The support of city management and
city leaders has also contributed to the
success of the program. “We went to them
and said we are going to start a program
like no other police department in the
state is doing and we have no experience
doing it,” said Chief Jones. “Not only did
our leaders support it, they embraced it.”
As a result of this effort, the program is
gaining momentum and recognition as a
successful model for other agencies to emulate. State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano
recognized the program during a recent
judicial committee for being an example
of an innovative approach to provide
positive community results.
The F.R.S.T. team is comprised of two
full-time police officers, one part- time
probation officer, one community policing technician, and one police sergeant
who work with community organizations
focusing on finding employment for these
individuals. Job training and placement
are considered the best strategy to combat
recidivism.
The program is Fontana’s response
to California Assembly Bill 109 (AB 109)
implemented in October 2011. AB 109
impacted every community by transferring the burden of care for prison releases
from the state to the local municipalities.
The violent crime rate for the City of
Fontana rose 14% during the first year
following the implementation of AB 109
and property crimes rose 22% for the same
time period. Comparatively for the same
time period the State of California and the
City of Fontana experienced the following
recidivism rates: violent crimes 70%, sex
crimes 90% and non-violent crimes 35%.
The high recidivism rates and significant increase in crime that followed the
implementation of AB 109 led officers to
the realization that the old approach of
incarcerating individuals and expecting
them to successfully rejoin society upon
release without support or resources was
not realistic. The City of Fontana Police
Department developed F.R.S.T. as an
innovative approach to break the cycle of
arrest, incarceration, release and re-arrest.
Early results offer evidence that the program is working. After the re-entry team
was implemented in September 2012, the
city had a 10% reduction in part one crime
from 2012 to 2013.
The team focuses on identifying re-entry individuals (clients) that will benefit
from the program in a variety of ways including: conducting monthly presentations
at the local county jail to inform prisoners
pre-release about the program, working
with probation/parole officers to identify
probationers and/or parolees that will turn
to crime if they do not receive assistance,
local outreach, and more. The partnership
between police, probation, parole, community-based organizations, faith-based
organizations, and all governmental service
providers is a groundbreaking approach to
identifying potential clients and providing
available resources. In addition, local judges, deputy district attorneys and public defenders are referring defendants sentenced
to probation to the program. Clients are
tracked and continuously offered support
and assistance.
F.R.S.T. officers work with nearly 200
governmental, non-profit public-based
and faith-based organizations to ensure
that clients have access to all of the benefits and resources needed to rejoin the
community.
F.R.S.T. accomplishments since its
inception in 2012:
• 256 workshop graduates
• 106 job placements
• 940 job referrals
• 516 referrals to substance abuse and
domestic violence classes
• 213 referrals to government agencies for
services (DMV, Child Support, Social
Security)
• 237 social services referrals including
welfare and food stamps during transition phase of acquiring employment
The concept is simple; keep individuals from reoffending by providing the
proper tools to gain employment and
make an honorable living. Charles Johnson
received assistance through the program
to enroll in machinist classes and graduated at the top of his class with four certifications. He later secured employment as
a machinist with a local company. “There
is no reason you can’t succeed unless you
don’t want to,” said Johnson. “The officers
and individuals involved in the program
have all the resources and are willing to
do whatever it takes to help you, which is
why the program is a success.”
With continued support from the
multitude of partnering agencies, F.R.S.T.
will continue to reduce crime and help
clients become productive members of
the community. The program is a win-win
model for the city, county and region that
exemplifies the unlimited possibilities
when we all work together to improve the
quality of life for future generations. ■
SPRING 2014 | California Police Chief
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