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Highlights
Goals & Measures
More Information
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Public Safety Innovations
Boston Metro Innovations
  | | Addressing the Needs of At-Risk Young Women | |
 | | | Contact Information | Roxbury Youthworks, Inc.
100A Warren Street
Roxbury, MA 02119
617.427.8095 x223 |
| | Innovation | | Innovative support services for court-involved young men and women that emphasize strong family and community ties. | | | Description | Roxbury Youthworks, Inc. (RYI), is a community-based nonprofit organization that addresses the roots of juvenile delinquency in the inner city neighborhoods of Boston by providing innovative support services to court-involved and other youth up to 21 years of age. While a number of innovative programs focus on court-involved young men, few had focused on rising rates of violence and prostitution among young women. Roxbury Youthworks created a model program for young women later adopted as state policy. In 2005, it renewed a $1.2 million dollar contract with the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS) for all of Boston's Community Re-Entry Centers (CRCs). Highlights include: - The Still We Rise Building, an all-female youth programming center and home to the Female Focus Initiative and A Way Back program.
- The Edge Program, providing adolescents (and their families) involved with the Department of Social Services (DSS) with advocacy, mediation with the court system, and innovative center-based groups
- Juvenile Court Clinic, serving as clinical investigators
- Community Re-entry Centers (CRC) work with youth transitioning from secure treatment facilities and residential placements to their home in the communities
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|  | | | Contact Information | New Hampshire Department of Safety
33 Hazen Drive
Concord, NH 03305 |
| | Innovation | Voice-activated police cruiser takes emergency response systems automation to a new level, saving lives and improving performance in dangerous situations.
| | | Description | | In today's world of advanced technology, police officers must manage a large amount of sophisticated equipment while driving--sometimes under emergency conditions. In collaboration with the New Hampshire Department of Public Safety, the University of New Hampshire has created a completely integrated voice-controlled police cruiser. Project 54 helps officers manage police-cruiser technology through a voice-recognition system that controls all interior functions. The hands-free system allows officers to maintain their focus on the road, improving road safety and decreasing the likelihood of an accident. The innovation is part of an emerging trend in voice-based command-and-control systems for emergency management and response. |
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National/International Innovations
| | Online Action for Public Safety | |
 | | | Contact Information | One Appleton Street, 4th floor
Boston, MA 02116-5223
(617) 437-1500 |
| | Innovation | | Pioneering use of the Internet helps communities tackle substance abuse and gun violence. | | | Description | Originally a project of the Boston University’s School of Public Health, Join Together Online (JTO) pioneered the use of the Internet to support people in communities across the nation working to reduce substance abuse and gun violence, providing free Internet access to support their efforts. Every month, three-quarters of a million JTO web pages are viewed by more than 350,000 people—subscribers to its e-mail news services and visitors to websites in its syndication network. Initiatives include:
* QuitNet, to quit smoking. In 2005 more than 1.3 million individuals visited Quitnet.com and more than 100,000 used the program to help themselves quit
* Alcohol Screen www.alcoholscreening.org, a free and anonymous online alcohol screening program that uses a scientifically validated set of 12 questions to measure the health consequences of an individual’s drinking pattern, with detailed feedback. More than 400,000 individuals have completed this screen.
* Demand Treatment! Partnership support for science-driven strategies in 27 US communities to help them develop screening programs in health settings, expand access to treatment, and increase funding for screening and treatment, and understand insurance coverage. |
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| | A New Spin on an Old Idea | |
 | | | Contact Information | ANE GeoTech, Inc.
P.O. Box 7526
Stockton, CA 95267-0526
209-472-1822 |
| | Innovation | | Intelligent levee systems employ sensors and communications technology to warn of potential vulnerabilities. | | | Description | | In response to the recent failures of traditional levee systems to protect vulnerable areas from flooding during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and other disasters, innovations are emerging that blend advanced sensor and communication technology with traditional levee designs. The result is "smart levees" wired with what resembles a nervous system of electronic sensors that alert authorities if a levee has weakened and/or needs repairs. KaneGeoTech Inc. of Stockton, California, is one of the companies implementing the "failure sensor" technology in traditional level systems to protect vulnerable populations in flood- prone areas. |
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| | A Batting Average for Criminal Justice | |
 | | | Contact Information | Washington State Institute for Public Policy
110 Fifth Avenue SE, Suite 214
P.O. Box 40999
Olympia, WA 98504-0999 |
| | Innovation | | The Washington State Institute for Public Policy applies statistical analysis to crime prevention measures to develop often surprising results that are improving safety and saving money. | | | Description | With intense statistical scrutiny for everything from baseball batting averages to the efficacy of various medicines, why not crime prevention strategies? The state of Washington is doing just that. In response to an overflowing state jails, the Washington State Legislature directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) to study and implement recommendations for an "evidence-based" criminal justice system. Using a statistical approach popular in clinical medicine, the WSIPP proposed a portfolio of policy options aimed at reducing crime, keeping prison capacities at current levels or lower, and saving taxpayers $1.4 billion dollars through the year 2030. This evidence-based initiative moves toward a data-driven criminal justice system and policies and away from politically expedient and ideological responses. The institute’s analysis showed that: * Placing juvenile offenders with foster families, and providing behavioral therapy, reduces crime outcomes by an average of 22%, saving the state $78,000 over 13 years per offender treated
* Providing "Adolescent Diversion" for lower-risk offenders reduces crime by 19% and will save taxpayers $40,000 per offender through 2030
* Providing intensive treatment programs for adult offenders reduces crime by 16.7% and saves the state $11,000 per offender through 2030
* There is no evidence that surveillance-oriented or Juvenile-intensive parole supervision programs help to prevent crime, yet they cost taxpayers $3,700 and $14,000 per offender, respectively
* The "Scared Straight" program actually increases crime by 6.8%. Taxpayer loss on this program is calculated at $14,000 per offender through 2030 |
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| | *Earthquake-Proof Utilities | |
 | | | Contact Information | Earthquake Research Institute
University of Tokyo
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| | Innovation | | Tokyo is creating flexible utility ducts deep underground that will move with earthquakes. | | | Description | | Engineering buildings and bridges for earthquake resistance is a mature science. However, protection for major utility systems such as water, gas, and electricity is less well developed, yet utilities are instrumental in post-disaster relief efforts and long-term recovery. Tokyo, a city constantly under the threat of earthquakes, is engineering flexible underground ducts to accomplish just that. Government-funded construction projects are underway to build earthquake resistant utility ducts positioned nearly 40 meters under the city's streets. The ducts, which can move and shift in response to tectonic activity, are designed to help the city prevent the disruption of major utilities during and immediately following a disaster. The underground ducts are part of the Japanese Government's national disaster management plan, which also calls for intense earthquake monitoring systems, and provides extensive instructions for each neighborhood in the case of a major quake. |
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| | A More Humane (and Effective) Prison | |
 | | | Contact Information | Kolbe Foundation
P.O. Box 1021
Belize City, Belize
+501 222 4369 |
| | Innovation | | Using humane methods inspired by a priest imprisoned by the Nazis, the Kolbe Foundation transformed a failing prison into a model of successful inmate rehabilitation. | | | Description | In August 2002, Belize turned over management of its Central Prison to the Kolbe Foundation, a nonprofit organization made up of members of the Rotary Club of Belize. The objective was to create a “secure, humane facility geared towards meaningful rehabilitation.” The name “Kolbe” honors Father Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish prisoner of the Nazis. In 1981 Pope John Paul II canonized Father Kolbe, who is now the patron saint of all prisoners. At the time, the prison's cells were dangerously overcrowded (only 1/3 of the inmates had beds), food and medical services were poor, and no rehabilitation services were offered. The Kolbe Foundation rebuilt a clinical facility, a learning center with classrooms and a computer lab, and separate housing for men, youth, and female inmates. Prisoners run the various rehabilitation programs and serve on an Inmate Advisory Board that meets weekly with prison administrators. Since the Kolbe Foundation took over management, recidivism rates have dropped from 60% to 25%. The Foundation's goal is 0%.
* Kolbe's Vision Statement: “One day people who run astray will be sentenced to a rehabilitation program rather than to a prison for incarceration.” The sentence will be "for successful completion of a program" rather than a finite sentence.
* In 2007, changes were made in the Parole System to allow parole after 1/3 of a sentence is served if an inmate has successfully participated in rehabilitation and occupational programs and has a record of good conduct. |
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