Reducing Homicide through a "Lever-Pulling" Strategy

Policing: An International Journal

ISSN: 1363-951X

Article publication date: 5 June 2007

276

Citation

Klahm IV, C.F. (2007), "Reducing Homicide through a "Lever-Pulling" Strategy", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 30 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/pijpsm.2007.18130bae.001

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2007, Emerald Group Publishing Limited


Reducing Homicide through a "Lever-Pulling" Strategy

Edmund McGarrell, Steven Chermak, Jeremy Wilson and Nicholas CorsaroJustice QuarterlyVol. 23 No. 22006pp214-231

McGarrell et al. (2006) examined a problem oriented policing (POP) strategy designed to reduce firearm-related homicides in Indianapolis, IN. The Indianapolis Violence Reduction Partnership (IVRP) was modeled after other successful POP approaches aimed at deterring firearm-related violence. Specifically, researchers implemented a multi-pronged, multi-agency initiative similar to those used in Boston and Minneapolis.

Project Ceasefire was part of a larger project known as the “Boston Gun Project” (McGarrell et al., 2006). This initiative targeted youthful gang members known to have committed multiple violent offenses. Through a deterrence-based approach, Project Ceasefire successfully reduced homicides and other firearm-related violence by approximately 60 percent (McGarrell et al., 2006). This strategy was replicated in Minneapolis, MN and produced similar results. Indianapolis provided a third context in which programmatic elements of Project Ceasefire were evaluated.

Using a problem solving approach, researchers identified the nexus of Indianapolis’ firearm-related violence. Official police data indicated that repeat offenders were involved in the majority of homicides (McGarrell et al., 2006). Consequently, IVRP enlisted help from federal, state, and local agencies as well as community members to address the city’s firearm-related violence; consequently, this multi-agency task force tailored a response to Indianapolis’ gun violence problem.

Much like Boston’s experience, law enforcement agencies in Indianapolis relied on focused deterrence as the lynchpin of their strategy. That is, high-risk offenders were targeted with “lever-pulling” meetings where they were informed they were being watched and any violation of the law would be met with the most severe sanction possible (McGarrell et al., 2006). The approach did not rely solely on the threat of heavy-handed criminal sanctions. High-risk offenders involved in “lever-pulling” meetings were also informed about various social service programs available to them through agencies participating in IVRP (McGarrell et al., 2006).

McGarrell et al. (2006) used 54 months of homicide data covering the period January 1, 1997 to June 30, 2001. They employed an ARIMA model to test for significant differences in the number of monthly homicides after IVRP was implemented. After running the appropriate diagnostics to ensure that no autocorrelation and/or lag functions were present, their model suggests that IVRP had an immediate and statistically significant impact on homicides in Indianapolis. More specifically, McGarrell et al. (2006) report IVRP resulted in an initial 34.3 percent reduction in monthly homicides and assert the effect was sustained over the duration of their evaluation. These findings are congruent with those from the evaluations of Boston and Minneapolis.

To rule out the possibility that there was a national or regional downward trend in homicides during the study period, McGarrell et al. (2006) estimated an ARIMA model using six additional cities comparable to Indianapolis. Their results indicated that a slight downward trend was occurring during the study period, but none of the control sites experienced the statistically significant decline in homicides that Indianapolis did. Based on the results of three evaluations, it appears that “lever-pulling” or targeting high-risk, chronic offenders is an effective method to reduce gun related violence in general and homicides more specifically. Although promising results have been reported across three different sites, McGarrell et al. (2006) note that programmatic elements of Project Ceasefire need to be replicated in other cities to ensure that these initiatives are truly the driving force behind homicide reductions.

Charles F. Klahm IVUniversity of Cincinnati, USA

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