Vera Institute of Justice

Overview

This 1986 report discusses the Avon and Somerset Interdependence Project, which was begun in 1983. The report focuses on practical implications of using agency "interdependence" as a concept to frame systemic thinking about the criminal justice system. At its core, this concept is that the responsibility for processing criminal cases is divided among several agencies, none of which has independent or exclusive control over more than a small part of the entire process.

The report has three sections:

1) describing the Avon and Somerset project from its inception in mid-1983 through its feasibility stage at the end of 1984;

2) describing the demonstration phase of the project, which began in early 1985 and concluded in mid-1986; and

3) Setting forth several conclusions concerning the utility of interdependence as a strategy for criminal justice reform.