Midtown Community Court

The court relies on partnerships with local residents, businesses and social service agencies to organize community restitution projects and provide on-site social services, including drug treatment, mental health counseling, and job training.

[5] Unlike most conventional courts, the Midtown Court combines punishment and help, requiring low-level offenders to pay back the neighborhood through community service while mandating them to receive social services to address problems that often underlie criminal behavior.

[7] According to the National Center, the court's compliance rate of 75 percent for community service was the highest in the city.

In conjunction with aggressive law enforcement and economic development efforts, the court has affected neighborhood crime: prostitution arrests dropped 56 percent and arrests for illegal vending were down 24 percent.

[9] The court has been replicated both in the United States,[10] in cities including Austin, Philadelphia and Portland, Oregon, and abroad,[11] in South Africa, Great Britain,[note 2] Canada,[note 3] and Australia.