Transforming Probation Through Leadership: The "Broken Windows" Model

The Reinventing Probation Council and the Manhattan Institute are pleased to present you with the second in a series of publications on the “Broken Windows” model of reforming probation practice. At the release of the initial manifesto in New York City last Summer, we promised a monograph that elaborated on the ideas and examples presented in the initial publication. This new publication — Transforming Probation Through Leadership: The “Broken Windows” Model — is a fulfillment of that promise.

More than anything else, we had hoped that the initial “Broken Windows” publication would jump-start a serious reexamination across our profession of the true ends and real business of probation. It seems to have done so. Based on the responses we have received and the number of local and regional conferences that have taken up this topic, we have some sense that the work of reinvention has begun. We must hasten to add that a number of leading jurisdictions had already begun that work and, in a sense, we are standing on the shoulders of giants.

We hope this monograph provides both critical information and helpful examples of a reinvented probation in action. As an adjunct to this second publication, we have received sufficient financial support from the Manhattan Institute and the Fox Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania, under the direction of our colleague and patron Dr. John J. Dilulio, to work in five to ten jurisdictions to provide technical assistance in the implementation of this model. I want you to know that while the members of the Reinventing Probation Council will take the responsibility to coordinate and deliver this technical assistance, we have agreed to take no fees for performing this work. The funds will be used for travel, per diem, training, publications, etc. We are committed to seeing this through.

As the result of our work in pilot sites over the next two years, and it is important to note that we have already begun working in New York City, we plan a third publication which will focus on case studies of “Broken Windows” in practice and will include a “user's manual” for the development of a “Broken Windows” effort. In this way, we hope to continue to provide both useful information to our field and encouragement to the champions of reinvention.

I would like to conclude by expressing a debt of gratitude to the Manhattan Institute and the Fox Leadership Program for their critical support and to Dr. Ed Rhine, without whose extraordinary writing and editing skills — and incredible appetite for hard work — this publication would not have been possible.

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