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 Joanna Wang, Don Weatherburn, Wai-Yin Wan

Aim: To examine the long-term effect of two routine police activities on property and violent crime in NSW.

Method: Police move-on directions and person searches as well as property and violent crimes were extracted from the NSW Police Force’s Computerised Operational Policing System. We investigate the relationship between police activity and crime using panel of 17 Local Area Commands (LACs) over the period 2001 to 2013. To estimate the long-run relationship, panel models of Pooled Mean Group and Mean Group were applied to allow for differing effects between LACs.

Results: We estimated a significant and strongly negative long-run relationship between both indices of police activity (move-on directions and person searches) and each of break and enter, motor vehicle theft and robbery. The person search activity is negatively related to assault, but the effect is weak; with a 10 per cent increase in person searches only producing a 0.29 per cent fall in assaults. No significant long-run relationship was found between assault and move-on directions.

Conclusion: Sustained increases in police activity, whether in the form of move-on directions or person searches, do appear to help suppress break and enter, motor vehicle theft and robbery but do not appear to help in reducing assault.

(Crime & Justice Bulletin No. 225). Sydney: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.  2019. 12p.

By Christopher M. Sun, James R. “Chip” Coldren, Jr., Keri Richardson, and Emma Wohl

Law enforcement agencies continue to develop new and innovative strategies to better support and police the communities they serve, from integrating gunshot detection technologies into dispatch systems to improve response times during shootings, to collaborating with local health and social service organizations to address issues such as homelessness or substance abuse in comprehensively ways. Over the past 10 years, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), in partnership with the CNA Institute for Public Research (IPR), has supported law enforcement agencies across the country in implementing innovative policing approaches through the Strategies for Policing Innovation Initiative (SPI, formerly the Smart Policing Initiative). SPI supports not only the development and implementation of innovative policing strategies, but also the research partnerships that result in in-depth analyses and rigorous evaluations of these strategies to advance what is known about effective and efficient policing practices. This report examines SPI’s accomplishments since its inception in 2009 and explores some of the major themes across SPI initiatives in both policing and policing research, including the following:

• Reductions in violent crime

• Improved crime analysis capabilities in police agencies

• Evolution of research partnerships with SPI sites

• Collaborative partnerships with agencies, organizations, and community stakeholders

• Integration of technology into policing

Arlington VA: CNA, 2019. 20p