New York addresses gun violence with a combination of gun control measures, community-based interventions, and enforcement coordination. Efforts focus on conflict mediation, job training, outreach to high-risk individuals, and intelligence-sharing networks that provide analytical support to aid investigations and public safety. This comprehensive approach reflects New York’s commitment to protecting communities.
Despite various shortcomings, the research team found important indicators that suggest positive benefits of the State initiatives to prevent crime and violence. When researchers analyzed violent and property index crimes (i.e., aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, and larceny), the change in crime occurrences sometimes varied by the amount of funding received. Using 2010 as the base year and tracking crime rates through 2023, researchers found that total index crimes dropped 14 percent in counties receiving funding, but index crimes grew 13 percent in counties that received no funding for the three main initiatives.
Virginia is reporting its lowest recidivism rate in more than 20 years—tied with Minnesota for the second lowest in the nation, but Professor Jeffrey Butts at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York is not impressed.
Overall, the interrupter model appears to be effective, according to a 2017 study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. In one Bronx neighborhood, the number of shooting victims fell 63 percent during a period when interrupters were active compared with rates before the program began, the study found.
New York’s Osborne Association operates a reentry program called “Prepare” for fathers and father figures returning home from prison. With funding from the Office of Family Assistance within the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Prepare program aims to improve relationships between formerly incarcerated fathers and their children using a family-centered approach focusing on parenting and workforce skills with one year of follow-up support.
The Research and Evaluation Center is developing a policy analysis and review about the Thrive Academy in Maryland, an effort to prevent youth gun violence in partnership with the State’s Department of Juvenile Justice and a multi-government agency and community stakeholder program known as the Community Investment Initiative (CII).
