Problem-Oriented Policing, Deterrence, and Youth Violence: An Evaluation of Boston's Operation Ceasefire

Abstract

Operation Ceasefire is a problem-oriented policing intervention aimed at reducing youth homicide and youth firearms violence in Boston. It represented an innovative partnership between researchers and practitioners to assess the city's youth homicide problem and implement an intervention designed to have a substantial near-term impact on the problem. Operation Ceasefire was based on the “pulling levers” deterrence strategy that focused criminal justice attention on a small number of chronically offending gang-involved youth responsible for much of Boston's youth homicide problem. Our impact evaluation suggests that the Ceasefire intervention was associated with significant reductions in youth homicide victimization, shots-fired calls for service, and gun assault incidents in Boston. A comparative analysis of youth homicide trends in Boston relative to youth homicide trends in other major U.S. and New England cities also supports a unique program effect associated with the Ceasefire intervention.

Effects of Baltimore’s Safe Streets Program on Gun Violence: A Replication of Chicago’s CeaseFire Program

“…Although well-targeted and implemented law enforcement strategies designed to deter criminal gun possession and offending can reduce shootings, [10][11][12][13][14][15] persistently high rates of gun violence and long-term costs of incarceration suggest a need for effective community-based prevention as well. Some public health researchers and practitioners have advocated for new approaches to violence prevention that draw upon lessons learned from successful public health initiatives.…”

Restoring paradise in the Caribbean: combatting violence with numbers

“…Ceasefire from Boston and Cure Violence (Braga et al 2001;Skogan et al 2008) are good illustrations of initiatives targeting both gangs and gun violence that include smarter policing and social outreach services. The evaluation of Operation Ceasefire, a randomized controlled experimental approach, 18 found reductions of 63 percent in the number of monthly youth homicides in Boston, 32 percent in city-wide shots-fired calls, and 25 percent in the number of city-wide all-age gun assault incidents.…”

“…A Campbell systematic review by Braga et al (2012) found that although not every hot spot study has shown statistically significant findings, the vast majority have (20 of 25 tests from 19 experimental or quasi-experimental evaluations reported noteworthy crime or disorder (Goldstein 1990). Boston's Operation Ceasefire is a successful example of focused-deterrence, problem-oriented policing that has brought about statistically significant reductions in crime (Braga et al 2001). …”

“…Removing access to illegal weapons has also been proven to reduce the increasing rate of gang violence. Operation Ceasefire, which was implemented in Boston, is an example of a collaborative and comprehensive strategy to address escalating gang activity and the use of guns (Braga et al 2001). …”

“…Youth primary prevention ( Youth secondary prevention • Functional Family Therapy (FFT) (Gordon et al 1988;Sexton and Turner 2010;Celinska, Furrer, and Cheng 2013) • Reduced Probation Caseload Size program in Iowa and Oklahoma (Jalbert et al 2011) • Youth Build USA Offender Project (Lurigio et al 2000) • Adolescent Diversion Project (Michigan State University) (Davidson et al 1987;Smith et al 2004) -Becoming a Man Intervention Program (Heller et al 2015) Gangs • Boston's Operation Ceasefire (Braga et al 2001) • Operation Cul-de-sac (James Lasley)…”