Program Profile: Phoenix (Ariz.) Repeat Offender Program

This program involved cooperation between police and prosecutors to increase the likelihood that high-risk individuals would be convicted and incarcerated. The program is rated Promising. The experimental group had a statistically significant greater likelihood of being sentenced to prison and having longer prison sentences, compared with the control group. However, there was no statistically significant difference for conviction rates between the groups.

A Promising rating implies that implementing the program may result in the intended outcome(s).

This program's rating is based on evidence that includes at least one high-quality randomized controlled trial.

Program Goals/Target Population

The Phoenix (Ariz.) Repeat Offender Program was designed to increase conviction and incarceration rates for chronic, high-risk people. This program was targeted at individuals with extensive criminal histories in Phoenix, Ariz. The primary goal was to prosecute dangerous people to the full extent of the law resulting in incarceration, rather than merely arresting and booking. The program also sought to impose longer prison terms for chronically convicted of offenses.

Program Components

Post-arrest case management was used to target suspects in the area. A Repeat Offender Unit was set up in the Phoenix Police Department to identify these people; their cases were then given special attention in the criminal justice process. This special attention included examining the criminal history and background information of the person, conducting follow-up investigations, and interviewing witnesses and victims. The information was used to identify those who chronically commit offenses and help prosecutors build their cases against them in order to obtain convictions.

Key Personnel

Coordination between the Phoenix Police Department and the Maricopa County District Attorney’s Office was necessary to implement this program successfully. The Police Department collected and reviewed case information and sent it to the prosecutor’s office; the District Attorney’s office used this information to build a case against the individual.

Program Theory

The Repeat Offender Program is based on the theory that police resources are limited and in high demand; therefore, these resources should be focused on the most serious and high-risk persons. Since a small number of them commit a disproportionately large number of crimes, these people are a greater threat to public safety. Thus, the program’s efforts to incarcerate high-risk individuals are believed to be an efficient way to allocate police resources and may be effective in reducing crime (Abrahamse et al. 1991).

Study 1

Abrahamse and colleagues (1991) conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of the Phoenix (Ariz.) Repeat Offender Program. To locate individuals for the program, nine criteria were examined of subjects in Phoenix: current criminal activity, substance abuse, lifestyle, probation failure, felony convictions, prior juvenile record, past informant activity, family background, and method of operation. This data was obtained from Phoenix Police Department records.

Using this information, eligible individuals were chosen and randomly assigned to the experimental or the control group. If arrested, those in the experimental group received special attention from the Repeat Offender Program by police and prosecutors, while those in the control group received no special attention and were handled with standard departmental procedures. The total sample was 473 assignments, with an experimental group of 270 assignments and a control group of 203. The higher amount of assignments in the experimental group did not affect the validity of the findings: the researchers compared the control group to the experimental group on prior records, probation and parole status, and pretrial custody status, and found no statistically significant differences. There was no demographic information provided about the study sample. No subgroup analysis was conducted.

From December 1988 to June 1989, every case had 6 months’ exposure to either the Repeat Offender Program or standard operating procedures. In June 1989, a data collection team conducted a follow-up of the outcome of each case. The team examined which people were arrested, prosecuted, convicted, incarcerated, and imprisoned, and what sentences were imposed. The outcomes of the prosecuted cases were examined to determine the effectiveness of the Repeat Offender Program on conviction rates, likelihood of incarceration and imprisonment, and sentence length. This information was obtained from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.

Because the Repeat Offender Program is designed to increase the likelihood that high-risk persons will be convicted and incarcerated, higher conviction and incarceration rates for the experimental group indicated a positive program effect.

These sources were used in the development of the program profile: