Supporting Communities Nationally to Address Group and Gang Violence and Overt Drug Markets

The Edward Byrne Memorial Discretionary Grants Program (Byrne Discretionary Program) helps local communities improve the capacity of local justice systems and provides for national support efforts. This project is authorized and funded through a line item in the FY 08 Congressional Budget. Funds should be used for purposes recommended by Congress.

The Research Foundation of CUNY, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, will support communities throughout the country that are addressing serious group and gang-related violence and 'overt' neighborhood drug markets. The project will greatly enhance the national capacity to educate communities about implementing 'Ceasefire' and 'High Point' strategies to address these problems. The national demand for information about and assistance with these strategies greatly exceeds the capacity to supply. The John Jay College of Criminal Justice will: support the first national conference on the strategies; create a web-based clearinghouse for information about the strategies; create a body of written descriptions and implementation guides; create a body of descriptive case studies; convene a series of small working groups on key issues within the strategies; and, create a network of experienced law enforcement, social service, community, and academic partners willing to assist new jurisdictions with the strategies. The project will build on the experiences to date, consolidate the data for new users, and continue the development of the core underlying approaches.

NCA/NCF