Place-based strategies can disrupt violence and transform spaces with high concentrations of crime. Leaders should target violent micro-locations with problem-oriented, community-based policing as well as non-enforcement strategies like nuisance abatement, changing traffic patterns, improving street lighting, as well as targeted investments to improve social and economic welfare in these areas.
DOJ has resources to help jurisdictions address crime- and violence-prone micro-locations with a balanced set of strategies. Key resources are identified below, followed by links to additional resources. These same resources are also listed for Action 4, as DOJ resources are not easily divided into people- and place-based approaches.
Key Resources
Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative
The Community Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative provides funding to support evidence-based violence intervention and prevention programs. The Bureau of Justice Assistance CVIPI webpage provides access to a variety of resources for planning, implementing, supporting, and assessing community-based violence intervention and prevention efforts. CVIPI funding can support some components of identifying where and among whom violence is concentrated.
Bureau of Justice Assistance National Training and Technical Assistance Center
The BJA National Training and Technical Assistance Center connects justice agencies with national experts to help reduce violent and drug-related crime. A specific Violence Reduction Response Center connects localities with resources to help address the work of identifying where and among whom violence is concentrating. Jurisdictions interested in implementing strategies outlined in the Roadmap may also contact NTTAC to request TTA from the Police Executive Research Forum. In collaboration with BJA and a cadre of subject matter experts, PERF will coordinate no-cost TTA services designed to enhance jurisdictions’ capacity to reduce community gun violence and promote community trust.
Project Safe Neighborhoods is spearheaded by each U.S. Attorney’s Office, bringing together federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement officials, community leaders and other stakeholders to identify their most pressing violent crime problems and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. The PSN website includes training resources for all localities working to reduce violence, including a gun violence resource hub. Localities should connect with their United States Attorney’s Office to better understand these resources.
National Public Safety Partnership
The National Public Safety Partnership is a network of communities who are committed to implementing evidence-informed approaches to reducing violence and enhancing public safety. It is a DOJ-wide program that connects communities with peers and experts to receive coordinated training and technical assistance. There are many resources available to all jurisdictions — including virtual training academies and published materials — through the Clearinghouse, including numerous resources supporting the identification of individuals and locations most at-risk of violence.
The Smart Policing Initiative assists police agencies with identifying innovative and evidence-based solutions to effectively and efficiently tackle chronic crime problems in their jurisdictions. The SPI website also has publicly available resources including implementation guides, toolkits, survey guides, community engagement strategies, and problem-oriented policing tactics.
Smart Prosecution: Innovative Prosecution Solutions
Smart Prosecution: Innovative Prosecution Solutions provides funding to local prosecutors to combat violent crime by refining best practices and data-driven strategies, piloting new ones, and assessing their efforts. In the area of identifying key people and places IPS funding can be used to develop Crime Strategy Units within prosecutors’ offices as well as technology to improve information sharing with their respective Police Departments.
Additional Resources
Funding Opportunities
Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program
The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program Program is a formula award administered to each state and territory, based on their population and violent crime. The award is divided between state (60%) and direct to local (40%) units of government. JAG funding is administered by a state agency. JAG funds are extremely flexible and can be used to support a variety of approaches to reduce community gun violence, including focused deterrence models, community support models, and analytics. Localities should contact their State Administering Agency or the National Criminal Justice Association.
Training & Technical Assistance
OJJDP National Training and Technical Assistance Center
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention provides TTA resources to address the needs of juvenile justice practitioners and support state and local efforts to build capacity and expand the use of evidence-based practices.
The National Gang Center contains numerous resources to support communities that are working to prevent and reduce violence. The NGC provides both direct engagement and produced guidance assist localities where those people and places most at-risk of experiencing violence are involved in group-related violence.
Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Training and Technical Assistance
This program supports data-driven, place-based, and community-oriented strategies to reduce crime, build partnerships and enhance trust. The available resources include research reports on effective uses of focused deterrence, group-based violence interventions, and community violence intervention programs.
Place-Based Policing for Small and Rural Agencies
The COPS Office Place-Based Policing for Small and Rural Agencies eLearning course, is designed for all law enforcement professionals, from leadership to frontline officers. It demonstrates place-based policing practices that reduce crime and are specifically tailored to small and rural agencies.
Guides, Reports and Webinars
This Brief summarizes a study of the effect of remediating vacant lots on crime. Researchers found that “greening” vacant lots reduced crime.
Deterring and Reducing Opportunities for Violence in Hot Spots
This webinar provides insights on how to understand and address violence connected to hot spots.
Understanding Socio-environmental and Physical Risk Factors Influencing Firearm Violence
This project studies the interaction among built-environment features, socioeconomic traits, and firearm violence, so law enforcement and planners can consider ways to prevent firearm violence.
This study on policing strategies compares the impact of a police collaborative problem-solving approach, directed patrol, and standard policing on hot spots and resident opinions.
This webinar describes the overarching findings and lessons learned since the inception of SPI, as it relates to the use of various Smart Policing strategies (e.g., person-based, place-based, organizational change, predictive analytics, technology) to address a variety of crime problems (gun violence, gangs, property crime, homicides, domestic violence and more).
Smart Policing - Understanding and Responding to Crime and Disorder Hot Spots POP Guide
This guide highlights hot spots policing, which is sometimes referred to as place-based policing. It is highly compatible with problem-oriented policing and the scanning, analysis, response, and assessment model. This guide uses the SARA model as a framework to discuss the process of understanding and responding to hot spots.
Innovative Community Engagement Strategies for Community-Based Crime Reduction
This webinar provides information on innovative community engagement strategies for community-based violence reduction efforts (free registration required). The webinar includes lessons learned from the Newark Community Street Team and their work to reach communities during COVID-19 conditions.
This research project examines the impact of the Group Violence Reduction Strategy in New Orleans.
Smart Policing – Successful Strategies to Reduce Gun Violence
This webinar focuses on the use of strategies and crime intelligence to target gun-related violence, highlighting SPI sites successfully addressing this issue through a focus on individuals at-risk of experiencing violence.
The Fight Against Rampant Gun Violence
This article by NIJ staff provides an overview of the evidence from NIJ-funded research on gun violence and prevention.
This webinar summarizes the evidence on reducing youth gang and group violence and its implications for practice.
CrimeSolutions.gov is a central, reliable resource to help practitioners and policymakers understand what works in justice-related programs and practices. It assists in practical decision making and program implementation by gathering information on specific justice-related programs and practices and reviewing the existing evaluation and meta-analysis research against standard criteria.