By Hannah D. McManus,  Robin S. Engel,  Jennifer Calnon Cherkauskas,  Sarah C. Light, Amanda M. Shoulberg,

Despite evidence of gradually declining rates of violent crime over the last several decades, violence continues to pose a serious problem for many urban communities (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2018). Indeed, recent trends in violent crime within the United States suggest violence is a chronic problem, producing substantial costs to communities and individuals, and requiring immediate response from a coalition of stakeholders. As such, finding effective interventions to target violence is essential for restoring communities and enhancing public health and safety. This literature review examines the available empirical evidence on a variety of police-led violence reduction strategies (offender-focused, place-based, and community-based), as well as community-led, public health-based violence prevention interventions. The purpose of this review is to summarize for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers the state of the evidence regarding the effectiveness of various approaches to reduce violence, highlight implications for practice (see Appendix A), and identify the remaining gaps in this knowledge needing to be addressed by future research.   

Cincinnati, OH: Center for Police Research and Policy, University of Cincinnati, 2020. 97p.

By Anthony A. Braga, Cory Schnell, Brandon C. Welsh

Research Summary

Broken windows theory suggests that police can prevent serious crime by addressing social and physical disorder in neighborhoods. In many U.S. cities, recent increases in disorder, fear, and crime have initiated calls for an intensification of disorder policing efforts. Disorder policing programs can be controversial, with evaluations yielding conflicting results. Further, a growing number of descriptive analyses of aggressive order maintenance programs raise concerns over varied negative consequences, such as increased racial disparities in arrests of citizens. Systematic review and meta-analytic techniques were used to conduct an updated analysis of the effects of disorder policing on crime. Fifty-six eligible studies including 59 independent tests of disorder policing interventions were identified, representing almost twice the number included in the previous review. As part of the meta-analysis, new effect size metrics were used. The updated meta-analysis suggests that policing disorder strategies are associated with overall statistically significant crime reduction effects that spill over into surrounding areas. The strongest program effect sizes were generated by community and problem-solving interventions designed to change social and physical disorder conditions at crime hot spots. Conversely, aggressive order maintenance strategies did not generate significant crime reductions.

Policy Implications

The types of strategies used by police departments to address disorder seem to matter in controlling crime, and this holds important implications for police–community relations, justice, and crime prevention. Further research is needed to understand the key programmatic elements that maximize the capacity of these strategies to prevent crime.

Criminology & Public Policy. Early View, May 2024.

By Danilo Souza, Mateus Maciel

In the context of increasing violence, public security reforms are commonly advocated as a solution to the problem despite the lack of empirical evidence. We address this question by evaluating the effect of the Pacto pela Vida program, a comprehensive reform on the public security of the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. We document a reduction of 16 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants following the program implementation. We show that a reduction in crimes occurring on the streets and associated with young males and firearm availability are likely to have contributed to the program’s effect.

Unpublished paper. 2024, 11pg