The Chicago Project for Violence Prevention created an 8-point strategic plan for reducing killing that is being implemented in seven Chicago neighborhoods. This plan includes a multi-pronged set of community interventions; calling upon clergy, community based organizations, law enforcement, citizens groups, politicians, and private industry to collaborate in a unified effort to stop the unacceptably high killing rate in Chicago. Although other locations had great success in lowering homicide rates (e.g. Boston, Arlington), there has not been a comprehensive evaluation conducted which compares the introduction and level of implementation of interventions with quantifiable changes in the homicide rate.
As in Boston, Chicago is beginning to see decreases. In the first year, killings decreased 25-35% in three Chicago Project neighborhoods and there was a 77% decrease in shootings in the first of four "CeaseFire" zones - an area in Chicago notorious for its high homicide and shooting rates. Evaluation findings are fed back to community interventionists to help maximize the efficiency of intervention efforts.
There are five components of implementation presented including a) youth outreach, b) clergy outreach, c) community responses to shootings and killings, d) public education messaging, and e) law enforcement responses. Each component of implementation has a 5-step grading system. This presentation features data comparing the level of implementation in each of the five components, three Chicago Project neighborhoods with the quantitative crime trends and qualitative evaluation findings. Qualitative data presented will be from interviews conducted with over 100 key community stakeholders including police, clergy, residents, schools and park personnel.
See www.chicagoproject.orgLearning Objectives:
Keywords: Evaluation, Violence Prevention
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.