The Johnson County Attorney’s Office (JCAO) would like a consultant to audit their current communications activities and suggest new strategies for reaching the goal of increased confidence in the criminal justice system. Effective communication strategies promote community participation in public safety campaigns. JCAO seeks a multi-pronged communication strategy incorporating social media, traditional media, community engagement, and a plan for website improvement. This would incorporate media list management, templates for news releases, policies regarding media communication, and a strategy for engaging the community successfully. With the recent election of a new County Attorney and the acquisition of new case management system, these new resources are available to execute a plan once it has been created.
A key part of the communications strategy is improving data collection and analysis in order to understand and measure the impact of activities with the goal of process improvement.
Johnson County is the second fastest-growing county in the State of Iowa. Between 2010 and 2022, Johnson County’s population increased by nearly 20 percent. With the population increase, we have seen a rise in crime. Between January and September 2022, the Johnson County Attorney’s Office (JCAO) encountered 586 victims of violent crime—a marked increase from 2021, which saw 544 victims of violent crime between January and December (12-month period compared to a 9-month period).
Confidence in the criminal justice system throughout the country is at a low point. Prosecutors are in a unique position to build confidence in the system and help the community understand how the criminal justice system works.
Historically, the Johnson County Attorney’s Office (JCAO) has had minimal communications efforts and never a concerted and proactive strategy. JCAO works with communications staff in other Johnson County departments and offices, but existing staff does not have the time or expertise to create a communications plan with a crime reduction strategy.
JCAO has taken steps to address this, through building a longstanding Victim Witness Coordinator Program, which has developed successful communication strategies between JCAO and victims of violent crime, offering in-person drop-in hours and connecting victims to area support services.
JCAO also has a new Community Violence Intervention program and has recently hired a coordinator to develop this program aimed at reducing gun violence. A key component of this program is community engagement and outreach.
JCAO has grown to a staff of 37 made up of criminal, civil, and juvenile attorneys, victim witness coordinators, community violence intervention coordinator, collections, and support staff. The organization has outgrown the small-town management structures and needs assistance in developing policies and practices and performance management tools that reflect the growing needs of the office.
These recent developments make this the perfect time to request technical assistance to improve the JCAO data processes and communication strategies. JCAO wishes to engage the Crime and Justice Policy Research Program at the University of Iowa Public Policy Center to assist with design and implementation of a data collection, analysis, and reporting process for the purposes of county-wide crime analysis and information sharing. Sharing this information will be a part of the strategic community engagement plan developed with the Vera Causa Group. The Crime and Justice Policy Research Program will also assist in developing a data collection plan for the new Community Violence Intervention Initiative for the purposes of making data driven decisions as the program progresses.
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JCAO expects that the communications audit will reveal that existing Johnson County communications strategies are not sufficient to reach the goals of community outreach and violence prevention. A strategic plan would elucidate SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely) goals and would lay out necessary steps to meet those goals.
Once the plan has been executed, the Johnson County Attorney’s Office anticipates increased transparency and communication with the public and eventually reduced community violence.
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We have already engaged with Vera Causa and they are hopeful to provide these services.