[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 19 (Thursday, February 13, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H528]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        NEIGHBORHOOD PROSECUTION

  (Mr. BLAGOJEVICH asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BLAGOJEVICH. Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that community 
policing works. That is why I am here today to recommend the next 
logical step in grassroots law enforcement: Neighborhood prosecution.
  As a former prosecutor, I am proud to introduce a bill that would 
create a $10 million pilot program to put prosecutors on the streets of 
America. These new prosecutors would expand their duties beyond the 
courtroom and work with residents to spot the causes of crime and 
aggressively root them out.
  One might ask, why should prosecutors care about broken windows, 
graffiti, dark alleys, and abandoned buildings? Simply put, these 
conditions breed crime. Studies have shown that a broken window is the 
first step toward graffiti, which is the first step toward loitering, 
which is the first step toward gang activity. My plan says, fix the 
broken window; stop the cycle of crime.

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