News from the Field 

Helping Neighbors Connect in the Bay Area: Building “community” is a priority for all BCJI sites. In Alameda County, California, the BCJI team led by the Sheriff’s Office has supported “house meetings” as a way for neighbors to build relationships, talk about issues and work together to solve problems (Sheriff's Deputies in a school, pictured above). The home groups have held block parties and clean-up days and, in one location, started a campaign to limit illegal fireworks on the Fourth of July. “We’re getting people who had little contact with each other before—or even negative issues in the past—together to solve problems,” says Deputy Charles Joe. Read more.

Designing for Safety in San Antonio: San Antonio’s participation in the “SafeGrowth” course described above builds on prior success in applying the principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, better known as “CPTED”, to clean up one of the “hottest intersections in our area”, as described by Brooke Cranshaw, the BCJI program coordinator for the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA). Through an “all hands on deck” approach that included cleaning vacant lots, closing an alley, painting a mural (pictured below) and moving a bus stop to align with new security cameras, the BCJI team achieved a major transformation of a problem spot. Read more. 

Linking Crime Reduction to Revitalization in Evansville: The resident-led quality-of-life planning process in the Jacobsville community in Evansville, Indiana was recently covered in Bridges, a publication of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Since being awarded a BCJI grant in 2013, Jacobsville has used the planning process to address local public safety concerns, empower the community and encourage resident bonds. “Safety/Cleanliness” is one of the plan’s six key themes, and small early-action grants to local individuals, residents and businesses have supported projects from litter cleanups and block parties to leadership development. To read the full Federal Reserve article, which explores how the quality-of-life plan came together and is having an impact on Jacobsville, click here.

New BCJI Web Resources Available

In a February webinar entitled Generating Collective Will and Momentum for Your BCJI Initiative, BCJI leaders discussed the complex themes that comprise “community engagement” in the program. Key principles drew from BCJI sites’ work to date and LISC's history of supporting revitalization initiatives in high need communities. Listen here.

Check out other new resources available on the BCJI website, such as a brief on Chronic Nuisance Ordinances which sheds light on policy tools to respond to problem properties, or this Q&A with leaders from the Institute for Public Strategies about how they cultivated media relationships to advance their BCJI work in San Bernardino, California.

We are also pleased to share Choice Neighborhoods Are Safe Neighborhoods, a new Promising Practice Guide produced with support from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and BJA. This guide explores ways that the federal Choice Neighborhoods program and BCJI can be mutually reinforcing through a profile of a Springfield, MA community that has accessed both programs. 

Upcoming Webinar

Join us on June 21, 1-2:30pm EST for a webinar: Sustainability for Place-based Crime Reduction Initiatives. Register here for this discussion about linking crime reduction efforts to comprehensive community development initiatives, and the implications for sustaining specific projects and programs that enhance public safety and community-police relations. 

Partner Resources: Guides on Police Trust and Legitimacy

Guidebooks on Police Engagement with Diverse Communities: Funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Vera Institute of Justice and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, released a series of guidebooks for law enforcement officials, entitled, Police Perspectives: Building Trust in a Diverse Nation, that includes three guides: How to Increase Cultural Understanding; How to Serve Diverse Communities; and How to Support Trust Building in Your Agency.

​Building Trust With Communities: Through a collaboration between the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Training Academy and the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy (CEBCP) at George Mason University, this free training resource funded by BJA is now available to help law enforcement agencies restore trust with communities

BCJI On the Road

BCJI staff and partners were active in the Winter/Spring conference and meetings circuit. Here are a few of the places we have been recently:  

ArtPlace America Working Group, February 10-11 in Oakland, CA. LISC invited BCJI colleagues from Brooklyn, San Antonio and Providence, as well as partners with Police Foundation and Larisa Ortiz Associates, to participate in discussions about the intersections of the arts with public safety. Alameda County BCJI leaders hosted a site visit and tour as part of the meetings.

Association for Community Health Improvement Conference, March 1-3 in Baltimore, MD. LISC joined leaders from the Newark, NJ and Baltimore, MD BCJI sites at this conference for health sector professionals. Presentations featured BCJI efforts to enhance social cohesion, economic opportunity and environmental conditions – all aligned with public health approaches to community well-being.

Habitat for Humanity Affiliate National Conference, March 15 in Milwaukee, WI. The conference included a tour of the Milwaukee BCJI target neighborhood and a panel discussion with law enforcement, community development and LISC leaders from that recently-graduated BCJI site.

HUD Choice Neighborhoods Grantee Meeting, March 18 in Washington, DC. BCJI leaders from San Antonio, TX and Providence, RI shared tips about Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design in a session sponsored by LISC.

STRYVE Action Council, March 16-17 in Washington, DC. LISC shared lessons from BCJI in the annual meeting of the Council, which is a consortium of organizations convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention working to prevent youth violence. 

Grantmakers for Effective Organizations National Conference, May 2-4 in Minneapolis. LISC joined the Baltimore BCJI researcher to share the BCJI model with foundation staff and other leaders in philanthropy.