A Dedication to Justice and a Safer Kent County
Chris is committed to ensurING we uphold the law in Kent County; stopping violent crime and holding those accountable who prey on innocent victims is a top priority. He also works to stop crime before it happens starting with the kids. He has always worked with community partners all over the county to try and keep kids in school, keeping those schools safe, recognizing that getting kids on the right path early will keep them out of jail later.
Upholding the law
Chris is committed to upholding hte law and seeking justice for victims. He is committed to a safer Kent County. Chris charged 23 individuals with Riot or inducing a riot for the riots that occurred in downtown Grand Rapids in 2020. He devoted two prosecutors to work with GRPD on identifying individuals involved, one of the only prosecutors in the state to charge anyone under these circumstances.
While many larger municipal areas in the country have failed in their efforts to uphold the law and prosecute criminals, Chris Becker has remained steadfast in prosecuting those who break the law.
Treatment and Recovery
Chris has helped increase the number of treatment courts in Kent County. Since elected, Chris Helped establish the Treatment and Support Court, The Juvenile Mental Health Court, a Recovery Court in 63rd District, a Young Sexual Offender Treatment Court and a Domestic Violence Court is set to launch this year. He also established a Juvenile Restorative Justice Program. No treatment court is possible without the participation of the prosecutor and Chris has been supportive of new ways to establish courts that help those most in need.
Dealing with Juvenile Crime
While not ideal, sometimes juvenile criminals have to be referred to the adult system. This is done two different ways. First there is a traditional waiver to the adult system; everything that can be done in the juvenile system to try and correct the behavior has been done, yet the juvenile continues to commit crime. We can then ask the court to move the juvenile into the adult system. In other cases, when serious crime happens like murder, rape, carjacking, etc... the crime itself is so serious that the best action is to automatically send the juvenile to the adult system. Since 2020 Chris's office has sent 47 juveniles into the adult system because it was necessary to do so. However, Chris has also looked at ways to stop them from getting to adult system. The establishment of the Juvenile Mental Health Court and the Juvenile Restorative Justice Program are just two examples. Chris also started work with Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church and the GRACE Program to try and divert juveniles from getting into adult system.
Helping Kent County Families
The prosecutor's office contains a family division which is responsible for establishing paternity and child support. Getting kids the support they need is critical to getting them on the road to success. It also is an important part of this work to establish a relationship with both parents in these situations. In this work, Chris's office has exceeded state and federal guidelines in the following key measurement areas, in fact is one of the top five counties in the state in each area.
Acting on a case from Office of Child Support with in 14 days: Kent County did this in over 98% of the cases.
Making Efforts to locate non-custodial parent: Kent County did so in 88% of the cases within 60 days.
Establishing Final Orders in a case: Kent County was best in the state in 2022 doing so in over 92% of cases given to the office.
