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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Norman Kerr¹, Tim Metzger, MUPP¹, Charlie Ransford, MPA¹, Gary Slutkin, MD¹, and Tio Hardiman, MA². (1) University of Illinois at Chicago, 1603 W. Taylor, Chicago, IL 60612, (2) Chicago Project for Violence Prevention, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1603 W. Taylor, Chicago, IL 60612, 312-355-31581, tioh@uic.edu

In 1995, the Chicago Project for Violence Prevention began planning a public health strategy to increase neighborhood safety. The goals of this multi-pronged anti-violence intervention include decreasing shootings and killings, changing norms of violence in high crime neighborhoods, and creating positive opportunities for the highest risk individuals. The plan requires collaboration and support by community groups, citizens, government, law enforcement, and clergy. Full implementation of this plan, called “CeaseFire”, began in 2000.

The first CeaseFire zone in Chicago was declared in February 2000. Since that time CeaseFire has worked in 20 communities in Illinois. The first CeaseFire zone saw a 67% reduction in shootings for 2000. From 2000-2005 the average reduction in shootings in the first year of implementation in the five communities was 42%. Since implementation (average of 2-5 years), the average reduction was 69%. Compared to the city as a whole, neighboring beats and comparison beats (beats with similar rates), two communities showed statistical significance (p<.01) against all 3 comparisons and one community was significant (p<.05) when analyzed against comparison beats. When combining all CeaseFire beats, they were significant (p<.01) compared to all three comparison areas.

This paper looks at the first five years of the program to examine successes and challenges. Crime and program data are examined to better understand the development of CeaseFire and reductions in shootings and killings in Chicago. The paper will analyze the first five CeaseFire communities, those that have had programs for the longest and have the most comparison crime data.

Learning Objectives:

• 1) To analyze the challenges and successes of a public health program to reduce violence in the first five years
• 2) To connect program data with police data in analyzing a public health program

Keywords: Violence, Prevention

Related Web page: www.ceasefirechicago.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No