Integrating Emergency Department and Police Data to Locate and Prevent Violence: The Cardiff Model

• NCJ Number: 242274
• Journal: Geography & Public Safety Volume: 3 Issue: 2 Dated: August 2012 Pages: 3-5
• Author(s): Iain Brennan; Jonathan Shepherd
• Date Published: August 2012
• Length: 3 pages
• Agencies: NIJ; COPS
• Publication Type: Program Description (Model)

Annotation

This project tested whether a partnership between health and police practitioners, as well as city government officials, could result in a reduction of violence in Cardiff, Wales.

Abstract

The study found that the Cardiff Violence Prevention Program (widely known as "The Cardiff Model") was linked to a substantial and sustained reduction in injuries due to violence. The intervention resulted in 42 percent fewer woundings recorded by the police 4 years after the intervention began. The Cardiff violence prevention model has been adopted by the U.K. Government and is being implemented across the country. It is advocated by the World Health Organization, and replication is underway in Holland, South Africa, and the United States. Under the Cardiff Model, the following information is collected by hospital staff on all cases that involve violence-related injuries: the precise location where the violence occurred, along with the time, day, and weapon involved. This information is then shared with police crime analysts monthly. The analysts then combine this data with police data in generating maps of violence-related events that identify "hotspots" where violence is concentrated. Partnership representatives meet every 6 weeks to review the combined data for the purposes of developing, modifying, and assessing violence prevention strategies for the "hot spots." In order to assess the program's effectiveness in reducing police-recorded violence, Cardiff was compared to 14 "most similar" cities in the United Kingdom. Emergency department (ED) attendance rates for violence-related injuries were also monitored. 5 notes and 1 figure