Crime Reduction Strategies

Two well-developed strategies address serious violence associated with gangs, drug crews, and similar groups of offenders, and “overt” drug markets: street dealers, drug houses, drive-through buyers, and the like.

The Group and Gang Violence Strategy
The gang violence strategy, first demonstrated as “Operation Ceasefire” in Boston in 1996 (the so-called “Boston Miracle”) and subsequently in many other jurisdictions, relies on direct communication to violent groups by a partnership of law-enforcement, service providers, and community figures. Together the partnership delivers a unified “no violence” message, explains that violence will bring law enforcement attention to entire groups, offers services and alternatives to group members, and articulates community norms against violence.

Listen to Center Director David Kennedy outline the strategy, its early success in Boston in the mid-1990s, and its roll-out to more than 50 U.S. cities through the National Network for Safe Communities.

Where properly implemented, rapid reductions in serious violence are routine, with low levels of actual enforcement and the enthusiastic support of affected communities. One recent dramatic example of this is Chicago, which has used a variation on the strategy to reduce the homicide rate in several exceptionally violent neighborhoods by 37% (see “Attention Felons: Evaluating Project Safe Neighborhoods in Chicago”).  The strategy is flexible and adapted to any given jurisdiction, but is also quite well understood; for an implementation outline, click here.  For more material on the approach, see Publications section.

The Drug Market Strategy
First demonstrated in High Point, North Carolina, in 2004, and often known as the “High Point strategy,” the drug market strategy is designed to close neighborhood drug markets permanently.  Moving drug market by drug market in any particular jurisdiction, it identifies street-level dealers; arrests violent offenders; suspends cases for non-violent dealers, and brings together drug dealers, their families, law enforcement and criminal justice officials, service providers, and community leaders for a meeting that makes clear the dealing has to stop, the community cares for the offenders but reject their conduct, help is available, and renewed dealing will result in the activation of the existing case. 

This strategy has been shown to almost completely eliminate these markets, with low levels of arrest and prosecution; rebuild relationships between minority communities and law enforcement; and redirect the lives of drug dealers. 

For details on how the strategy was first applied in High Point, NC, see Chapter 9 of David Kennedy’s book, Deterrence and Crime Prevention: Reconsidering the Prospect of Sanction. For an implementation outline, see Bureau of Justice Assistance: Drug Market Intervention Program. For more material on the approach see: "Novel Police Tactic Puts Drug Markets Out of Business" (The Wall Street Journal, 09/27/2006); New Program Reforms Drug-Torn Neighborhood; Closing Crack Highway; and Street Known for Drug Crime is Getting Clean.