News & Events

Notes from the Field

PRACTITIONERS' REPORTS

Ocala Police Wins Excellence Award for DMI 
The Ocala Police Department won the Florida Police Chiefs Association's Rocky Pomerance Excellence in Policing Award for its successful implementation of the drug market intervention strategy. This document discusses in detail the department's problem identification and analysis methodology, results, and institutionalization efforts.

Ohio Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (OCIRV)
A report on the Ohio Community Intiative to Reduce Violence, a multi-site initiative implementing the National Network's group violence reduction strategy.  Ohio is among a growing number of states, including North Carolina and California, that have elevated the National Network’s crime prevention strategies to state-level criminal justice priorities.  Common across these states is the determination that the strategies are standards of practice that localities with violence or drug market problems should implement and that a relevant state agency should play a central coordination, training and support role in that work. 

Ceasefire Spreads Like Wildfire in California
This National Criminal Justice Association's Justiste Bulletin provides an overview of the statewide implementation of the group violence reduction strategy in California, including details of the Safe Community Partnership, which provides technical assistance to the local sites. 

Seattle Drug Market Initiative Shows Concrete Progress
Seattle’s Assistant Chief of Police presents hard data that show a significant reduction in criminal activity since the drug market initiative took sixteen drug dealers off the streets last August. 

The High Point Strategy: Its Creation, Implementation and Future
Tate Chambers, Legal Program Manager at the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, lays out the history of the High Point strategy and explores how it has been evolving from a theory into a national movement.

Taking It to the Streets
Citizens and Police In Action is a television program hosted by Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl. The Chief talks with Bishop Mark McGuire about the Community Initiative to Reduce Gun Violence (CIRGV).

Carrot and Stick: New Approach to Crime
Seattle City Councilman Tim Burgess observed an offender call-in as part of the city's implementation of the National Network's drug market intervention strategy, describing the event as "dramatic, powerful and profound."

The CIRV Call-In: Reflections on a Profound Experience
Michael Blass, a career law enforcement officer working for the Ohio Attorney General, wrote this essay to reflect on his experience of witnessing the first gang call-in of the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence.

 

NATIONAL NETWORK STAFF REPORTS

Chicago Violence Reduction Strategy: Applications of Social Network Analysis  NEW!
Social network analysis is an integral part of Chicago's Violence Reduction Strategy (VRS).  It is used to expand and improve the police department's intelligence on gangs, groups and local gang factions; to identify the most socially connected group and gang members to take the VRS anti-violence message back to their associates; and to assess the impact of law enforcement efforts on groups or gangs. This document outlines three examples of social network analysis as a tool to narrowly and effectively focus law enforcement resources on group violence.

Chicago Steps Up Violence Reduction Strategy with Second Call-In
Chicago's Violence Reduction Strategy partnership held its second offender notification meeting on February 24, 2011, seeking to build on the success of the first in August 2010, which the police department credited for a sharp reduction in homicides in District 11.  

Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence: Home/Street Visits  
A report about the groundbreaking home/street visits approach developed by the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV) to keep its anti-violence message “fresh” in between its formal court house call-ins. The CIRV team identifies key impact players within groups active in crime hot-spots, meets with them face-to-face at their homes or in the streets, and delivers the message in a way that has led to substantial reductions in shootings around the city.

Lebanon Correctional Institution Call-In
This paper reports on a call-in conducted at a state prison by the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence and provides guidance on how an anti-violence message can be effectively delivered in this setting.

High Point Reports Fifth Successful Drug Market Closure
Police and residents of the Washington Drive neighborhood overcome historical conflict to jointly reclaim the streets.