies -- ~---~. - Introduction .....•....................... "....•.........•......... ...........•........ ~ ......... t Key Trends &.. Issues ......................................." ........•.•...................•.. 6 New Directions in Law Enforcement ......................................................... 6 Fighting Drug Abuse ............................................................................... 11 Finances and Planning ............................................................................ 17 Changes in Technology ........................................................................... 22 Education and Training ........................................................................... 27 juvenile justice ....................................................................................... 31 Correctional Alternatives ........................................................................ 35 Selvic:es for Crime Victims ...................................................................... 41 The Role of the Media ............................................................................. 44 The Role of Citizens ................................................................................45 Other Key Issues ....................................................................................47 Session Summaries .••••••..••.••..•••...••.•••.••.•••••..•••••••••..••.• ".••• G •••••••••••• 50 Keynote Address: Of Crime and the River ............................................... 50 Challenge for the '90s ............................................................................. 52 Illinois Town Meeting: Drug Abuse and Crime ........................................ 57 Private Sector Strategies: Drug Free Workplace ....................................... 59 Drug Abuse: The Naturt'! and Extent of the Problem ................................ 60 Drug Abuse: Testing and User Accountability ......................................... 61 Drug Abuse: Education and Prevention .................................................... 62 Drug Abuse: Treatment Alternatives ....................................................... 63 Drug Abuse: Eradication and Interdiction ................................................ 64 Biometric Technologies: Changing the Identification Process .................. 65 Criminal justice and the Media: Working Together .................................. 66 Using Computers for Criminal justice Decision Making ........................... 68 Enhanced Communications Technologies ............................................... 69 Labor Relations: Trends in the 1990s ...................................................... 70 Criminal justice: Planning: Designing the Future ....................................... 71 Drug Abuse: Strategies for the '90s ........................................................ 72 Domestic Violence: A Model Response .................................................. 73 Crime and the Elderly: An Age Old Problem ........................................... 74 juvenile Offenders: Changing Profile, Changing Resources ...................... 75 Dispute Resolution ................................................................................. 76 Emergency Preparedness: Dealing with the Unexpected ........................ 77 Child Abuse: The System Response ........................................................ 78 Crime Victims: The Child Victim/Witness ................................................ 79 Community Oriented Policing ................................................................. 80 Research: The Foundation of Policy ......................................................... 81 Education and Training: Diminishing Resources ....................................... 82 Candidates Forum ................................................................................... 83 Forum Participants .••........•.••...•..........•.....•....•......•........................85 , • • • n s Illinois enters a new decade, the state's criminal justice system finds lAl itself grappling with a host of contradictory trends: • The system faces more demands than ever before, but the resources devoted to criminal justice are barely keeping pace with inflation, let alone the surge in activity. • Increases in criminal justice activity continue to be fueled by higher rates of drug­ related crime, even though the overall level of drug abuse in society appears to be waning. • Levels of property and violent crime remain high, despite the drop in the number of young people in the traditionally crime-prone age groups. • Constitutionally and operationally, the criminal justice "system" is as fragmented as ever, although people increasingly expect it to function with a unified voice. • And while the root causes of crime, and the eventual solutions to it, lie outside "I'm struck by the irony of the the justice system, an increasingly frustrated public is demanding that the system people in th,e media and in the unilaterally do more to solve the problem of crime in their communities. general public being like those [addicts] on the street in wanting a It is this last contradiction that is perhaps most vexing for criminal justice profes­ quick fix." sionals, lawmakers, the media, and the general public. For at the same time that citizens are looking for a quick fix to the problems of drug abuse and crime, it is Wayne Wlebel becoming increasingly clear that the causes and solutions are far too deep and too University of Illinois at Chicago complex for easy answers from the criminal justice system or any other single entity. A growing call for help In this respect, criminal justice resembles emergency health care, another "system" that is drawing more and more public attention these days. It seems obvious that the best way to reduce emergency health care activity and costs is to keep people out of the emergency room-through better nutrition, preventive health care, and education. Similarly, the best way to reduce criminal justice activity and costs is to prevent crime before it occurs-through programs that attack poverty, educational failure, family diSintegration, and other breeding grounds for crime. However, neither the emergency health care system nor the criminal justice system has the lUXUry of idly stanciing by while others work on the long-term solutions. Both systems must continue to react to today's problems. And wi~ih0ut substantial progress on those more permanent solutions, both systems can expect even more "clients" in the new decade. For the criminal justice system that will mean not just more offenders, but also more victims and other citizens who are looking not just for immediate assistance, but for longer-term answers as well. Responding to the public's growing call for help is probably the biggest challenge facing the justice system in the 1990s. The system will have to maintain-actually improve-such traditional functions as responding to calis for service, investigating crimes, and arresting, prosecuting and punishing offenders. But that won't be enough. The system must also do more to identify and contain some of the Introduction underlying conditions and circumstances that lead to crime. In other words, at the same time that it is finding new ways to speed up its response to 911 calls, the criminal justice system must also adopt new strategies for reducing the number of calls for seNice by reducing the number of criminal incidents. Complicating this already formidable challenge are some serious time constraints. Demographers are predicting that well before the end of the decade, the crime­ prone population of teenagers and young adults will be increasing again in Illinois. Furthermore, it will take several years to design, test, and implement any major new information system, organizational structure, or crime control agenda. Unless criminal justice leaders in Illinois are satisfied with the systems and programs that are currently in place, and unless they are comfortable with having those same systems and programs for the rest of the decade, the process of defining and effecting change must