Re-Defining the Police Response to Homicide: Assessing the Richmond, California Comprehensive Homicide Initiative

• NCJ Number: 183158
• Author(s): Michael D. White; James J. Fyfe; John S. Goldcamp; Suzanne P. Campbell
• Date Published: May 2000
• Length: 212 pages
• Grant Number(s): 96-DD-BX-0091
• Sponsoring Agency: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
• Corporate Author: Crime and Justice Research Institute
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services; Crime and Justice Research Institute
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Research conducted in Richmond, Calif., focused on an initiative undertaken by the Richmond Police Department to address homicide and violence reduction using nontraditional, community-oriented strategies that represented a substantial rethinking of the police approach to violent crime and homicide investigation.

Abstract

Richmond was a demonstration site for the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Comprehensive Homicide Initiative funded in 1995 to build on the recommendations of the International Association of Chiefs of Police regarding changes in the way police respond to homicide. Richmond’s Comprehensive Homicide initiative represented an eclectic and multidisciplinary approach that used separate enforcement and non-enforcement strategies. Central components included collaboration between the police department, and community, and other public and government agencies; strong preventive efforts focused on Richmond youth; and more traditional law enforcement strategies. One particular prevention strategy focused on reducing school truancy. Analysis of changes in homicide rates in comparison to trends in homicide and other violent crimes in Richmond and California suggested that Richmond violence is influenced partly by factors affecting violence in California overall. Further analysis focused on changes in the nature of Richmond homicides during 1995-98 and revealed important and dramatic shifts in the nature of homicide in Richmond. Many of the patterns that made Richmond one of the most violent cities in the country during the early 1990's were reversed. However, the exact role of the Comprehensive Homicide Initiatives in influencing the changes is unknown. Richmond’s experience illustrates that a jurisdiction experiencing significant violence problems can safely and productively apply this innovative perspective, which emphasizes a sound police-community relationship, a multifaceted approach, and an extension of problem-oriented policing and community policing to the homicide unit. Figures, footnotes, and appended background information, program materials, and photographs