Project Safe Neighborhoods: Strategic Interventions-Strategic Problem-Solving Responses to Gang Crime and Gang Problems (Case Study 8)

• NCJ Number: 240872
• Date Published: February 2007
• Length: 41 pages
• Agencies: BJA
• Award: PSN Academy: Proposal to Provide Technical Assistance

Annotation

This report presents a case study on a specific strategic intervention, strategic problem-solving responses to gang crime and gang problems, developed by Project Safe Neighborhood to reduce gun crime.

Abstract

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is an initiative developed by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat gun crime. PSN consists of a network of local partnerships coordinated through the Nation's 94 U.S. Attorneys' Offices and supported by a strategy that provides them with the resources they need to be successful in reducing gun crime. The PSN initiative integrates five essential elements from successful gun crime reduction programs: partnerships, strategic planning, training, outreach, and accountability. This report presents an overview of the PSN initiative and focuses specific discussion on one of the strategic interventions that is part of the PSN initiative: strategic problem-solving responses to gang crime and gang problems. These strategies are designed to turn gang members away from gangs and reduce the impact of gangs and gang crime on communities. This report presents information on trends in youth firearm violence and its connection to gangs and drugs. The report also examines a series of anti-gang intervention strategies that were developed during the 1980s and 1990s, including a detailed discussion of the Boston Gun Project, also known as Operation Ceasefire. The final section of the report focuses on promising practices that have emerged as effective ways for dealing with gang crime and gang problems in various PSN districts in California, Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, Nebraska, Illinois, Missouri, and New York. Figures, references, and endnotes