The Successful Gun Violence Reduction Strategy

By The National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform

The Gun Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS) is a comprehensive method of identifying the individuals in a jurisdiction who are at the very highest risk of being involved in gun violence and employing effective interventions to intervene with those individuals and their conflicts to significantly reduce gun violence. The National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR) works with jurisdictions to implement GVRS through data analysis, policy development, training, coaching, management support and technical assistance. NICJR helps identify people and groups at highest risk of being involved in gun violence in a specific city; trains community leaders and law enforcement to effectively communicate that risk to those individuals in a supportive manner; helps stand up, manage, and train staff for intensive community violence intervention (CVI) efforts to work with those individuals; and works with law enforcement to focus their efforts in a way that reduces their overall footprint in the community and increases their focus on the small number of people driving gun violence. When operated to scale, well managed, and coordinated, GVRS can significantly and consistently reduce gun violence citywide. GVRS is a distinct strategy that has evolved from similar models known as Ceasefire and Gun Violence Intervention. ¹ GVRS rests on two main principles: specificity and intensity: Specifically serving those at the very highest risk of being involved in gun violence soon, and intensively and frequently engaging those at the very highest risk.