Operation Ceasefire: Difference between revisions

'''Operation Ceasefire '''(also known as the '''Boston Gun Project''' and the '''Boston Miracle'''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://motherjones.com/news/feature/2006/01/straight_outta_boston.html |title= Straight Outta Boston Why is the "Boston Miracle" -- the only tactic proven to reduce gang violence -- being dissed by the L.A.P.D., the FBI, and Congress? |last1=Duane |first1=Daniel |date=January 2006 |website=Mother Jones|publisher= |accessdate=September 28, 2016}}</ref>) is a [[problem-oriented policing]] initiative implemented in 1996 in Boston, [[Massachusetts]]. The program was specifically aimed at youth [[Gun violence in the United States|gun violence]] as a large-scale problem. The plan is based on the work of criminologist [[David M. Kennedy (criminologist)|David M. Kennedy]].

Design on the project began in 1995. It led  to what is now known as the [[Group Violence Intervention]] (GVI), typically overseen by the [[National Network for Safe Communities]], out of [[John Jay College of Criminal Justice]] in New York City, but has also been implemented independently by several jurisdictions. The Boston project launched in 1996 with an innovative partnership between practitioners and researchers. These groups came together to assess the youth homicide problem and implement the intervention, and found a substantial near-term impact on the problem. Operation Ceasefire was based on [[focused deterrence|"pulling levers policing"]] deterrence strategies, which focus criminal justice enforcement on a small number of chronic offenders and gang-involved youth who were responsible for much of Boston's homicide problem.<ref name="dontshoot">{{cite book |last=Kennedy |first=David |author-link=David M. Kennedy (criminologist) |title=Don't Shoot: One Man, A Street Fellowship, and the End of Violence in Inner-City America |year=2012 |publisher=Bloomsbury USA|isbn=978-1608194148 }}</ref>

Studies of Boston Operation Ceasefire found a 63% reduction in youth homicide.<ref name="a">{{cite journal|last2=Kennedy|first2=David|last3=Waring|first3=E.J.|last4=Piehl|first4=Anne|year=2001|title=Problem-Oriented Policing, Deterrence, and Youth Violence: An Evaluation of Boston's Operation Ceasefire|journal=Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency|volume=38|issue=3|pages=195–226|doi=10.1177/0022427801038003001|last1=Braga|first1=Anthony|s2cid=1218757 |author2-link=David M. Kennedy (criminologist)}}</ref> Since then, Operation Ceasefire has evolved into the [[National Network for Safe Communities]]' Group Violence Intervention. The [[National Network for Safe Communities|Group Violence Intervention]] (GVI) has been deployed in dozens of cities – from Los Angeles to [[Providence, Rhode Island|Providence]], from Chicago to [[Nashville]] – over almost 20 years. A 2011 Campbell Collaboration Systematic Review of the strategies, and others related to them, concluded that there is now "strong empirical evidence" for their crime prevention effectiveness.<ref name="focuseddet">{{cite journal |last1=Braga |first1=Anthony |last2=Weisburd |first2=David |author2-link=David Weisburd |title=The Effects of Focused Deterrence Strategies on Crime: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence |journal=Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency |volume=published online |pages=1–36 |date=13 September 2011 |url=http://www.nnscommunities.org/Braga_and_Weisburd_campbell_CRIME_AND_DEL.pdf |doi=10.1177/0022427811419368|s2cid=145710083 }}</ref> [[Stockton, California|Stockton]]'s Operation Peacekeeper produced an overall 42% reduction in gun homicide in the city.<ref name="b">{{cite journal |last=Braga |first=Anthony |year=2008|title=Pulling Levers: Focused Deterrence Strategies and the Prevention of Gun Homicide. |journal=Journal of Criminal Justice |volume=36 |issue =4 |pages=332–343 |doi=10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2008.06.009}}</ref> The Chicago extension of the national [[Project Safe Neighborhoods]] initiative, has shown 37% reductions in homicide,<ref name="c">{{cite journal |last1=Meares |first1=Tracey |last2=Papachristos |first2=Andrew |year=2009 |title=Homicide and Gun Violence in Chicago: Evaluation and Summary of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Program |journal=Project Safe Neighborhoods Research Brief}}</ref> while the [[Lowell, Massachusetts]], Project Safe Neighborhoods efforts have produced 44% reductions in gun assault.<ref name="d">{{cite journal |last1=Braga |first1=Anthony |last2=Pierce |first2=G.L. |last3=Bond |first3=J. |last4=Cronin |first4=S |year=2008 |title=The Strategic Prevention of Gun Violence Among Gang-Involved Offenders |journal=Justice Quarterly |volume=25 |pages=132–162 |doi=10.1080/07418820801954613|s2cid=145644404 }}</ref> A 34% reduction in homicide has been recorded in [[Indianapolis]] after the launch of the Indianapolis Violence Reduction Partnership.<ref name="e">{{cite journal |last1=McGarrell |first1=E.F. |last2=Chermak |first2=S |last3=Wilson |first3=J.M. |last4=Corsaro |first4=N. |year=2006 |title=Reducing Homicide through a "Lever Pulling" Strategy |journal=Justice Quarterly |volume=23 |issue = 2 |pages=214–231 |doi=10.1080/07418820600688818|s2cid=145152540 }}</ref> The [[Cincinnati]] Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV) has shown a 41% reduction in street group member-related homicides.<ref name="f">{{cite journal |last1=Engel |first1=R.S. |last2=Tillyer|first2=M.S. |last3=Corsaro |first3=N. |year=2011 |title=Reducing Gang Violence Using Focused Deterrence: Evaluating the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV) |journal=Justice Quarterly |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=403–439 |doi=10.1080/07418825.2011.619559|s2cid=40777215 }}</ref>