BUILDING SAFE COMMUNITIES

BUILDING SAFE COMMUNITIES

Reducing violent crime and enhancing community safety is a top priority of the U.S. Department of Justice.  Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a national strategy for reducing violent crime in partnership with local, state, and tribal law enforcement and the communities they serve. PSN is built upon a foundation of successful violence reduction strategies as well as PSN’s demonstrated ability to reduce violent crime when implemented in a comprehensive, coordinated, data-driven, targeted, and focused manner. Given that violent crime differs from community to community, PSN is not a narrowly defined approach but rather a national strategy adapted to the drivers of violent crime at the local level.

The PSN model is based upon careful analysis of violent crime at the local level that informs the development of a strategic plan.  The plan includes targeted evidence-based strategies and evidence-informed innovation designed to reduce violent crime.  The partners monitor implementation and continually refine strategies and processes to enhance violence reduction efforts and ultimately to report on the impact of PSN on violent crime at the local level. PSN is supported through grants provided through the Bureau of Justice Assistance, resources provided to U.S. Attorney’s Offices by the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, and training and technical assistance provided by a team coordinated by Michigan State University.

TTA

Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) to PSN task forces, local and state law enforcement, criminal justice agencies, and communities to support the implementation, operation, and assessment of their gun- and gang-related violence reduction activities. The ultimate goal is to support evidence-based and innovative practices to reduce levels of violence and enhance public safety, delivery of justice, and system efficiency in communities across the U.S.

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VRAT

The Violence Reduction Assessment Tool (VRAT) is a planning and support instrument that allows communities to assess their capacity for effective implementation and to identify concrete action steps to increase their capacity to adopt evidence-based practices. The VRAT has been shown to be a useful resource for abroad range of Innovations Suite Justice programs for strategic planning purposes in support of effective implementation.
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Violent Crime Reduction Workshop

The Violent Crime Reduction Workshop builds on the action research model, establishing strong and value-added research partnerships, and effective implementation. The Workshop employs adult-learning principles and includes the “cultural” dimensions of effective research partnerships, information about cutting-edge, evidence-based and innovative strategies, and skills-building modules.
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The Innovations Suite Researcher Practitioner Fellows Academy

The Innovations Suite Researcher Practitioner Fellows Academy is a multi-day experience for researcher and practitioners focusing on the importance of using science and data to: (a) support criminal justice planning and programming; (b) develop capacity to translate research into practice; (c) support the implementation of evidence-based practice; and (d) enhance public safety and improve the delivery of fair and cost effective justice.
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