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Wichita
Assembly Feb. 1-2 focuses on offenders’ re-entry into community
Releasing
prisoners back into communities poses challenges to citizens worried
about public safety and the offenders’ ability to transition
from life in prison.
With
the Wichita community experiencing this growing issue, WSU has organized
a forum for approximately 125 nominated and invited citizens to
review the current process for offenders returning to communities
after prison and to provide recommendations for improvement.
The
Wichita Assembly on "Community Reconnection – a New Beginning
for Offenders" will be held at WSU Feb. 1-2.
Participants
will represent businesses, neighborhood associations, nonprofit
groups, government offices, corrections professionals and everyday
citizens. Before coming to the forum, the participants have been
asked to review a monograph on the issue, compiled by WSU criminal
justice professor Paul Cromwell.
"The
challenge is to understand how to effectively manage the inevitable
returns from prisons so that communities will be safer," according
to the monograph. "This may require a careful look at differential
risks posed by former prisoners, new strategies for parole, and
crime control tactics that reduce reliance on incarceration."
During
the assembly, former Nevada Gov. Bob Miller, a former law enforcement
officer and district attorney, will give the keynote address. He’s
been recognized nationally for his work on victim’s rights,
public safety and prison reform.
Other
speakers include the heads of corrections for the state of Iowa
and the city of St. Louis, Mo.; a Texas district attorney; and the
police chief of Lowell, Mass., which implemented a new prisoner
re-entry program in 1999.
Former
Sedgwick County Sheriff Mike Hill will chair the assembly.
The
community assembly is co-hosted by WSU’s Hugo Wall School of
Urban and Public Affairs, the state of Kansas, the city of Wichita
and Sedgwick County. Since 1990, WSU has hosted six Wichita Assemblies,
addressing topics such as at-risk children and the environment.
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