New Program Takes Aim At Crime

"Court Watch" is a crime prevention program that keeps repeat offenders off the streets. Volunteers partner with police to get the court dates of drug dealers and prostitutes. Then, they head to court, wearing yellow shirts, letting judges know they`re keeping an "eye on crime." It`s paid off with stiffer sentences in one community in Florida. Now, one woman hopes it`ll work here in Little Rock, as she told News 4 Arkansas` Mike Hellgren Tuesday night. Prostitution and drugs arevices gripping several Little Rock neighborhoods. But with crime on the upswing, the number of officers on duty is going down. That has Janelle Romandia sweating. She heads a crimewatch program in the Oak Forest neighborhood. "You`re seeing more prostitutes here because they`re cracking down somewhere else," says Romandia. To combat the problem, the city paid for Romandia`s trip to a national neighborhood conference, Neighborhoods U.S.A.. The idea she brought back could tip the scales of justice in her neighborhood`s favor. The program got its start in Sarasota, Florida, and the results include higher bonds. Those for prostitutes increased from 269 dollars to five thousand for each offense. Also, longer jail terms--average sentences there increased from one year, to ten years. "The thing that we started out with was drug dealers and prostitutes, but we`re now looking at violence against women and children," Tina Riggle, of Sarasota`s Court Watch program, told Hellgren from Florida. "The judges are aware that we`re sitting there, and we`re concerned," says Riggle. "We don`t let them intimidate us," says Romandia. She`d rather spend her time in court, intimidating them. The director of Sarasota`s Court Watch says the system can be up and running in a matter of days, with volunteers. She`ll provide the training free of charge. If Little Rock city leaders wanted her services, they`d just have to pay the bill to fly her here.