Career In Criminal Justice

Madison360: Madison's worst criminals will get a special invitation

As the seat of state government, site of a Big Ten university and home to a citizenry hot for the next debate, Madison has always been a mecca for meetings.

But it's never seen one quite like this.

At this meeting, the city's worst five to 10 criminals — each a chronic repeat violent offender — will be forced to show up in a room, one at one time, to be told that, for them, the revolving door of "crime-conviction-release-repeat" is closed for good.

The tentative site is the United Way headquarters in November. On hand will be a small army of law enforcement, criminal justice and social service types. The families of the criminals "notified" (that's the verb police use) will be encouraged to attend with them.

What will they hear?

You are henceforth under a microscope from which you cannot escape. You must stop breaking laws now, with or without the personalized job counseling and other social program help we are here to offer. If you commit another serious crime, we will single you out and punish you with the focused and concerted might of the entire criminal justice system. You have become our top priority.

Last summer, Madison Police Chief Noble Wray and I talked about this planned approach — called "focused deterrence" in police parlance — for a column about gang and drug activity in the city. In the nearly one year since, Wray has gotten funding from the city and created a unit led by Lt. Tom Woodmansee and staffed by three newly named detectives.

Last Friday, in one in a series of talks prior to launching the effort, Woodmansee briefed the Dane County Criminal Justice Group, a gathering of law enforcement, court and social service experts. Among the members attending were Sheriff Dave Mahoney and Circuit Judge Bill Foust.

Madison's initiative is patterned after a successful High Point, N.C., program derided at first as "hug-a-thug" but which over time dramatically reduced recidivism. The local justice committee, over lunch in a basement meeting room at the county courthouse, saw a film about the North Carolina program in which criminals are told their only alternatives to shaping up are "a coffin or prison."

In an interview with Wray last week, I suggested that some will question this intensive carrot-and-stick approach. Haven't these guys been bad enough for long enough to just skip the carrot and go right to the stick?

Wray smiled at me across the table in his City-County Building office. Not a new question, I inferred. "When we gave this presentation to the district attorney and a judge, we showed them two samples of actual repeat offenders who would qualify for this initiative," Wray says. "And they were shocked. They were saying, ‘Why are they out (of prison)?' Yeah, that's the question. That's not pointing the finger. It's just that we have no way of really focusing in on people that need to be focused in on," Wray says.

My major is Criminal Justice – Should I minor in sociology or get ...

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Just inventory what is starting upon in my conduct during a moment…any opinions have been submit would be appreciated! Thanks.

If we care, here have been a compulsory courses for both:

SOCIOLOGY

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