Homicide in the United States - Plenary Panel From the 2009 NIJ Conference

• NCJ Number: 234721
• Date Published: June 2009
• Author(s): Kristina Rose; James A. Fox; Laurie O. Robinson; Gary Slutkin; M. Kim Ward
• Length: 14 pages
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Presentation; Conference Material

Annotation

This is the audio and transcript of one set of plenary panel presentations at the 2009 NIJ Conference that address the importance of research as the basis for criminal justice policy and practice, as well as research findings on homicide in the United States.

Abstract

Two presentations address the importance of research as the basis for criminal justice policy and practice and how this is being promoted by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) - the research, evaluation, and development arm of the U.S. Justice Department. The third plenary panel presentation is by James Alan Fox, Professor of Criminal Justice at Northeastern University, who discusses his report on the surge of homicide in the United States that involves young Black males with guns. Although homicide is continuing to decline in prosperous U.S. communities, the violence rate, particularly homicide, is surging among poor communities. From 2002 to 2007, the number of murders by and against Black male teens has undergone a 43-percent increase in the number of victims. Typically, young Black males are killing each other, mostly with guns. There has been no increase in the number of homicides committed by teens with other weapons. Gun control policies should return to their status in the 1990s, which addressed the gun problem without violating the second amendment. Another issue is the comeback of the gang problem Other suggestions are also offered for addressing the surge in homicides perpetrated by Black teens against one another. The final presentation of the plenary panel is by Gary Slutkin, executive director of the Chicago Project for Violence Prevention. He discusses the rationale for the design and development of a new intervention for reducing violence, which is called CeaseFire.