NCJ Number
240867
Date Published
May 2006
Length
29 pages
Annotation
This report presents a case study on a specific strategic intervention, crime incident reviews, developed by Project Safe Neighborhood to reduce gun crime.
Abstract
Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is an initiative developed by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat gun crime. PSN consists of a network of local partnerships coordinated through the Nation's 94 U.S. Attorneys' Offices and supported by a strategy that provides them with the resources they need to be successful in reducing gun crime. The PSN initiative integrates five essential elements from successful gun crime reduction programs: partnerships, strategic planning, training, outreach, and accountability. This report presents an overview of the PSN initiative and focuses specific discussion on one of the strategic interventions that is part of the PSN initiative: crime incident reviews. Crime incident reviews is a procedure used by local criminal justice systems to share detailed information about specific types of crimes in order to develop strategic approaches to reducing crime. The process has been used successfully in a large number of PSN districts. While the process has changed to fit each jurisdiction, it generally contains three features: input from front-line staff with street-level knowledge of the crimes being discussed, representation from all areas of the criminal justice system, and analysis of the information by researchers who are able to identify patterns and other issues that may be important in developing a strategy. This report presents detailed information on what are crime incident reviews; where did crime incident reviews originate; goals of crime incident reviews; key partners involved in crime incident reviews; the crime incident review process including planning and preparation, analysis, dissemination, and problem solving; and keys to successful implementation of crime incident reviews. Figures, references, and endnotes