The National Council on Crime and Delinquency

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US Attorney General Eric Holder Praises the Work of the California Cities Gang Prevention Network

The 4th annual meeting of the California Cities Gang Prevention Network was honored by a very special keynote address by the US Attorney General, Eric Holder. His address to a room full of city leaders, community activists, police chiefs, and members from the research and prevention fields touched on the widespread problem of youth exposed to violence and the importance of families and communities in improving outcomes for youth. He stressed that law enforcement cannot do the job alone and praised the Network for its diverse partnerships and collaborative efforts, especially in the face of budget shortfalls.

The Latest Posts on the NCCD Blog

What’s Left to Take Away?

July 8, 2010

In May, the Sacramento Bee published a series of articles about California’s use of a new and disturbing form of punitive incarceration: Behavioral Management Units (BMUs). (See the series here: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/09/2737459/the-public-eye-guards-accused.html?mi_rss=Investigations.) Over the past five years, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) quietly opened up a series of these units within six different state prisons specifically to house problem prisoners. CDCR officials say they originally intended the units to provide intensive therapy and anger management programs in an effort to keep problem prisoners out of more restrictive, long-term solitary confinement units elsewhere in the state.

A Father’s Day Reflection on Separation

June 21, 2010

From its early days, one of NCCD’s core values was the belief that with adequate support, probationers and parolees could lead lives apart from crime. This notion was expressed in an essay (circa 1923), by the first NCCD president, Charles Chute, entitled, Rational Crime Treatment. In this essay (admittedly somewhat paternalistically) Chute touts probation as a modern scientific method, the probationer being under the “watchful eye” of the officer—a helpmate trained to be a skilled social worker with a personal stake in the well being of the probationer. Chute was also unequivocal in his decrying of prisons as travesties and failures. Almost a century later, it is hard to dispute the basic tenets of Chute’s arguments.

Our Mission

The National Council on Crime and Delinquency, founded in 1907, is a nonprofit organization that promotes effective, humane, fair, and economically sound solutions to family, community, and justice problems.

NCCD conducts research, promotes reform initiatives, and seeks to work with individuals, public and private organizations, and the media to prevent and reduce crime and delinquency.