Evaluating Efforts to Reduce Gun Violence in Baltimore: Drug Law Enforcement, Cure Violence, and Focused Deterrence

Gun violence;Baltimore;not listed

Buggs, Shani Adisa LorayneSherman, Susan ;

Johns Hopkins University

关键词: Gun violence;    Baltimore;    not listed;   

Others  :  https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/bitstream/handle/1774.2/60065/BUGGS-DISSERTATION-2018.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: JOHNS HOPKINS DSpace Repository

【 摘 要 】

Baltimore has been plagued by persistently high rates of firearm violence for decades, even as gun violence rates across the country have declined.City and law enforcement officials in Baltimore have employed various approaches to reduce homicides and nonfatal shootings.This research project evaluated the use of three strategies aimed at gun violence reduction in Baltimore: drug law enforcement, the Cure Violence model, and focused deterrence.Negative binomial regressions were used to estimate the effects of drug law enforcement and focused deterrence on homicides or nonfatal shooting counts at the police post level, while synthetic control analyses were used to estimate the effects of the Cure Violence model.Key informant interviews were also conducted to gain greater understanding of the focused deterrence program.Analyses indicate that drug law enforcement interventions were associated with no reductions in homicides but at times with increases in nonfatal shootings in the months following the interventions.Findings also reveal that the beneficial effects of the Cure Violence model have diminished since the program began in Baltimore.The focused deterrence replication was found to be harmful in one of the two police districts where implemented, and threats to the program’s success, per key informant interviews, included concerns about accurate identification of individuals most responsible for violence, frequent leadership changes, a lack of financial support for law enforcement and of services for those sought for the intervention, and the lack of engagement by law enforcement with community members on issues of legitimacy, shared vision, and strategy.The dissertation project highlighted the importance of placing priority focus on violent individuals, adhering to program fidelity when implementing and executing evidence-based violence prevention programs, continuously monitoring, evaluating, and evolving programs as needed, and addressing the contentious relationship in Baltimore between law enforcement and community residents.