Program Profile: Project Safe Neighborhoods (National Evaluation)

This program is a multi-agency initiative to reduce gun violence in large cities through enhanced enforcement and deterrence. The program is rated Promising. Cities that received the program experienced a statistically significant reduction in violent crime, compared with control cities, between 2000 and 2006.

A Promising rating implies that implementing the program may result in the intended outcome(s).

This program's rating is based on evidence that includes either 1) one study conducted in multiple sites; or 2) two or three studies, each conducted at a different site. Learn about how we make the multisite determination.

Program Goals

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a nationwide, federally funded initiative that aims to allocate criminal justice resources toward reducing gun-related violence in urban communities. PSN was developed by combining strategies and tactics from other interventions such as Project Exile (in Richmond, Virginia), the Boston Gun Project, and the Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiative. Each site that received funding followed the general PSN model (described below), but individualized the approach to target the specific nature of gun crimes in that city. For example, sites may have involved different partners on the interagency task force or focused their enforcement efforts on different types of suspects.

Program Activities

As part of PSN, an interagency task force is established to collect data and analyze patterns of gun violence in a community. A PSN task force includes local, state, and federal criminal justice agencies; community organizations; and local service providers. They work together to conduct a problem analysis that provides a detailed understanding of gun-related crime and violence in a specific neighborhood. Through data analysis and the coordinated efforts of all agencies, an individualized strategy to address gun violence is developed. The data-driven enforcement strategy aims to detect instances of gun violence and prosecute people severely.

Key Personnel

PSN involves a high level of interagency collaboration. Federal, state, and local law enforcement; prosecutors; and probation and parole officers collectively develop an enforcement plan under which gun violence and possession will be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Criminal justice personnel also work closely with local service providers and community organizations to communicate the deterrence message, provide full warning of the enhanced enforcement of gun crimes, and offer social services to those convicted of an offense.

Program Theory

PSN aims to incapacitate and deter those who may commit violent offenses. Enhanced prosecution of gun-related crimes leads to longer prison and jail sentences for those individuals, keeping them off the streets and unable to commit additional crimes. Additionally, in communicating the message that the community will not tolerate gun crimes and that the full force of the criminal justice system will be dedicated to catching and harshly punishing these acts, persons recognize an increased risk associated with committing a gun-related crime. Consistent with theories of deterrence, this increased certainty and severity of punishment should discourage those who may be tempted from engaging in gun crimes (Kennedy, 1997).

Study 1

In a national evaluation of the impact of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), McGarrell and colleagues (2010) used a quasi-experimental design with longitudinal data to compare trends in violent crime in large cities that implemented PSN and large cities that did not. The authors looked specifically at violent crime trends between 2000 and 2006. The treatment group included 82 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more residents, which received funding to implement PSN during this time period; the control group included 170 non-treatment cities. However, because PSN is a national initiative, the deterrence message that law enforcement and prosecutors would be targeting gun violence was broadcast across all U.S. cities. To distinguish between cities that enacted all or most elements of the PSN approach and those that did not, the authors evaluated each city as receiving a high, medium, or low dosage of PSN. Comparisons were drawn accordingly. The impact of PSN on violent crime was determined using hierarchical linear modeling and growth curve modeling methods.

Violent crime was measured with city-level data from the Uniform Crime Reports. The authors relied on a composite measure of violent crime that included homicides, robberies, and aggravated assaults. To discern the effect of the PSN intervention on violent crime, the authors included a series of control variables, including concentrated disadvantage, population density, annual state incarceration rates, and the number of police per 100,000 residents. The authors acknowledged that at baseline, treatment cities had significantly higher levels of violent crime on average than non-treatment cities. Subgroup analyses were conducted to determine the potential impact of dosage on program outcomes.

Information about training and technical assistance (T/TA) that is available for the Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative is available at the Bureau of Justice Assistance website: https://bja.ojp.gov/program/project-safe-neighborhoods-psn/overview.

A list of T/TA providers is also available here: https://bja.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh186/files/media/document/PSN_TTA_manual.pdf

Subgroup Analysis

McGarrell and colleagues (2010) conducted subgroup analyses to determine the potential effects of dosage on program outcomes. They found that treatment cities with a high dosage of Project Safe Neighborhoods had a statistically significant decline in violent crime rates and firearm homicides, compared with medium- and low-dosage treatment cities.

These sources were used in the development of the program profile:

These sources were used in the development of the program profile:

Following are CrimeSolutions-rated programs that are related to this practice:

Problem-Oriented Policing

These analytic methods are used by police to develop crime prevention and reduction strategies. The practice is rated Promising and led to a significant decline in crime and disorder.

Evidence Ratings for Outcomes

Crime & Delinquency - Multiple crime/offense types

Reducing Gun Violence

Reducing gun violence is a persistent public policy concern for communities, policymakers and leaders. To reduce gun violence, several strategies have been deployed including public health approaches (e.g., training and safe gun storage); gun buy-back programs; gun laws; and law enforcement strategies. The practice is rated Promising for reducing violent gun offenses.

Evidence Ratings for Outcomes

Crime & Delinquency - Violent offenses

Why might a practice's outcome ratings differ from the ratings of specific programs encompassed by that practice?