NCJ Number
199570
Date Published
2002
Length
128 pages
Annotation
This document contains descriptions of local Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN) initiatives from around the country that have been implemented to reduce gun violence.
Abstract
Descriptions of local crime fighting efforts span from Alabama’s Isolate the Criminal Element (ICE) initiative to Wyoming, where a committee of key stakeholders has promoted education and partnerships as a valuable tool in reducing gun violence. One example of a PSN initiative is Delaware’s Operation Disarm program, in which a three-pronged strategy is used to prevent the sale of firearms to felons. After several arrests were made as a result of the focus on gun sales to felons, gun sellers were successfully deterred from making illegal sales. The initiative is keeping neighborhoods safer by removing felons who possess firearms. In Illinois, Dragun Teams are formed to serve as mini-task forces in the effort to proactively target and incapacitate the most serious known gun violence threats in the Central District of Illinois. This program emphasizes the immediate incarceration of the most dangerous offenders, using whatever law will result in the longest prison sentence. In another PSN initiative, the Southern District of Iowa discussed how they channel most of their PSN resources to targeting one high-crime area. By targeting such an area, the District hopes to make a big impact on the gun crimes committed in the District. Contact information for each program is provided.