Lee County Criminal Division

1. Lee County Criminal Division Strategic Work Plan – Fiscal Year: 2007- 2008

2. Lee County Pretrial Services Mission Statement: • To provide quality and timely information to the criminal courts, which will support the judicial decision to release or detain defendants at the earliest feasible opportunity. Our efforts are intended to promote equitable treatment of the accused, to provide protection for the community, and to comply with the Florida Statutes.

3. Core Business Functions: • Collection, verification and investigation of demographical and criminal history information • Public Defender screening • Conduct assessment of risk and need • Court Presentation • Monitor, track and supervise defendants placed on Pretrial Supervision and various Diversion Programs • Felony D.C.M.- Facilitate the most timely disposition of felony cases by using a predictable scheduling order based on assigned tracks/goals

4. Strategic Goal: Develop and implement a proactive departmental procedural approach in accordance with case management or supervision practices as a means of ensuring effective and timely disposition for all Lee County criminal cases.

5. Objective 1: Felony D.C.M. To effectively manage cases according to their nature and complexity to ensure early disposition of appropriate cases; to allow adequate time for trial preparation and individual judge management of more complex cases.

6. Subtasks: D.C.M. • Case Managers attendance at felony arraignment, Case management conferences, Pretrial Conf.- to facilitate court scheduling in accordance with established time goals (milestone: Jan. 08-ongoing) • Case Managers to provide status updates to the assigned Judicial Officer for each criminal division (milestone: by Mar. 08)

7. Subtasks: D.C.M. • Case Managers to review age pending reports for their assigned criminal division on a weekly basis and provide consistent updates to the court (milestone: Jan. 08- ongoing) • Case Managers are documenting and resolving attorney scheduling conflicts with all D.C.M. court events (milestone: Feb. 08- ongoing) • Case Managers are to coordinate reassigned cases to ensure proper case scheduling and resolution (milestone: Feb. 08- ongoing)

8. Subtasks: D.C.M. • Pretrial Services staff will maintain ongoing communication with private attorneys, State’s Attorney Office, Public Defender’s Office, Judiciary, Clerk of the Courts to anticipate any potential D.C.M. program conflicts/delays (milestone: Feb. 08 – ongoing) • Case Managers to maintain statistical reports on felony D.C.M. performance measures, e.g., Pretrial Conference plea rates, percentage of rollover trials/continuances to measure effectiveness of Felony D.C.M. (milestone: May 08 – ongoing)

9. Output / Deliverables: D.C.M. • Efficient case processing and backlog reduction of 20-30% in cases over one year of age and 80% on-time case processing of new cases filed in 2008. • To improve predictability and efficiency in case processing from arraignment through trial. • Establishment of meaningful court events which will lead to a trial certainty judicial calendar.

10. Comparison Of Pending Cases By Age

11. Resources: D.C.M. • Pretrial Services’ Case Managers • State’s Attorney Office • Public Defender’s Office • Clerk Of the Courts • Judges • Court Administrator • Criminal Division Director • Deputy Criminal Justice Director-Pretrial Services

12. Objective 2: Reorganization Reorganization of the Pretrial Services’ Intake/Investigation Unit to best utilize available resources; ensure core business functions of 24/7 operation are being upheld.

13. Subtasks: Reorganization • Implementation of a “Team Lead” concept – who will review all First Appearance summary packets prior to First Appearance Court, provide ongoing training / assistance to staff and coordinate workflow organization within their team (milestone: Jan. 08 – ongoing) • Reassignment of M.H.C.P. Officer to the Intake/ Investigation Unit 24/7- provide staff assistance to counter growing intake trends (Feb. 08 – ongoing)

14. Subtasks: Reorganization • Supervisory staff members to work a 12-hour shift – accessibility to entire intake staff for mentoring, coaching, training, as well as, cut down on overtime expenditures and increase job retention rates ( milestone: Jan. 08 – ongoing) • Enhance the diversion intake classification and identification process – Intake Unit to identify prospective program participants and the Court Presenter to notify the S.A.O./ P.D. of a potential diversion program participant, as well as, possible future Drug Offender Probation Supervision Client (milestone: by Apr. 08 – ongoing)

15. Subtasks: Reorganization • Development of Pretrial Services’ Release Authority proposal for Judicial review – second degree misdemeanors: non-violent / no V.O.P.’s (milestone: by Jun. 08 – ongoing) • Automation of Intake/ Investigation statistical data for analysis and discovery of growth trends (milestone: by July 08)

16. Output / Deliverables: Reorganization • Effective, timely intake processing by staff to assist the Judiciary in appropriate release decisions. • Reduction in the average length of stay for misdemeanor and felony pretrial jail population inmates at the Lee County Jail. • Release Authority to alleviate jail overcrowding, specifically, low risk / non-violent defendants • Increase of appropriate E.I.D. candidates.

17. INVESTIGATION UNIT INTERVIEWS Since F.Y. 04/05: There has been a 48% Avg. growth rate Per year in 1st qtr. Intakes completed by Pretrial Services Since F.Y. 04/05: There has been a 40% avg. growth rate per year in 1st qtr. Intakes completed by Pretrial Services

18. Release Authority Proposal A six month average finds 26% of def.’s booked into the Lee Co. Jail bond out prior to a First App. Hearing.

19. Resources: Reorganization • Lee County Sheriff’s Office • Pretrial Services’ Intake Staff • Judges • Public Defender’s Office • State’s Attorney Office • Criminal Division Director • Deputy Criminal Justice Director- Pretrial Services

20. Objective 3: Supervision/Diversion Programs To further enhance case supervision / diversion program practices that will lead to an increase in the Pretrial Services’ successful case termination rate.

21. Subtasks: Supervision / Diversion Programs • Development of a status notification letter in lieu of a violation of Pretrial Release – technical violations only (milestone: by Aug. 08) • Supervision will monitor potential diversion candidates until contract is filed with the Clerk Of Courts (milestone: Jan. 08) • Implementation of C.J.I.S. supervision case management system – automation of case supervision processes to conduct more efficient caseload tracking (milestone: Feb. 08 – ongoing)

22. Subtasks: Supervision / Diversion Programs • Pretrial Services’ Officers to attend misdemeanor arraignment on a weekly basis to ensure all appropriate defendants have been screened for the Public Defender (milestone: Oct. 07 – ongoing) • Development of tracking processes for Officer contacts with diversion contacts (milestone: by May 08)

23. Output / Deliverables: Supervision / Diversion Programs • Reduction in Pretrial Release revocations. • Pretrial Release Officer to gain discretionary violation authority. • Automation of Pretrial Services’ processes which will lead to more efficient case processing in a timely manner.

24. Resources: Supervision / Diversion Programs • Pretrial Services Staff • Judges • C.J.I.S. Team

25. Lee County Probation Mission Statement: • The Department is committed to promoting the safety and well-being of the citizens of Lee County through effective community based supervision of offenders by professional individuals who strive to make a positive impact upon their community. Our mission is accomplished by: Enforcing Court Orders, Advocating for victim’s rights and restitution, and facilitating offender rehabilitation / resocialization into the surrounding community.

26. Core Business Functions: • Circuit / County Judiciary Support • Case management / Supervision • Jail Sanctioning Alternatives • Enforcement of Court Orders • Facilitate Offender rehabilitation / resocialization into the surrounding community while simultaneously ensuring the safety of the public

27. Strategic Goal: Develop and implement a proactive departmental procedural approach in accordance with case management or supervision practices as a means of countering current county violation of probation trends.

28. Objective 1: Case Supervision Fashion a series of small adjustments geared toward the lowering of Officer caseloads, thus enabling department staff to provide more attention to each individual case.

29. Subtasks: Case Supervision • Drug Offender Probation Supervision – utilizing available resources to lessen jail population in on a V.O.P. (milestone: by Mar. 08 – ongoing) • Introduction Of Field Contacts – verification of living arrangements, employment, attendance at required treatment (milestone: by Apr. 08 – ongoing) • Community visibility and the building of a relationship with local law enforcement agencies (milestone: by Apr. 08 – ongoing)

30. Subtasks: Case Supervision • Expanding the Probation Officer’s role to include conducting Administrative Review Hearings on a weekly basis (milestone: Feb. 08 – ongoing) • Probation Officers to examine individual supervision cases for the opportunity of early termination; for the recommendation of a modification of Court order to enhance compliance (milestone: Feb. 08 – ongoing) • Clerk Of Court’s Collection Program – as an alternative to V.O.P. incarceration (milestone: by Oct. 08)

31. Output / Deliverables: Case Supervision • V.O.P. docket reduction for Judiciary. • Initiation of Differentiated Case Supervision. • Job Growth opportunities and satisfaction for employees with longevity.

32. Proposed V.O.P. Cases For The Clerk Of Courts Collection Program

33. Resources: Case Supervision • Lee County Sheriff’s Office • Criminal Division Director • Deputy Criminal Justice Dir. – Probation • Enforcement Officer’s / Team Leads

34. Objective 2: Pretrial Services & Probation Working Together Utilization of departmental resources in an effort to combine strengths and avoid redundancy of manpower while tracking defendants through the judicial process.

35. Subtasks: Team Concept • Immediate notification by Pretrial Services Intake Officer to the assigned Probation Officer via e-mail when a Probationer commits a new law violation – enables P.O. to take necessary action in a timely manner (milestone: Jul. 07 - ongoing) • Collaborative effort between Pretrial Services and Lee Co. Probation to ensure adequate coverage for monthly Polycom proceedings.

36. Subtasks: Team Concept • Enhancement of information sharing between pre and post adjudication – e.g., defendants background summary, notice of information and booking sheet (milestone: by Jun. 08 – ongoing) • Inter-department team building / strategic planning – joint interaction between Deputy Criminal Justice Directors to strengthen Criminal Division (milestone: Oct. 07 – ongoing)

37. Output / Deliverables: Team Concept • Development of a Criminal Division philosophy that promotes inter-department unification. • Department employees value one another’s job role. • All staff members in the Criminal Division begin to view how they fit into the “big picture” of the criminal justice system. Employees begin to see beyond their desk.

38. Resources: Team Concept • Criminal Division Director • Deputy Criminal Justice Dir. – Pretrial • Deputy Criminal Justice Dir. – Probation • Pretrial / Probation Officers / Case Managers • Criminal Justice Analyst

39. Objective 3: Training / Uniformity To facilitate the standardization of department training to enhance Officer effectiveness with client interaction and caseload management

40. Subtasks: Training / Uniformity • Basic field safety training for Probation Officers; they will undergo a self-defense course through L.C.S.O. to gain an understanding of an exit strategy while out in the community (milestone: by Mar. 08) • Probation Department staff to draft a new policies and procedural manual / desk reference (milestone: by Apr. 08 – ongoing)

41. Subtasks: Training / Uniformity • A joint collaboration between Judiciary and Probation Department management to produce an orientation video for Spanish – speaking Probationers (milestone: by Jun. 08 – ongoing) • Deputy Criminal Justice Dir. – Probation will explore all applicable seminars or training opportunities that are fiscally responsible (milestone: ongoing)

42. Output / Deliverables: Training • Uniformity amongst Probation Department staff where everyone has the same tools to succeed in the community as a fine representation of the Court. • Probation Department will be meeting the needs of our growing Spanish – speaking clientele. • Communication of Department policies, procedures, mission statement and vision for the future, e.g., The Probation Officer begins to see beyond their own desk.

43. Resources: Training • Deputy Jeff Santella • Human Resources –A.O.C. • Judiciary • Team Leads • Deputy Criminal Justice Dir. – Probation • Criminal Division Director

44. What this strategic plan hopes to achieve……

45. A Unified Criminal Division • A Criminal Division that will develop statistical mechanisms to anticipate and assess future resource needs. • A Criminal Division that maintains clear roles and responsibilities for all staff members, who gain an understanding of the entire Criminal Division’s mission and vision.

46. A Unified Criminal Division • Integration of criminal justice processes and data sharing between Pretrial Services and Probation. • A Criminal Division that ensures all staff members are appropriately trained and provided encouragement, mentoring, and job coaching on a regular basis by management.

47. Criminal Division Organizational Chart