Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Part of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Suite, the Innovations in Community Based Crime Reduction (CBCR) (formerly Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation [BCJI]) is a comprehensive strategy developed to help neighborhoods address crime and improve community safety. While CBCR is a Department of Justice (DOJ) initiative, this interagency effort aligns federal programs from the Departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, and Treasury. Two key features distinguish CBCR from other similar data-driven, multi-agency, problem-solving collaborative programs focused on reducing violent crime in the PSN Suite: (1) it is entirely place-based, and (2) the neighborhood revitalization component allows grantees to specifically incorporate neighborhood revitalization into their project goals with residents as key partners. In addition, sites partner with a researcher, which helps teams target crime hot spots while tailoring the initiative to their local context. The action research model used in CBCR supports data-driven problem solving, along with the implementation of evidenced-informed or evidenced-based solutions.

Abundant literature, spanning decades, supports the pillars of the CBCR initiative, such as problem-solving policing, engaging the community in place-based crime prevention, and strong researcher-practitioner partnerships on crime reduction. However, the crime reduction benefits only amass when programs are implemented with fidelity, which has identified as uneven at best. So while the particular components of CBCR may have been established as “promising” or “effective” by CrimeSolutions.gov (www.crimesolutions.gov) in reducing crime and violence, the CBCR program’s success depends on their effective implementation.

Successful multi-agency collaboration aimed at reducing crime and disorder is very challenging. Therefore, implementation failure is a common occurrence in criminal justice. CBCR sites are expected to establish diverse partnerships to help maximize cost effectiveness while addressing physical disor­der, social and economic opportunities in the area, and neighborhood collective efficacy. However, once funded, sites are also expected to tailor their efforts to their local context. Using primary sources as well as field work, we model how CBCR sites implemented their projects. We look at project focus (i.e., the local context) as it relates to the CBCR pillars. We also examine challenges to implementation as well as successes in order to understand how sites can be better supported in the future.