SACSI was a national program that helped establish the value of multiagency, federal-local partnerships in responding to gun crime. All but one of the SACSI sites targeted homicide, youth violence and firearms violence. SACSI attempted to replicate in other cities the best practices from Boston's Operation Ceasefire: multiagency collaboration, strategic problem solving and action research.
Researchers found that — if well implemented — the SACSI approach reduced violent crime in the targeted communities, sometimes by as much as 50 percent.
Key elements of the SACSI strategy were:
- Leadership by local U.S. Attorneys' Offices within a collaborative, multiagency partnership.
- Integration of researchers into planning and execution of intervention strategies.
- Design and implementation of interventions that incorporate tactics proven to reduce illegal gun carrying and use.
Key findings from the Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiative (SACSI) are summarized in Paving the Way for Project Safe Neighborhoods: SACSI in 10 U.S. Cities, by J. Roehl et al., April 2008, NCJ 216298. This Research in Brief was derived from an NIJ grant report that summarized and evaluated findings from 10 SACSI sites:
- Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiative (SACSI) in 10 U.S. Cities: The Building Blocks for Project Safe Neighborhoods, by J. Roehl et al., October 2005, NCJ 212866.
The other SACSI grant reports below describe how complex gun violence partnerships are forged and interventions designed, implemented and evaluated.
- The Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiative in Albuquerque: Project Activities and Research Results, by P.D. Steele and L. Broidy, November 2007, NCJ 220486.
- Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiative (SACSI): Detroit, Michigan, by T.S. Bynum and J.D. McCluskey, November 2007, NCJ 220487.
- Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiative (SACSI) in Rochester, NY, by J.M. Klofas et al., November 2007, NCJ 220488.
- Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiative (SACSI) in St. Louis, Final Report, by S. H. Decker et al., 2005, NCJ 210361.
- Strategic Approaches to Reducing Firearms Violence: Final Report on the Indianapolis Violence Reduction Partnership, by E.F. McGarrell and S. Chermak, October 2003, NCJ 203976.
- Final Assessment of the Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiative in New Haven [CT], by E.C. Hartstone and D.M. Richetelli, January 2003, NCJ 208859.
- Evaluation of SACSI in Winston-Salem: Engaging the Community in a Strategic Analysis of Youth Violence, by D. Easterling et al., July 2002, NCJ 202977.
- Partnership, Problem-Solving, and Research Integration-Key Elements of Success in SACSI: Phase I Findings From the Nation of the Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiative, by J.R. Coldren, Jr., et al., April 2002, NCJ 204349.