Reintegration's Impact on Public Safety in Philadelphia

This report examines the critical role of reintegration programs in enhancing public safety within Philadelphia, a city with a significantly higher crime rate than the national average. The analysis focuses on how reintegration, as opposed to solely imprisonment, is a key feature of public safety, emp...Read More

Running head: REINTEGRATION KEY TO PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC SAFETY 1
Reintegration Key to Philadelphia Public Safety
Name
Institution

REINTEGRATION KEY TO PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC SAFETY 2
Reintegration Key to Philadelphia Public Safety
Philadelphia has an overall crime rate that is 46% higher than the national average,
making it one of the most notorious and least safe cities in the U.S (Reported Annual Crime In
Philadelphia, 2017). For this reason, the law enforcement agencies have developed various
mechanisms to ensure law and order. One of these and the most effective interventions is the
reintegration program.
Reintegration is a key feature of public safety in Philadelphia (Consensus Group Report,
2016). This is because it provides for a more certain assurance that recidivists have changed their
behavior and have been incorporated as productive persons in the community. It focuses on
correcting the mindset and behavior of the offenders as opposed to the criminal system of
imprisonment, making it a more credible program. The criminal justice system is rooted on an
assumption that citizens will not be victimized by recidivists as it is believed that the offender
has learnt from the prospects of being in prison and would not want to be back there (Piquero,
2003). However, this is often not the case. As a matter of fact, instilling fear is not the best way
of changing ones character and that is why Philadelphia has pressed on this ideology and focused
on reintegration in a bid to ease crime rates.
Federal, state and municipal probation officers in the city of Philadelphia play a very vital
role in the facilitation of corrective behavior. The investigative function of federal probation
officers tasks them with looking into an offender’s criminal and personal history prior to
sentencing by the court. If the offenders do not heed to the bond terms in the course of the trial
process, the probation officer will invoke an arrest warrant to go out and try to apprehend them.
While fulfilling these duties, Chad Bookers –a state parole officer- admits to supervising juvenile
offenders by monitoring their social media and also serving warrants to arrest juveniles who did

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not turn up in court when working as a federal probation officer (Consensus Group Report,
2016).
The state parole officers have a supervisory duty where they keep offenders who have
been paroled on check. In Philadelphia, this duty covers not only offenders who are serving the
rest of their incarceration sentence in the community but also those who have been completed
their incarceration. Due to the heightened danger the offenders pose to the community, the parole
officers engage in rigorous corrective behavior to transform their mentality and character. To
ensure maximum supervision, the task is broken down geographically by senses tracks in which
every parole officers is assigned different senses tracks in their area.
These officers have a mandate to address mental health issues, substance abuse problems
and life-coping skills which include employment and education. In their position, they interact
with a wide range of offenders; gang members, drug addicts, sexual predators, violent offenders.
For this reason, there will be need to initiate strategies that would change the mindset of the
offenders work with the community. Chad and his parole colleagues have initiated an Effective
Practices in the Community Supervision (EPIC) movement that is set to use cognitive and
behavior interventions techniques to aid the reentry process.
Community probation has also been adopted to ensure that the offender’s character and
moves are kept on check by the community. Neighborhood watch and national night out are
some of the projects that have seen police-citizen integration where the community and the
police have create a working rapport to limit crimes (Hanser, 2014). The parole officer may not
be as close to his client as the people around him. This strategy ensures that the whole
community is involved in the public safety process. It is also affordable and most importantly, a
certain way of creating a safe environment for the society. The parole officers ensure that the

REINTEGRATION KEY TO PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC SAFETY 4
offender is kept within the city while constantly evaluating any risk he poses to the residents and
people in Philly. To this effect, community supervision has proved to be a major tool in the
implementation of corrective behavior.
Finally, the parole officers will always have an ultimate role of ensuring public safety.
This means that in as much as they have an aim to ensure that the offender corrects his behavior,
they will ensure the offender is not a threat to the public, even if the offender opts to overlook
compliance with the parole boarders and continue his involvement in criminal conduct. The
officer will be tasked to investigate the offender and document the violation, interview the
people around the offender or victims to his acts and, if deemed appropriate, undertake a search
and seizure operation.

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References
Consensus Group Report. (2016). Philadelphia: Consensus Group on Reentry & Reintegration
of Adjudicated Offenders. Philadelphia. Retrieved from
http://www.cornerstoneprograms.com/index.php/facilities-and-out-patient-services/
pennsylvania/cornerstone-philadelphia-reintegration
Hanser, R. D. (2014). Community Corrections (2nd ed.). SAGE Publishers.
Piquero, N. (2003). A Recidivism Analysis of Maryland's Community Probation Program.
Journal of Criminal Justice, 296.
Rakis, j. (2005). Improving the Employment Rates of Ex-Prisoners Under Parole; Federal
Probation.
Reported Annual Crime In Philadelphia. (2017). Retrieved from Philadelphia, PA Crime:
http://www.areavibes.com/philadelphia-pa/crime/