Responding to Gang, Crew and Youth Violence in the District of Columbia

CHAPTER 2: YOUTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION EFFORTS IN THE DISTRICTGIP met other key goals: decreasing gang membership;reducing the number of gang-related suspensions in targetedschools; increasing the involvement of at-risk youthin recreational and other productive activities; and buildingcommunity capacity and consciousness about gangs.The intensive partnership created through GIP came to anend in 2007 when Chief Lanier disbanded the Gang IntelligencePartnership Unit and created the Intelligence FusionDivision. Sworn personnel in this new unit were notassigned to a particular police district or neighborhood butrather responded as needed across the city.Violence Intervention Partnership (VIP): Operating inWards 7 and 8 between 2005 and 2008, VIP focused onsystemic issues relating to violence including crew andgangs, truancy, delinquency and recidivism, by coordinatingenforcement efforts, and integrating programs andservices. Conflict resolution was merged with street-leveloutreach, and buttressed with mentoring services and activitiesthat enforced life skills to create a solid supportsystem for high-risk and at-risk youth. The model provideda full network of comprehensive wrap-around servicesto address problems at their roots, while leveragingpublic and private resources. The core partners were thePeaceoholics, DC Parks and Recreation/Roving Leaders,East of the River Clergy Police Community Partnership,East River Family Strengthening Collaborative, Far SouthEast Family Strengthening Collaborative, MetropolitanPolice Department and the US Attorney’s Office (USAO).The VIP target population included high-risk youth andyoung adults ranging in age from 13 to 26 years old, whowere actively involved in a gang or crew, closely affiliatedwith someone actively involved in a gang or crew,charged with a violent or dangerous crime; and/or on probationor parole following a delinquency adjudication oradult conviction involving a violent or dangerous crime.VIP ended in September 2008 when funding ceased.Weed and Seed: In 2000, the Columbia Heights/ShawFamily Support Collaborative (CH/SFSC) became the firstDepartment of Justice-funded Weed and Seed site in theDistrict. The purpose of the Weed and Seed strategy is to,within a designated area, address the social and crime issuesplaguing the community. The Weed side, which consistsof law enforcement entities, comes in initially toaddress the immediate crime needs through a variety ofcrime suppression or “weeding” tactics. Once this taskhas been started, it then becomes the job of the Seed side,which consists of the community policing aspect of lawenforcement, community-based organizations, governmentalagencies, and last but not least, community residentswho develop ways to plant or “seed” resources andservices back into the community. Over the past eightyears this NW W&S effort has been reauthorized eachyear. The focus of W&S has nurtured developing partnershipsbetween police and community groups. As “seeding”began to succeed and initial target neighborhoodsbecame safe again, the W&S area has shifted East. For2008, the work has continued in police service areas(PSAs) 302 and 404 (in Wards 1 and 4 respectively).In the summer of 2005, The East of the River Clergy, Police,Community, Partnership, Inc. (ERCPCP) establishedthe Frederick Douglass Memorial Weed and Seed Site.Within this site the primary focus is residents of Ward 8who live in PSA 701, specifically Pitts Pl; PSA 702,specifically Woodland Terrace; and PSA 704, specificallythe Villages of Parkland. The Weed and Seed strategyprovides programming that targets residents of all ages andneeds. The services currently offered include a tutorialprogram for elementary-aged youth in PSA 701, violenceintervention programs for high-school aged youth andyoung adults, and lastly, parenting workshops and trainingsin PSA 704.Each DC Weed & Seed site is governed by a NeighborhoodAdvisory Board (NAB). These boards are composedof the site coordinator, community residents, representative(s)from the USAO, representative(s) from the MetropolitanPolice Department (MPD), representative(s) fromthe Executive Office of the Mayor, representative(s) fromthe Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency(CSOSA), and individuals who have been previously involvedwith Weed and Seed. The NAB makes resource allocationdecisions, which are informed by crime and arreststatistics for their site, through monthly meetings.Second Responder: The Second Responder program is anotherexample of the city’s more recent and unconventionalapproaches to address youth violence at thecommunity level. Implemented in 2007, the program targetedyouth living in Wards 7 and 8 of DC who were participatingin, at risk of participating in, or victims ofviolent behaviors. These youth and their families receivedan array of short-term (3-4 months) and intensive socialservices. Unlike other programs that may simply haveworked to provide alternative outlets for youth, the programconcentrated on resolving the underlying familial issuesthat later manifest in violent behavior.Individual/family therapy, parent coaching, solution-focusedcase management, and family meetings were com-18