Homicide

The program focuses on reducing violent gun crime by disrupting the cycle of gun violence by relying on forensic science and data analysis to identify, investigate, and prosecute individuals who use guns in criminal activity, and the sources of their guns. The program is rated No Effects. The program did not significantly affect homicides or aggravated assaults with a firearm but was shown to significantly reduce violent crime and robbery with a firearm.

This program involves law enforcement’s use of cameras to record interactions with civilians to reduce citizen fatalities. The program is rated Promising. Agencies that acquired cameras had statistically significant decreases in fatal police–citizen encounters after three years, compared with agencies that did not acquire cameras. There were no statistically significant differences in fatal encounters between a reduced set of agencies with cameras and matched agencies without cameras.

This strategy sought to reduce crime in Philadelphia by testing three different patrol strategies. The program is rated No Effects. Relative to control areas, there was no statistically significant difference in violent or property crimes in areas using one of two of the patrol strategies. Property crimes in an area using one of the strategies saw a statistically significant decrease, while there was a statistically significant increase in violent crime in areas using two of the strategies.

This is a police-operated public surveillance program that seeks to reduce crime and increase crime clearances (i.e., arrests) by installing new closed-circuit television cameras at high-crime, high-traffic intersections in Milwaukee (Wis.). The program is rated Promising. Intersections in intervention areas where new cameras were installed had a statistically significant higher rate of crime clearances for all crime types, compared with intersections in comparison areas.

This secondary violence prevention program targets young men most likely to commit or be victim of gang or gun crime to reduce their incarceration and victimization from violent crime. The program is rated Promising. SSYI youths were statistically significantly less likely to be incarcerated compared with comparison group youths. SSYI–funded cities had statistically significant reductions in all measured city-level crime victimization rates, compared with comparison cities.

This is a focused-deterrence group violence reduction strategy (GVRS) designed to reduce or control gun violence in Oakland, Calif. The program is rated Effective. The intervention was shown to reduce total shootings, gang-involved shootings, suspected gang-involved shootings, and gang shooting victimizations in treatment block groups relative to matched comparison block groups. These differences were all statistically significant.

This police-led program was designed to reduce gun crime and serious violence in the Wells Goodfellow neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri. The program is rated No Effects. The intervention did not have a statistically significant effect on gun violence or total violence trends in the target neighborhood compared with the average trends of seven matched comparison neighborhoods across the city.

This is a temporary outdoor street-lighting program designed to reduce nighttime crime in public housing developments experiencing elevated crime rates. The program is rated Promising. Installing additional light towers in treated developments resulted in statistically significant reductions in complaints of index crimes, felony crimes, assaults, homicides, and weapons crimes at night, compared with control developments. There were no statistically significant differences in misdemeanor crimes.

This is a focused deterrence violence-reduction strategy. The goal was to lower the city’s exposure to violent crime, including reducing the numbers of homicides and aggravated assaults committed by chronic violent individuals operating within organized groups and other social networks. The program is rated No Effects. Two years postimplementation, there was no statistically significant impact on homicides, group-member-involved homicides, and aggravated assaults.

This program is designed to deter street-level crime in Newark using closed-circuit cameras, hard-wired to physical structures, which are monitored in real time by CCTV operators. The program is rated No Effects. Results from one study showed no statistically significant differences in shootings, auto thefts, or thefts from autos. Results from a second study showed a statistically significant decrease in auto thefts but no statically significant difference in shootings or thefts from auto.

This treatment program aims to reduce recidivism among youths convicted of violent offenses and capital crimes (such as murder) in one southern state. The program offers six months of intensive, therapeutic treatment to juveniles in a residential facility before they are released. The program is rated Promising. Results showed a statistically significant difference in reduced recidivism rates for juveniles who participated in the program, compared with those who did not participate.

This program was designed to increase monitoring and control of persons on parole who demonstrated poor parole performance and were at high risk of returning to prison for a parole violation. This program is rated No Effects. There were no statistically significant differences in reconviction, rearrest, and employment rates between groups in both Houston and Dallas. In Houston, program participants were significantly more likely to have technical violations than those in the control group.

This focused deterrence strategy in New Orleans, Louisiana, aims to reduce gang violence and homicide. The program is rated Effective. There were statistically significant reductions found in overall homicide, firearm-related homicide, gang member-involved homicide, and firearm assault from the pretest to the posttest period. Further, New Orleans showed significantly decreased homicide rates after the program was implemented, compared with 14 cities with similar violent crime rates.

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 crime reduction strategy in Richmond, Virginia implemented to deter former and persons with the potential to commit a crime from carrying and using firearms, with an overall goal of reducing firearm-related homicides. The project is rated Promising. Firearm-related homicides decreased significantly in the target area, compared with other U.S. cities where the program was not implemented.

A crime focused initiative, designed to address gang-related gun homicides in selected cities. The initiative involved a comprehensive model of suppression (enforcement), prevention, and reentry. The program is rated Promising. There was a significant reduction in gun homicides related to gang crime in cities that implemented the initiative.

This program aims to improve homicide clearance rates by increasing investigative time through the transfer of four crime scene specialists to the homicide unit. The program is rated No Effects. There were no statistically significant differences between treatment and comparison squads in case and victim clearance by arrest. There were also no statistically significant difference between squads in case and victim clearance by quick action and whodunit arrests, or quality of scene reports.

A program that attempts to reduce homicides and non-fatal shootings through a multidisciplinary and multiagency homicide review process. The program is rated Effective. There was a statistically significant, 52 percent, decrease, in the monthly count of homicides in the intervention districts.

This was a natural experiment to examine the impact of attorneys from the Defender Association of Philadelphia who represent indigent defenders. The program is rated Promising. Treatment group defendants were statistically significantly less likely to be found guilty of murder, and had shorter average sentences, compared with control group defendants represented by private counsel. There was no statistically significant effect on being found guilty of any charge or receiving a death sentence.

This program consists of a judicial intervention, which seeks to improve the prosecution of gang-related crimes. The program is rated Promising. Treatment group cases were associated with a statistically significant greater number of convictions and incarcerations of gang members, and a lower number of case dismissals and rejections, compared with control group cases. However, there was no statistically significant effect on the rate of pleas.

This was a saturation foot-patrol initiative implemented in Newark, N.J., in 2008 that aimed to reduce violent crime. The program is rated Promising. The target area that implemented the initiative experienced statistically significant reductions in overall violence and incidences of aggravated assault and shootings, compared with the control area. However, there was no statistically significant effect on incidences of murder or robbery.

This is a place-based, problem-oriented policing strategy implemented by the Boston (Mass.) Police Department in response to a sudden increase in violent index crimes. The program is rated Promising. Treatment street units experienced statistically significant reductions in total violent index crime, robbery, and aggravated assault, compared with control street units. However, there was no statistically significant effect on incidents of homicide or rape/sexual assault.

This is a comprehensive antiviolence initiative that uses collaborative strategies to alter perceived costs and benefits of gun violence and is intended to reduce illegal gun offending. The program is rated Promising. Treatment areas experienced a statistically significant reduction in homicide and gun-related homicides, but no reduction in gang-related homicides. In addition, offender notification forums were associated with statistically significant reductions in recidivism rates.

This is a problem-oriented policing program that offered a collection of enforcement and non-enforcement strategies designed to reduce homicide in Richmond, Calif. The initiative combined traditional law enforcement practices with prevention and intervention efforts that involved partnerships with the community, other city agencies, and local schools. This program is rated Promising. There was a statistically significant reduction of homicides following the implementation of the initiative.

This program consisted of a police patrol experiment, which was designed to reduce gun violence in Kansas City (Mo.) by placing extra police patrols in gun crime hot spots. The program is rated Promising. In the treatment area, there was a statistically significant increase in gun seizures and a statistically significant decrease in gun crimes, compared with the comparison area, in the 6 months following implementation.

This police foot patrol strategy involved rookie officers patrolling an average beat of 1.3 miles during one shift per day in hot spots in Philadelphia, PA. This program is rated Effective. Compared with the control areas, there were statistically significant reductions in reported violent crime in patrolled areas, although the effect faded once officers were removed from their targeted beats.

This is a geographically focused policing strategy to reduce violent crime in high-crime areas using problem-oriented policing (POP) and saturation/directed patrols. The program is rated No Effects. While there were no statistically significant reductions in any violent or property crime in POP hot spots, or in any violence or property crime in directed patrol hot spots, there were statistically significant reductions in nondomestic violent crime in POP hot spots compared with control hot spots.

This is a problem-solving police strategy, which was designed to reduce gang violence, illegal gun possession, and gun violence in communities in Boston, Mass. The program is rated Effective. There were statistically significant reductions in youth homicide, citywide gun assaults, calls for service, and recovered new guns following implementation of the intervention.

A violence prevention program that uses a public health approach, using trained street violence interrupters and outreach workers, public education campaigns, and community mobilization to reduce shootings and killings. This program is rated Promising. The program was associated with significant reductions in shootings, killings, and retaliatory homicides and also appeared to make shooting hot spots cooler in some neighborhoods but not others.

This is an automated ballistics imaging and analysis system that populates a computerized database of digital ballistic images of bullets and casings from crime guns, to assist forensic experts in making identifications for police investigations and trials. The program is rated Effective. There was a statistically significant 6.23-fold increase in the monthly number of cold hits generated by the Ballistics Unit after implementation of the automated ballistics imaging and analysis program.

This is a problem-oriented policing program targeted at high-crime areas and drug corners in Philadelphia, Pa., to prevent violent and drug-related crime. The program is rated Promising. Localized analysis of the intervention group areas (that implemented the program) found statistically significant reductions in violent and drug crime rates. However, there were no statistically significant effects on citywide homicide, violent crime, or drug crime rates.

This is a community-based approach to reducing and preventing crime while revitalizing the community. This program is rated No Effects. There were no statistically significant differences in rates of violent crime between the treatment and comparison areas following the crackdown. However, drug offenses increased significantly in the treatment areas, compared with the comparison areas.

This is a focused-deterrence policing initiative designed to reduce gun homicide in Stockton, Calif., by providing gang-involved youth with positive alternatives to violence. The program is rated Promising. The intervention was associated with a statistically significant 42 percent decrease in the monthly number of gun homicides, compared with pre-intervention trends.

This is a policing program that targeted high-risk persons who chronically commit offenses to reduce gun violence in Indianapolis, Ind. The program is rated Promising. There was a statistically significant reduction in the number of average monthly homicides and gang-related homicides in Indianapolis, in the 2 years following the implementation of the program.

This was a policing initiative that targeted specific gangs in the Hollenbeck area of Los Angeles, California, through aggressive enforcement and problem-oriented policing. The program is rated Promising. There was a statistically significant reduction in overall violent crimes in targeted blocks, compared with matched comparison blocks. However, there was no statistically significant effect on gang crimes or gun crimes.