Evaluation of Project Safe Neighborhoods

This project involves a joint effort of the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) and the Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA) to evaluate the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative. The evaluation includes a national assessment of all 93 districts to estimate the broad effects of PSN on violent crime and 8–10 site-level evaluations to provide detailed analyses of local PSN efforts and outcomes. Both levels address research questions on violent crime outcomes and implementation (e.g., how PSN principles were implemented; partnership composition and its functioning, and how its implementation was associated with differences in outcomes.

The national assessment incorporates data provided by local PSN task forces (monthly counts of violent crimes in targeted areas; strategic plans; semiannual progress reports; prosecution filings); public data (e.g., Uniform Crime Reports); additional information provided by DOJ on program implementation, resources, and guidance; and observations during PSN conferences. RTI/JRSA will develop a dashboard for sites to submit crime data; extract and clean qualitative data from other sources for quantitative analyses; hold semiannual check-in calls; and conduct Web-based surveys of key stakeholders for additional information. Site-level evaluations each include detailed, multi-method study of program implementation, violent crime outcomes, and factors affecting implementation and outcomes. RTI/JRSA will supplement each site’s national assessment data through monthly calls with local PSN coordinators and semiannual site visits. Sites will be selected that have good incident-based and geocoded data coupled with an interest in RTI’s Calls-for-Service Analytics (CFS) platform, greatly enriching analyses. RTI will lead the project, drawing on its expertise and experience conducting large, multilevel evaluations of complex criminal justice initiatives; analyzing incident-based crime data; and supporting jurisdictions in using the CFS Analytics platform. JRSA will be working with criminal justice agencies, including U.S. Attorney’s offices, and cleaning and standardizing grantee-provided crime data.

"Note: This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law," and complies with Part 200 Uniform Requirements - 2 CFR 200.210(a)(14).CA/NCF