New Community Courts to Target Minor Crimes

In the annals of crime, offenses such as graffiti or public urination may not amount to much.

But they are not too trivial for the neighborhoods victimized by vandals and reeking drunks, whose crimes can depress the quality of life.

To reform petty criminals--as well as force them to make amends to neighborhoods they offended--community court is coming to Los Angeles and, along with it, a police crackdown on minor crimes.

Brought together by Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Feuer, a group of judges, city prosecutors, public defenders and law enforcement and community leaders plans to open the courts in pilot projects planned for Van Nuys and downtown’s skid row. The new Van Nuys court is expected to start in the first half of next year, with skid row to follow.

“It will represent an important step forward in how . . . everyone approaches misdemeanor offenses,” said Rick Schmidt, head of the Los Angeles city attorney’s Van Nuys office.

Across the nation, about a dozen community courts have sprung up in the last several years in places such as New York City; Denver; Portland, Ore.; Austin, Texas; and West Palm Beach, Fla. Elsewhere, at least 13 community courts are being planned, according to the New York-based Center for Court Innovation.

Such courts generally deal only with such offenses as vandalism, disorderly conduct, public intoxication, public urination, battery, shoplifting, trespassing and prostitution.

“Too often we consider these victimless crimes,” said John Feinblatt, director for the Center for Court Innovation. “But they aren’t victimless crimes. Blocks and neighborhoods are victims of these crimes.”

A community court seeks to make offenders pay restitution through service, and it emphasizes rehabilitation. Offenders are referred to the appropriate social services such as job training, counseling, drug treatment, homeless shelters and health care.

Though begun as purely local initiatives, the new Van Nuys and skid row courts will be primarily financed by the federal government. Congress recently passed a federal budget that includes $1 million, secured by Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Los Angeles), for funding Los Angeles community courts.

Some organizers have high hopes for these courts, but others say it is too early to tell what kind of impact they will have.

In the Van Nuys courtroom of Commissioner Mitchell Block, where the new court is planned, many defendants are already being ordered to undergo counseling or enroll in drug treatment. Most of the petty criminals in his court--perhaps 90%--are already performing community service, Block said.

Currently, offenders must perform service in neighborhoods where they live rather than in the neighborhoods sullied by their crimes, if the two are not the same.

Community court, however, will require service in the neighborhood where the crime occurred. A professional staff evaluator will interview defendants in depth to make appropriate referrals, to “get to the root of the problem . . . connect with something that will change behavior,” said Jim Leahy, executive director of the Volunteer Center in Van Nuys.

Organizers acknowledge that community court will be similar to Los Angeles County Superior Court’s Drug Court program or the newly opened Homeless Court in skid row in its focus on rehabilitation and reducing recidivism.

But community court will be the first to give ordinary citizens a greater say in the judicial process. Integral to its operations will be an advisory panel of people who will meet regularly with the judge to suggest sentencing options that will best benefit their neighborhood.

Flip Smith, the longtime owner of Flip’s Tires in Van Nuys, believes that getting citizens involved in the criminal justice system could help reduce crime.

People in the community “would become more aware of crime. They would watch out for one another. For instance, if they saw something suspicious, they’ll write down a license plate number,” Smith said.

Community courts are based on the idea that even the most petty offenses can undermine a neighborhood’s well-being. Advocates tout the “broken windows” theory of crime prevention: that such offenses create a chaotic environment that fosters a neighborhood’s downward spiral in which property values fall, people are afraid to be outdoors, businesses suffer and more serious crimes proliferate.

Police More Likely to Issue Citations

To improve a neighborhood, proponents of the broken windows theory say, the reverse must happen. Residents must refuse to tolerate minor crimes and spruce up their neighborhood.

In places with community courts, such as New York City, the effort is often coupled with a crackdown on minor crimes. The same is expected to happen in Los Angeles.

“We want the graffiti vandals arrested. We want the people urinating on the sidewalk arrested. We want the prostitutes arrested,” said Los Angeles Police Cmdr. Sharon Papa, who also worked on the skid row community court project. “We’ll be doing more enforcement violations that weren’t taken care of in the past.”

When police officers see a petty violation now, they think “why enforce it, because the [city attorney] won’t prosecute it,” Papa said. “With the community court, officers will be more likely to take action when they know [their citations] will be followed through.”

In Van Nuys, residents and business owners say they are eager for a community court.

The new Van Nuys court will handle crimes committed in an area bordered by Sepulveda Boulevard to the west, Woodman Avenue to the east, Vanowen Street to the north and Oxnard Street to the south. Despite a much-heralded Targeted Neighborhood Initiative that has already injected $3 million into that neighborhood, the community could still use help, those who live and work there say.

“The homeless are still here. The graffiti is still here. We aren’t dealing with the problems. Community court will be the missing piece of the puzzle in the revitalization of Van Nuys,” said Candido Marez of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic family fraternal service organization.

“It’s been proven in New York that when you hold people accountable for little things, it won’t escalate into bigger things,” Papa said. “If New York can have a dramatic result, then we can too in L.A.”