PSN Academy: Proposal to Provide Technical Assistance

Project Summary for Grant # 2002-GP-CX-1003

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a comprehensive, muilty-agency problem-solving Federal initiative, designed to reduce firearms violence in each of the 94 US Attorney districts nationwide. Built on successful deterrence-based programs in Boston, Richmond, and ten Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Intiative (SACSI) cities, PSN represents a "new way of doing business" for most criminal justice officials. For this reason, training and techincial assistance is critical to the successful implementation of the initiative in the 94 PSN jurisdictions.

Working under a Cooperative Agreement, the School of Criminal Justice at Micigan State University will create a "PSN Academy" to provide this training and assistance, informed by research, in order to facilitate the effective implementation of a strategic problem-solving model in the PSN task forces. While the Academy will contain elements designed to support all PSN participants, particular attention will be focused of two key players in the local partnerships: the program coordinators in the US Attorney Offices and the research partners.

ca/ncf

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a multi-agency, data-driven problem-solving initiative of the Department of Justice, designed to reduce firearms violence in each of the 94 US Attorney districts nationwide. Built on successful deterrence-based programs in Boston, Richmond, and ten Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiative (SACSI) cities, PSN is a comprehensive and complex process and represents a Anew way of doing business@ for most criminal justice officials. For this reason, training and technical assistance is critical to the successful implementation of the initiative at the local district level and research and analysis is critical to Federal documentation and assessment of the program and its effects.

In FY 2002, the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University was funded by NIJ (Cooperative Agreement No. 2002-GP-CX-1003, funded with PSN monies transferred from BJA) to create a APSN Academy@ to provide these training, technical assistance, and research functions, in order to facilitate the effective implementation of a strategic problem-solving model in the PSN task forces and to document its progress and effects. In FY 2003, a supplemental award utilizing PSN funds transferred from BJA to NIJ continued MSU=s critical role in Project Safe Neighborhoods for another two year, providing funds for expanded training, technical assistance, and initial research case studies of best practices, among other research-based activities. Products included case study reports of selected PSN strategies (Strategic Case Studies), training program curricula and data-collection instruments, and white paper documents providing guidance to sites on special problems encountered during implementation. A clearing house and web-site of relevant materials has also been maintained for the PSN task forces.

The current FY 2005 application requests a second supplemental funding to continue the training and TA activities of MSU's role and to greatly expand its research functions for PSN. Included as research activities for this new supplemental period (FY 2006-7) are two additional Strategic Case Studies (one on law enforcement/gang strategies and one on supply side gun tracing strategies) and ten Comprehensive Case Studies of the overall PSN programs in ten selected districts, including both process and impact evaluations. Products will include reports of the two strategic case studies and of each of the ten comprehensive case studies. Overall MSU data collection from all 94 districts will also continue to be updated under this cooperative agreement and the website of materials for task force access and use will continue to be maintained as well. CA/NCF