California's Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD): Social Contacts and Pre-arrest Referrals

• In Event: Police Interventions to Reduce Harm

Abstract

Recent jail overcrowding has led policy makers to consider alternative approaches to dealing with low-level offenders. In this vein, the State of California funded a two-site pilot of the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program – a police-initiated pre-arrest diversion program for low-level drug offenders and prostitutes. LEAD uses two types of diversion: 1) social contact - an officer goes out of their way to divert an individual they believe would benefit from the program; and, 2) pre-arrest – an officer, instead of making an arrest, diverts the individual into the program. The current study assesses differences between social contact and pre-arrest referrals. We will also discuss evaluation and policy implications.

Authors

• Elijah Peter Bueno, California State University, Long Beach

• Aili Malm, California State University, Long Beach

• Dina Perrone, California State University, Long Beach

• James M. Binnall, California State University, Long Beach