Implementing and Evaluating New York State’s Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) Initiative

• In Event: Analytic Innovations in Violence Reduction

Abstract

New York State’s Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative provides funding to implement evidence-based strategies and organizational philosophies for reducing shootings and homicides in jurisdictions with the most gun crime outside New York City. Funded agencies utilize hot spot policing, crime prevention through environmental design, focused deterrence, and street outreach strategies. Problem-oriented policing and procedural justice are to be integrated into all GIVE strategies. Implementation requires partnership with multiple criminal justice agencies and community organizations.

The presentation will describe challenges and opportunities in evaluating this statewide gun violence reduction program. We will elaborate on the methodological, logistical, and philosophical aspects of the policy, implementation, and evaluation. Challenges for the implementation and evaluation efforts include the necessities for adaptability, isolating the effects of strategies when implemented simultaneously, differences in implementation across jurisdictions, and infrastructural challenges such as funding, politics, technology, and skill levels. Particular attention will be paid to the challenges of promoting collaboration with community organizations and institutionalizing concepts of procedural justice within criminal justice agencies and within evidence-based strategies. This discussion informs ongoing evaluation efforts. It will be informative for any effort to implement and evaluate initiatives for combating serious crime problems across multiple jurisdictions.

Authors

• Jamie Dougherty, Center for Public Safety Initiatives, Rochester Institute of Technology

• Lisa Clark, Rochester Institute of Technology, Center for Public Safety Initiatives

• John Klofas, Rochester Institute of Technology

• Irshad Altheimer, Rochester Institute of Technology