Author: Stacy Sechrist

NC Gang Investigators Conference in Pinehurst

NC Network for Safe Communities attended the NC Gang Investigators Conference in Pinehurst last week. We were able to catch up with many of our partners across the state and meet new folks doing crime and violence reduction work on the resource and law enforcement fronts. The NC Gang Investigators Conference has two tracks: one for community and one for law enforcement. As usual, the topics discussed were relevant and we were happy to support our partners at the Fayetteville Police Department in their presentation on their latest Educating Kids about Gun Violence (EKG) program. Fayetteville Police Department received a grant from the Governor’s Crime Commission to implement the EKG program to all 7th and 9th graders in the county-wide school system. We will serve as the evaluators on the project. The EKG program will be implemented during health classes and consists of a video followed by a writing assignment and discussion facilitated by trained police personnel to understand the consequences of gun violence. The goal is to help students better understand key decision points and how to make wise decisions in those situations.

Congratulations to the Greenville Police Department and surrounding agencies on a successful gang/group call-in

Law enforcement panel set-up for call-in messaging
Law enforcement panel set-up for call-in messaging

On July 30, the Greenville Police Department and partnering local agencies including the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office, Winterville Police Department, Ayden Police Department, Farmville Police Department, Bethel Police

Chief Aden of the Greenville Police Department discusses the focused deterrence strategy with his community
Chief Aden of the Greenville Police Department discusses the focused deterrence strategy with his community

Department, Grifton Police Department, and Pitt County District Attorney’s Office combined with federal partners including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, US Marshals, and the United States Attorney’s Office to educate 8 violent gang offenders about the swift, certain, and severe consequences that would be guaranteed for future violent offenses from the offenders or members of their gangs/groups. In addition to the law enforcement message, members of the community spoke out about how violence is wrong and how it has impacted the community. Resource providers presented their services to the offenders in the event that offenders wanted assistance to help keep them away from violent crime through opportunities for education and skill-building, housing assistance, mental health and substance abuse services, and other services. The Greenville Community Shelter, Port Human Services, Pitt County Department of Public Health, STRIVE, and the Intergenerational Community Center all had representatives speak to the offenders. These messages were presented to the offenders in what is known as a “call-in” or notification meeting. The offenders were told to listen closely to the message and to take the message back to their group. The unified message presented by law enforcement, the community, and resource providers was the: the violence must stop.

The call-in was the culmination of an effort initiated by the Greenville Police Department in the Summer of 2013. The Greenville Police Department contracted with the North Carolina Network for Safe Communities for training and technical assistance to implement the focused deterrence strategy. NCNS conducted a violent incident review and group audit to collect data about the current crime dynamic in Greenville and greater Pitt County.  Based on the data, it was recommended that the site would see a significant reduction in violent crime by implementing a gang/group focused deterrence strategy. NCNS provided ongoing operational technical assistance to the site which led to last Wednesday night’s successful call-in.

For news coverage of the call-in, visit NBC 4 Greenville’s webpage.

NCNSC Consulted by UK Researchers about the OFDVI Strategy to Combat Domestic Violence

NCNSC was contacted by a group of researchers and practitioners in the United Kingdom who were interested in learning more about High Point Police Department’s application of focused deterrence to combat domestic violence. The group published a report entitled, Domestic Violence: Evidence Review in which they stated: “While domestic violence is high on the public policy agenda in the UK, successive reviews have highlighted policing problems. A recent HMIC report found domestic violence is not policed at the same level as other offences and identified a catalogue of policing failures that have a long history of recurrence. With domestic violence accounting for around a large proportion of violent crime incidents reported to the police, and the majority of all female homicides (Office for National Statistics, 2013), it is essential that what works in addressing perpetrators is fully reviewed.” The review was prepared to as a rapid assessment of the current state of the evidence on policing interventions for domestic violence.

A full copy of the review can be accessed here: DomesticViolence_EvidenceReview.

The review provides an up-to-date perspective of what is working regarding policing efforts aimed at combating domestic violence and could serve as a valuable resource for community’s looking for evidence-based solutions.

Latest Results of the High Point Offender Focused Domestic Violence Initiative

Last week, NC Network for Safe Communities presented along with the High Point Police Department at the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence conference. The latest evaluation results of the effort are very promising. At the two year mark since implementation of the initiative, domestic violence offenders who have been notified have a 9% recidivism as measured by repeat arrest for a domestic violence-related crime. Also, domestic-related arrests , domestic assaults with injury, and intimate partner domestic calls for service have all  decreased significantly since implementation.

The findings support that domestic violence offender behavior can be changed by stripping their anonymity and putting them on notice, creating swift, certain, and predictable consequences for offending, and allowing them to make a rational choice to stop domestic violence offending behavior. Further, this can be achieved all without any additional harm to victims and leading to a huge savings in terms of law enforcement resources and without reliance on traditional responses to domestic offenders (i.e., incarceration, treatment programs, anger management, etc.).

Please click the link below for a full copy of the presentation.

NCCADV 2014 Conference Presentation

 

Project Safe Rockingham County Updates

PSRC Article from March 2014 makes the case that the PSN strategy in Rockingham County has saved money by reducing offender recidivism and has changed the lives of offenders who have been notified through the initiative. This article is a great example of how other sites may sell their strategy through the media by telling success stories and showcasing the benefits. Many thanks to Guilio Daterro for sharing this article with us.