Reducing Violent Crime Through Improved Law Enforcement Strategies and Building Community Relations (Case Study)

• NCJ Number: 250600
• Date Published: February 2017
• Length: 4 pages
• Agencies: OJP-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Technical Assistance); Report (Summary); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description; Case Study

Annotation

This is a case study of how the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs' (OJP's) Diagnostic Center provided training and technical assistance (TTA) to the City of Gary, IN, and the Gary Police Department (GPD) in response to their request for help in implementing data-driven strategies that target factors contributing to homicides and youth-related violent crime.

Abstract

The three-phase TTA of the Diagnostic Center involved 1) a data-driven diagnosis to determine factors that were contributing to homicides and youth violent crime; 2) the identification and implementation of evidence-based model programs and strategies to address the factors identified in the diagnosis; and 3) the assessment of the outcomes from the implemented programs. The Six factors identified as contributing to homicides and youth violence were low confidence in law enforcement, limited community-police engagement, untargeted crime response strategies, organizational barriers, lack of a strategic public safety plan, and the limited use of data collection and analysis. The evidence-based programs and practices selected and implemented were designed to increase homicide clearances and improve data-driven decisionmaking. Working through the Diagnostics Center's process, the city and the GPD are concentrating implementation activities on law enforcement training and technical assistance. In the time since the City of Gary and the GPD began implementing the Diagnostic Center's recommendations, the city has seen quantitative results and expects to be able to document quantifiable outcomes.