WASHINGTON, June 10 (UPI) -- New community courts nationwide are increasingly being used to handle a growing number of petty criminals, say officials in Washington and New York.
Crimes such as public drunkenness, trespassing and panhandling are crowding jails and sapping resources in tight budgetary times, leading to a search for alternative approaches.
The new courts prefer treatment plans and social services, such as mental health and substance abuse treatment, instead of jail for "frequent fliers," USA Today reported Tuesday.
"It's the new frontier," said Amy Solomon, who studies criminal justice at The Urban Institute in Washington. "There is a new realization and recognition" that incarceration is not the best solution. "I think it'll grow and continue to pick up."
Cities began taking low-level crime seriously in the 1990s, Greg Berman, director of the Center for Court Innovation in New York, told USA Today. Now communities must deal with these offenders along with often-overcrowded jails.
