In recent years, communities across the country have experienced substantial increases in gun violence. While some localities have made progress in reducing violence, pressing concerns remain for residents, community and business leaders, law enforcement officials, public health providers, and more. In response to these concerns, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) recently launched the Violent Crime Reduction Roadmap (Roadmap) to provide local jurisdictions with a one-stop shop for assistance in implementing strategies to address violent crime, especially community gun violence.

Police, prosecutors, city officials, and jurisdictions can request training and technical assistance (TTA) on how to use the Roadmap strategies to reduce violent crime while building community trust. PERF has been funded by the DOJ Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to coordinate this TTA, which will be tailored to each community’s unique needs and violent crime issues.

TTA Approach to Localized Community Violence Reduction

The TTA will help agencies implement the Roadmap’s ten essential action items:

  1. Set a clear goal: Commit to saving lives by stopping violence.
  2. Identify the key people and places driving the violence.
  3. Create a citywide plan for engaging key people and places.
  4. Engage key people with empathy and accountability.
  5. Address key locations using place-based policing and investment.
  6. Place responsibility for violence-reductions efforts at the top.
  7. Emphasize healing with trauma-informed approaches.
  8. Invest in anti-violence workforce development.
  9. Set aside funding for new stakeholders and strategies.
  10. Commit to continuous improvement based on data, evidence, and peer-to-peer learning.

These actions were originally developed by a working group convened by the Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan think tank on criminal justice issues.

The “menu” of TTA, based on each requester’s needs, will include provision of resources, referral to other DOJ-funded TTA providers, virtual TTA sessions, and more in-depth on-site TTA including a needs assessment brief and strategic plan outline.

For example, in a community seeing a rise in carjackings, experts would provide technical assistance to help a jurisdiction identify the key people and places driving the violence and develop a strategic plan to use place-based policing and investments to reduce the carjackings.

Another example is, in a community where retaliatory group violence is increasing, experts would provide technical assistance to help a police agency identify community violence intervention programs as well as help them develop a strategic plan for ongoing collaboration with these programs to proactively engage high-risk individuals and prevent future violence.

PERF has extensive experience providing TTA and resources to police departments across the country, including its BJA-funded reports – Promising Strategies for Strengthening Homicide Investigations Report and Operational Strategies to Build Police-Community Trust and Reduce Crime in Minority Communities.

Requesting TTA

To request TTA, please complete this BJA National Training and Technical Assistance Center (NTTAC) TTA Request Form and include "Violent Crime Reduction Roadmap TTA" in the text box describing your need. A member of the TTA team will personally follow up with you regarding your request. If you have any questions, contact Rachel Apfelbaum, PERF Senior Research Associate, at [email protected]. 

Webinar

 

In this webinar, the Police Executive Research Forum illustrated how jurisdictions have successfully reduced crime by implementing strategies in alignment with the 10 essential actions. PERF also shared how we can arrange no-cost training and technical assistance to jurisdictions on implementing similar strategies tailored to their community’s specific needs.

Speakers:

  • Rachel Apfelbaum, Senior Research Associate, PERF
  • Willie Barney, CEO, Omaha Empowerment Network
  • Shantay Jackson, Director, Offices for Violence Prevention Network, National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform
  • Kristen Mahoney, Director of Policy, Government and Partner Engagement, University of Chicago's Crime Lab
  • Jeffrey Norman, Chief, Milwaukee Police Department
  • Rachel Santos, Ph.D., Professor, Radford University’s Department of Criminal Justice
  • Todd Schmaderer, Chief, Omaha Police Department
  • Dr. Chico Tillmon, Director, University of Chicago’s Crime Lab – CVI Leadership Academy
  • Chuck Wexler, Executive Director, PERF

 

This webpage is funded in whole through a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse, this web page or site (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided).