Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy has announced that he has directed state criminal justice resources including state police, corrections, probation, parole, and prosecutors) to collaborate with federal and local law enforcement officials in Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven on implementing a program of “Focused Deterrence,” designed to reduce gun violence within those three cities where there have been a high number of shootings over the past several months.
“While overall crime statewide is down and is at its lowest rate since 1968, gun violence in our major cities remains unacceptably high. Last year, 94 out of 129 homicides statewide occurred in New Haven, Hartford and Bridgeport – almost all involving guns, almost all involving young men, mostly African American men,” Governor Malloy said in a prepared statement. “Young people are killing other young people, often for no discernible reason. As a result, we’re losing young people, and children are growing up without parents. It’s got to stop.”
The Governor announced that federal, state and local officials have agreed to a strategy of “Focused Deterrence” that is modeled after successful programs around the country in cities such as Boston, Chicago, Providence, and Cincinnati and is already in the process of being implemented in New Haven. The technique is based on the concept that the vast majority of gun crimes are committed by a fairly small number of individuals within each of the cities who are already under the supervision of probation and parole officers and well known to police and prosecutors.
In his statement, Governor Malloy also said, “We agree that no strategy will be effective without the support of the community. This means parents, clergy, neighborhood leaders, grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles – everyone working toward one goal. We are working to regain the trust of the African American and Latino communities. We need their help. The lives of these young people are too valuable not to act.”
Governor Malloy said that he has directed some of the state’s federal grants towards this initiative and that state money has been set aside for this purpose as well.
Media report:
CT News Junkie: Call It A Criminal Intervention (21 JUN 12)
Hartford Courant: Malloy Pledges Effort To Curb City Violence, But Offers Few Details (22 JUN 12)
Connecticut Post: Officials unveil plan to fight urban violence (22 JUN 12)
Background information:
National Institute of Justice: Gun Violence Prevention Strategy: Focused Deterrence
Wikipedia: Bridgeport, Connecticut
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