The Individual Gun Violence Intervention (IGVI) shares the National Network’s guiding principles in its approach to reducing gun violence by individual offenders. Pioneered as Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) in Chicago, the IGVI strategy brings parolees with histories of violence and/or gun offending into a call-in; informs them of the legal risks of, especially, the federal felon-in-possession gun laws to which they are now subject; conveys clear antiviolence messages from community members and ex-offenders, and spells out social service opportunities. Careful evaluation has found substantial reductions in gun violence as a result. The approach is now being replicated in several sites across New York State and elsewhere.
The results of Chicago PSN have been dramatic, as have those of other initiatives based on the IGVI approach. Multiple evaluations have shown reductions in gun violence in treated areas compared with untreated areas. Additionally, ex-offenders who have been engaged by Chicago PSN call-ins consistently show a greater likelihood of staying alive and out of prison.
In this series of short videos, Professor Tracey Meares of Yale Law School discusses the theories of deterrence and legitimacy of law that underpin Project Safe Neighborhoods.
In this video of the Inaugural George and Margaret Barrock Lecture, Professor Tracey Meares of Yale Law School speaks at Marquette Law School on police legitimacy among African-American men.
Papachristos, A. V., Meares, T. L., & Fagan, J. (2007). Attention Felons: Evaluating Project Safe Neighborhoods in Chicago. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 4(2), 223–272.
Papachristos, A. V. (2009). The Reentry of Violent Offenders in Chicago: Summary of the Project Safe Neighborhoods’ Offender Notification Forums. Review of Research.
Meares, T. L., & Papachristos, A. V. (2008). Policing Gun Crime without Guns. Social Science Research Network.
Papachristos, A. V., Meares, T. L., & Fagan, J. (2009). Why Do Criminals Obey the Law? The Influence of the Law and Social Networks on Active Gun Offenders. Social Science Research Network.
Fagan, J., Papachristos, A. V., Wallace, D., & Meares, T. L. (2008). Desistance and Legitimacy: Effect Heterogeneity in a Field Experiment with High‐Risk Offenders. Columbia Law School.
Wallace, W., Papachristos, A. V., Meares, T. L., & Fagan, J. (2015). Desistance and Legitimacy: The Impact of Offender Notification Meetings on Recidivism among High Risk Offenders. Justice Quarterly.
In communities across America, the relationship between the public and the police is deeply fractured, and researchers believe this can lead to more violent crime, and to fewer crimes being solved.
Join us for the 2019 Mastrofski Lecture featuring Professor David Kennedy for his talk on "Closing the Book on the President’s Crime Commission: Toward a Theory and Practice of Problem-Oriented Public Safety".
"Where we worry most, we can help the least; and where we could help most, we care the least. Stopping gun violence is all about knowing where to start."
U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon speaks on the measures his office is taking to combat crime, calling on business, law, and civic leaders to provide an alternative to the gang life offered to youth in Chicago. He unveiled one new initiative, the Youth Outreach Forum, launched this month in the Englewood and Garfield Park neighborhoods and is modeled after the Project Safe Neighborhoods program that uses a carrot-and-stick approach to try to keep those convicted of violent crimes from re-offending.
Peer-reviewed, published, quasi-experimental evaluations show homicide reductions of around 40 percent to 50 percent, with larger impacts in hard-hit neighborhoods and demographics. Project Safe Neighborhood’s meeting strategy in its Chicago neighborhoods between 2003 and 2005 led to a 37 percent reduction in homicides.
