For Immediate Release
March 25, 2008

Travis County District Attorney Ronald Earle today released the following statement:

At the request of the National Academy of Sciences, Travis County District Attorney Ronald Earle will appear with former U.S. Attorneys General Ed Meese, Richard Thornburgh and Janet Reno on the program at a meeting of The Committee on Assessing the Research Program of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) on March 27th, 2008 in Washington, D.C.

Under District Attorney Earle’s leadership the Travis County District Attorney’s Office has been nationally recognized for successful innovations in crime prevention and community building strategies.

“It is an honor to share with scientists and justice leaders from all over the United States the story of how Austin has consistently achieved one of the lowest crime rates in the country. That story is about our quality of life and how public safety takes all of us working together. They want to know how we’ve made it happen, since other cities our size have not had such success. I am happy to help NIJ determine how it can best use its research resources to further the goal of simple teamwork,” said Mr. Earle.

The Committee is sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences, with funding awarded from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the research center of the U.S. Department of Justice, to conduct an assessment of NIJ programs.

District Attorney Earle was invited to participate because of his national leadership role as a founder of the emerging field of community justice and the success of that strategy in Travis County in preventing crime and strengthening community infrastructures for citizen participation in public safety (see attachment).

Mr. Earle has participated in various projects involving the National Institute of Justice, including The Emerging Role of the Prosecutor, sponsored by NIJ and Harvard University in 1996-1997 and The Executive Sessions on Sentencing and Corrections, sponsored by NIJ and the University of Minnesota Law School in 1997-2000.

The study will examine the full range of NIJ programs and will make recommendations for NIJ’s organizational structure as well as for its short and long term strategic planning. The review will also examine the ways NIJ develops and communicates its priorities as well as its research findings to determine the impact of its programs and how that impact can be enhanced.

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