In this video discussion, Right on Crime’s Marc Levin talked with Brian Lovins, one of the nation’s foremost pioneers in community supervision to explore how innovative strategies can result in greater public safety, higher success rates, and a smaller system that is less of a burden on taxpayers. Lovins is a Principal for Justice System Partners and is the President-Elect of the American Probation and Parole Association.

Before joining Justice System Partners, Lovins worked alongside Harris County Adult Probation Director Teresa May to achieve landmark successes in implementing validated assessments to drive supervision strategies, expanding pretrial diversion, and reducing revocations both for technical violations and new offenses.

In this conversation, Lovins highlights many lessons learned from these efforts and how these relate to transforming probation and parole from a system where the officer simply calls out violations—like a referee—to one where the officer, like a coach, fosters positive changes in the person being supervised. Lovins provides tips for policymakers and practitioners who by implementing policies and practices based on evidence, from graduated responses to motivational interviewing, can continue the trend towards smaller and more effective systems of community supervision.

To watch Marc and Brian’s conversation, click here.