Tacoma Gang Reduction Project

Youth gangs continue to have a significant adverse impact on youth, families, and communities across America. A growing number of communities have adopted OJJDP’s Comprehensive Gang Model, a multistrategy, multidisciplinary approach that has proven to be effective in reducing gang activity. The fiscal year 2014 Comprehensive Antigang Strategies and Programs solicitation provides funding for localities to enhance coordination of federal, state, and local resources in support of community partnerships implementing the following antigang programs: primary prevention, secondary prevention, gang intervention, and targeted gang enforcement. This program is authorized pursuant to paragraph (3)(B) under the Juvenile Justice heading in the Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2014, P.L. 113-76; 128 Stat. 5, 64.

The Tacoma Gang Reduction Project is implementing the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model, a framework for the coordination of multiple strategies to address gang violence and youth involvement including: (1) community mobilization; (2) opportunities provision; (3) social interventions; (4) suppression; and (5) organizational change and development. Strategies are developed and implemented across multiple public and private agencies including law enforcement, education, criminal justice, social services, and faith-based organizations.

The implementation plan adopted by the Tacoma Gang Reduction Project Executive Steering Committee includes the following goals: (1) reduce gang crime incidents in the focus neighborhoods by five to ten percent by the end of the project period; (2) develop and launch a city-wide marketing strategy around gun control, gun safety and gun education; (3) provide prevention and intervention services to 300 youth at targeted middle schools to reduce their level of risk; (4) reduce violent behavior incidents in targeted middle schools by 25% by the end of the project period; (5) improve the capacity of school personnel to identify and respond to gang involved students by training 75% of school personnel on gang recognition and response by the end of the project period; and (6) improve data collection and service delivery systems by implementing training and quality control measures for law enforcement, schools, community agencies and local agencies.

CA/NFC