Community Safety Investments: Violence Prevention Initiatives Across New York State
By 2014, nearly two dozen New York State counties were implementing at least one state-funded violence prevention model, with the scale of State investments significantly expanded after 2021. To assess their impact, researchers from the John Jay Research and Evaluation Center (JohnJayREC) and Data Collaborative for Justice (DCJ) analyzed county-level trends in serious and violent offenses from 2010 to 2023. This study focused on four major initiatives: SNUG (guns spelled backward), GIVE (Gun Involved Violence Elimination), Project RISE (Respond, Invest, Sustain, Empower), and the expansion of the State’s Crime Analysis Centers (CAC).
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Results yielded a number of important indicators that suggest positive benefits of the State initiatives to prevent crime and violence, particularly linked to the amount of funding received. From 2010-2023, total index crimes (i.e., aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, and larceny) declined 14% in funded counties, but increased 13% in counties without funding. Analysis of violent and property index crimes indicated there was often variation in crime occurrences depending on the amount of funding received. More in-depth statistical analyses (specifically, multivariate models) further indicated the benefits of crime prevention initiatives, such as less crimes related to violent firearm and serious assaults.