Diversion Options for Broward County
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Background
At one time, an officer’s job was well defined as law and order. Nowadays, officers are unrealistically required to be social workers, emergency medical technicians and counselors, in addition to their official duties. Police have also been facing staffing shortages exacerbated by COVID-19 and the “great resignation” as well as community retaliation after the murder of George Floyd. These factors have made an already stressful job exponentially harder. Diversion–a program to divert or deflect someone from the criminal justice system–is generally used for low-level offenses in order to prioritize police time, court resources and jail space for serious offenses and violent crimes. In addition to these benefits, diversion has also been found to repair relationships between communities and police, connect individuals with needed services and, ultimately, reduce recidivism. In this sheet, we will focus on three pre-arrest diversion models that have proven successful and cost-effective.
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