Police-community relationships, community norms of violence and concentrated disadvantage: Examining relationships and influence on gun violence in Massachusetts

• In Event: Preventing Urban Gun Violence in Massachusetts: Results from the Community-based Violence Prevention Study

Abstract

Research on police involvement in community-based crime prevention in disadvantaged neighborhoods has produced mixed results. Some studies show little impact between police activities and neighborhood perceptions of crime. But when police gain community trust and residents see police as partners to improve neighborhood conditions, preventive crime reporting to police can increase and neighborhood crime rates can fall. Recent research has explored how concentrated disadvantage can act as a moderator with negative impacts on cultural norms and violent crime. Eleven cities are involved in the Massachusetts Safe and Successful Youth Initiative (SSYI), an initiative that aims to reduce gun violence and promote healthy development and outcomes among “proven risk” males, ages 14-24. The SSYI involves police as key partners in each SSYI city, but law enforcement are not involved in the actual delivery of the program itself. This talk will present results from a multimethod study examining the influence of police-community relationships on community norms of violence and violent crime in neighborhoods characterized by concentrated disadvantage in SSYI communities.

Authors

• Patricia Campie, American Institutes for Research

• Mary Vriniotis, American Institutes for Research