This paper examines the Violent Gang and Gun Crime Reduction Program, more commonly known as Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a federal initiative designed to reduce gang and gun violence through coordinated local, state, and federal partnerships. The paper outlines PSN's five core design features — partnerships, strategic planning, training, outreach, and accountability — and explains its competitive grant structure, eligibility requirements, and funding categories. It also reviews research evidence demonstrating PSN's effectiveness, including a 4.1% decline in violent crime in implementing cities, and explores the role of problem-solving approaches, cross-agency buy-in, and community collaboration in sustaining meaningful reductions in firearm-related crime.
The paper demonstrates effective use of policy analysis by connecting program design features to measurable outcomes. Rather than simply describing PSN, it explains why the program works by linking structural elements (cross-agency buy-in, flexibility, accountability mechanisms) to the research findings from NIJ studies across multiple cities.
The paper opens with a broad introduction to PSN's purpose and structure, including its five design features and funding categories. It then narrows to the administrative and eligibility requirements for applicants. The third section presents empirical evidence for the program's effectiveness across several U.S. cities. The paper closes with a discussion of problem-solving as the foundational methodology driving prevention and intervention, including findings from Atlanta, Los Angeles, and St. Louis.
The Violent Gang and Gun Crime Reduction Program — more popularly known as Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) — was conceived and designed to create safer neighborhoods by reducing crime associated with gang and gun violence (BJA, 2012). Its effectiveness derives from the cooperation among local, state, and federal agencies. The program is led by the district attorney, who is tasked with establishing a collaborative PSN task force of federal, state, and local law enforcement, as well as other community sectors, to implement gang and gun crime enforcement, intervention, and prevention activities within the district. There are 94 federal judicial districts in total.
Through the PSN task force, the district attorney implements five core design features: partnerships, strategic planning, training, outreach, and accountability. These features are geared toward addressing the specific, local gun and gang crime problems of each district. The program intends to reduce gun and gang violence throughout the country by means of a research-based, intelligence-led, problem-solving approach aimed at reducing firearm and gang violence through enforcement, deterrence, and prevention.
Applicants are asked to develop innovative, comprehensive, data-driven approaches within their respective districts. The goal is to produce a scientifically grounded finding about whether a proposed solution is effective. A research partner is required to achieve this. A solution is considered evidence-based when causal evidence exists demonstrating its effectiveness. Causal evidence documents and establishes the relationship between an activity or intervention and its outcome, including measuring the direction and size of a change and the extent to which that change occurred as a result of the activity or intervention. Causal evidence depends on scientific methods to eliminate alternative explanations for the documented change. The strength of such causal evidence forms the basis for determining whether a program or practice is evidence-based (BJA, 2012).
Approximately 12 awards are expected to be drawn from the program for a period of 24 months (BJA, 2012). These awards fall under four categories. Category 1 is for district populations of 5 million or more and carries an award of up to $500,000. Category 2 is for district populations of 2 million to 4,999,999, with an award of up to $300,000. Category 3 is for district populations under 2 million, with an award of up to $150,000. Category 4 is for federally recognized American Indian tribes and Alaska Native tribes and/or organizations, also for an award of up to $150,000 (BJA, 2012).
The Department of Justice also modified the PSN program from a formula-based funding allocation into a competitive-based program (BJA, 2012). It now operates within a competitive environment in which need and the use of effective, intelligence-driven, and data-driven strategies are the primary considerations.
A district must have a fiscal agent who is certified by the district attorney (BJA, 2012). Eligible fiscal agents include states, local government units, educational institutions, faith-based and other community organizations, and private non-profit organizations. An applicant must first secure a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, a registration with the Central Contractor Registration database, an authorized organization representative, a Grants.gov username and password, a confirmation of the authorized organization representative from the E-Business Point of Contact, and a correct Competition ID. Disclosure of lobbying activities is also required, along with an application consistent with the solicitation.
A complete application should include the federal assistance form SF-424, a program abstract, a program narrative, budget details, an indirect cost rate agreement (if applicable), a tribal authorizing resolution (if applicable), and any pertinent attachments. Selection criteria and their weights are as follows: statement of the problem at 25%, project design at 25%, capabilities and competencies at 30%, data collection plan at 10%, and budget at 10% (BJA, 2012).
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