Strategic Spartanburg

The taskforce recommends that Spartanburg strive to increase community safety by implementing strategies and programs that impact juvenile cases and commitments, the reduction of traffic accidents, the reduction of adult crime and the improvement of re-entry efforts. While community safety discussions focused on juvenile issues and traffic, several other ideas arose during the project. Spartanburg County has a high recidivism rate among convicted criminals because of the lack of a program to re-orient criminals to society once they have been released from prison. The committee discovered the need for halfway houses and vocational training programs that teach basic life skills. Another strategy to deter recidivism is to have some school children visit the county jail for a tour when appropriate. The ideal time for the trip is middle school. The experience will help the students see that there are consequences to every action. They will see jail as a place they do not want to revisit in the future. The community needs to continue to enhance, support and embrace the concept of community-oriented policing. The idea flourishes in communities where “news-making crimes” have recently occurred, but the principles need to be practiced in areas across the county during good times as well. Communities have been proven to be safer with good lighting, protected sight lines and common sense construction practices. The neighborhood watch programs need to continue to be strengthened.

The purpose of the 2006-2010 Community Improvement Plan is to use the data in Strategic: Community Indicators VI to influence the improvement of Spartanburg and the quality of life for its citizens.  More than 300 Spartanburg citizens contributed to the creation of the Community Improvement Plan.  Each Taskforce developed a comprehensive executive summary report plan  for addressing the issues.  In the following pages you can see the priorities, opportunities, best practices, and partnerships that the Taskforces recommend using to make significant improvement.  By sharing this information it is our hope to provide a common ground for public, private and non-profit leaders to work together to address these and other related issues.