Custom Notifications: Individualized Communication in the Group Violence Intervention  
The National Network for Safe Communities' Group Violence Intervention (GVI) has repeatedly demonstrated that serious violence can be reduced when law enforcement, community members, and social service providers join together to engage directly with violent street groups and clearly communicate (1) a credible, moral message against violence; (2) a credible law enforcement message about the group consequences of further violence; and (3) a genuine offer of help for those who want it. Custom Notifications: Individualized Communication in the Group Violence Intervention provides practical information about "custom notifications," an independent element of GVI that enables quick, tactical, direct communication to particular group members. Custom notifications articulate that group members are valued members of the community, give individualized information about their legal risk, and offer opportunities for help. They effectively interrupt group "beefs," avoid retaliation after incidents, calm outbreaks of violence, and reinforce the GVI message. This publication presents the custom notification process, explains its value within the broader strategy, details its use by several national practitioners, and encourages further development. This publication is part of an ongoing series by the National Network for Safe Communities about its two core crime reduction strategies: Group Violence Intervention and Drug Market Intervention.

Group Violence Intervention: An Implementation Guide  
The National Network for Safe Communities' Group Violence Intervention (GVI) has repeatedly demonstrated that serious violence can be reduced when law enforcement, community members, and social service providers join together to engage directly with violent street groups and clearly communicate (1) a credible, moral message against violence; (2) a credible law enforcement message about the group consequences of further violence; and (3) a genuine offer of help for those who want it. This publication provides comprehensive guidance on how to implement GVI step by step, discussing the role and responsibilities of the core representatives in law enforcement, the community, and social services. It explains the logic and basics of the strategy before taking the reader through the initial planning stages, design, and execution of all key strategy elements, such as problem analysis and the call-in. This guide also includes methods to maintain program integrity and ensure sustainability in the long-term. This publication is part of a series by the National Network for Safe Communities about its two crime reduction strategies: Group Violence Intervention and Drug Market Intervention.

Managing the Group Violence Intervention: Using Shooting Scorecards to Track Group Violence  
Group shooting scorecards identify the criminal groups that commit the highest number shootings and experience the greatest number of shooting victimizations during a specific time period. With this information, shooting scorecards support the implementation of focused deterrence strategies to prevent group-involved violence. They also ensure that police departments appropriately focus scarce resources on the groups that consistently generate the most gun violence. The most violent groups then receive systematic considered for focused interventions, such as the National Network for Safe Communities' Group Violence Intervention in which a partnership of community members, law enforcement, and social service providers delivers a "no violence" message, information about legal consequences for further violence, and an offer of help. Managing the Group Violence Intervention: Using Shooting Scorecards to Track Group Violence begins with a brief description of the shooting scorecard concept and its links to problem analysis and performance measurement systems in police departments. It then presents the key steps in the process and associated data quality issues and then details the use of shooting scorecards by the Boston Police Department as an example of the practical applications of this approach. This publication is part of a series by the National Network for Safe Communities about its two crime reduction strategies: the Group Violence Intervention and the Drug Market Intervention.

Group Violence Reduction Strategy: 4 Case Studies of Swift and Meaningful Law Enforcement Responses  
The National Network for Safe Communities' Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS), also known as "Operation Ceasefire," has repeatedly demonstrated that serious violence can be dramatically reduced when law enforcement, community members, and social services providers join together to directly engage with violent street groups to clearly communicate (1) a law enforcement message that future violence will be met with clear and predictable consequences, (2) a community moral message that violence will no longer be tolerated, and (3) a genuine offer of help to those who want it. The strategy's central tool to communicate these messages is a call-in a face-to-face meeting between GVRS representatives and street group members. Practice Brief: Call-In Preparation and Execution is intended to help law enforcement, community, and social services partners already engaged in implementing GVRS to design, prepare, and execute their first and subsequent call-ins.

Policing the Connected World: Using Social Network Analysis in Police-Community Partnerships  
Law enforcement agencies are increasingly using social network analysis (SNA) to understand the organization of gangs and other criminal networks, to identify their relationships, and to analyze data that can be used to focus crime prevention efforts. This report details the implementation of a SNA program developed by the COPS Office in partnership with Yale University. Created as part of a violence prevention initiative in New Haven, Connecticut, the Project Longevity SNA program emphasizes the value of community collaboration when gathering critical information such as the location and membership of these groups. Noting that transparency and community involvement in data collection encourage community support, the report also describes the benefits of focused deterrence activities, thereby reducing arrests and increasing efficiency. In addition to a detailed introduction to SNA and the ways it can be adapted to community and law enforcement needs, this report provides examples of SNA strategies used in other cities and practical guidelines for implementation.

Practice Brief: Call-in Preparation and Execution  
The National Network for Safe Communities' Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS), also known as Operation Ceasefire, has repeatedly demonstrated that serious violence can be dramatically reduced when law enforcement, community members, and social services providers join together to directly engage with violent street groups to clearly communicate (1) a law enforcement message that future violence will be met with clear and predictable consequences, (2) a community moral message that violence will no longer be tolerated, and (3) a genuine offer of help to those who want it. The strategy's central tool to communicate these messages is a call in, a face to face meeting between GVRS representatives and street group members. Practice Brief: Call-In Preparation and Execution is intended to help law enforcement, community, and social services partners already engaged in implementing GVRS to design, prepare, and execute their first and subsequent call-ins.

A Review of Minneapolis's Youth Violence Prevention Initiative  
This publication, from the National Center for Victims of Crime, describes an initiative started in 2006 by the city of Minneapolis to prevent and reduce violence by and against youth. To document the program and highlight its law enforcement innovations, NCVC staff visited Minneapolis in October of 2008, conducting a series of interviews with Minneapolis and Hennepin County officials, community leaders, and law enforcement officers.

An Interdisciplinary Approach to Addressing Violence: A Process Evaluation of the Minority Youth Violence Prevention Initiative  
Violence continues to plague minority communities across the United States, which has implications not only for public safety but also for public health. The Minority Youth Violence Prevention Initiative seeks to engage public health organizations, law enforcement agencies, schools, juvenile justice agencies, and community-based groups to curb violence and reduce disparities in access to public health.

Preventing Minority Youth Violence: Fact Sheet Template  
This resource provides guidance in preparation of fact sheets for the benefit of stakeholders. The full toolkit is available at https://cops.usdoj.gov/RIC/ric.php?page=detail&id=COPS-W0883.

Preventing Minority Youth Violence: SARA Model Worksheet  
This worksheet exercise tracks the key elements of the SARA (scanning, analysis, response, and assessment) model problem solving method. This is a framework used by community policing agencies to identify and solve repeat crime and community problems. The worksheet can help aid in planning a minority youth violence prevention program. The full toolkit is available at https://cops.usdoj.gov/RIC/ric.php?page=detail&id=COPS-W0883.

Preventing Minority Youth Violence: CDC Model Worksheet  
This worksheet exercise tracks the key elements of the CDC's model for a public health approach to violence prevention. The worksheet can help aid in planning a minority youth violence prevention program. The full toolkit is available at https://cops.usdoj.gov/RIC/ric.php?page=detail&id=COPS-W0883.

Preventing Minority Youth Violence: Sample Project Logic Model  
This basic sample logic model lays out what resources are available at the beginning of a project, what activities can be undertaken with those resources, and what outcomes can be expected from those activities. The full toolkit is available at https://cops.usdoj.gov/RIC/ric.php?page=detail&id=COPS-W0883.

Preventing Minority Youth Violence: Lessons from Law Enforcement—Public Health Collaborations  
The Minority Youth Violence Prevention Initiative seeks to engage public health organizations, law enforcement agencies, schools, juvenile justice agencies, and community-based groups to curb violence in minority communities across the United States and reduce disparities in access to public health. In conjunction with a COPS Office-funded report that identified challenges and lessons learned at nine sites funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Center for Court Innovation has prepared this toolkit to help organizations design and implement youth violence prevention programs of their own.

Preventing Minority Youth Violence: Target Population, Eligibility, Screens, and Assessments Worksheet  
This worksheet exercise is to help you prepare to identify your program's target population, eligibility requirements, and assessment processes. The full toolkit is available at https://cops.usdoj.gov/RIC/ric.php?page=detail&id=COPS-W0883.

Combatting Youth Violence in American Cities: Programs and Partnerships in 30 Cities  
Youth violence is a major challenge for American police chiefs, schools, and municipal leaders, undermining the public safety of cities across the nation and destroying the lives of many of our young people. In an effort to stem the toll youth violence is taking on our communities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors asked the leaders of 30 cities for help in developing a report which can be used as a tool to prevent and respond to these crimes. This report, the result of their efforts, describes the problems they have encountered and the practices and programs they have found most helpful.

Combatting Youth Violence in American Cities: Programs and Partnerships in 30 Cities  
While gun violence among young offenders seems to pervade our society, it is remarkably clustered among high-risk people, in high-risk places, at high-risk times. This concentration of violence provides an important opportunity for police to strategically address a seemingly intractable problem. This guide identifies a series of questions to help law enforcement analyze their local problem and reviews responses to the problem and what is known about them from evaluative research and police practice.