Reducing Murders in New Orleans: Evaluation of the Gang Violence Reduction Strategy

• In Event: Making it Work: Research on the Mechanisms of Focused Deterrence Gang Initiatives

Abstract

In the last decade, the city of New Orleans, Louisiana has routinely reported one of the highest homicide rates among American cities. Simultaneously, the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) has come under increased scrutiny and calls for wide-scale reform. In 2012, city officials partnered with the NOPD, and working with consultants from John Jay College and the University of Cincinnati, implemented the Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS). The GVRS is a focused deterrence strategy, and part of the larger “NOLA for Life” campaign to reduce murders. This study provides a first glimpse at the implementation issues surrounding the GVRS in New Orleans, and reports the results from time series regression models estimating its effectiveness on reducing gang member involved murders. The implications of this research for the implementation and effectiveness of this and other focused deterrence strategies will be discussed.

Authors

• Robin Engel, University of Cincinnati

• Nicholas Corsaro, University of Cincinnati

• Murat Ozer, University of Cincinnati