Community Outreach Team

How can you create public safety if you have no relationship with the population most at-risk of offending? One way is through our Community Outreach Team. A unique program, the role of the Community Outreach Team is to reduce re-offending and to bridge the gap with those individuals most at risk of offending. Operating since 2009, the program hires individuals who have been involved with the criminal justice system. As experts in their communities, we ask them to use their street credibility, relationships, and trust to help buildup and restore the very neighborhoods they once tore down. In return, they receive training and support to invest in themselves, thereby reducing the likelihood of re-offending. 

To learn more or to get involved contact Outreach Coordinator, Marvin Gundy. 

Program Goals

  1. Reduce re-offending, crime and victimization of participants.
  2. Resource communities by connecting residents to services & acting as system navigators.
  3. Enhance Problem-Oriented Policing strategies by being bridge builders between the community and the criminal justice system.

Program Accomplishments

  1. Substance Free - 88% (OW's who remain substance free)
  2. Stable Housing - 94% (OW's who retain stable housing post program)
  3. Educational Attainment - 71% (Those who move on to higher education)
  4. Sustained Employment - 94% (Gainfully employed post program)
  5. Outreach Worker Success - 94% (63% of the jail population will likely return to jail while only 6% of those involved in the OW program have returned to jail)