John Jay College Of Criminal Justice | The City University of New York

   

New York, NY, December 2, 2008– The Cincinnati, Ohio Police Department recently won the 2008 International Association of Chiefs of Police /Motorola Webber Seavey Award for Quality in Law Enforcement for the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV.) Designed by Professor David Kennedy, Director of the Center for Crime Prevention and Control, the CIRV has helped to reduce gang-involved violence in Cincinnati by 38% this year.   

“It is indeed gratifying for John Jay to see Professor Kennedy’s work receive high praise and recognition from such a revered institution. We are proud that Professor Kennedy’s pioneering crime reduction strategy is serving as a blueprint for law enforcement in their efforts to make communities safer,” said Jeremy Travis, president of John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

This marks the fifth time that Professor Kennedy’s crime reduction strategies have garnered national acclaim. In 1999, the Boston Police Department won a previous Webber Seavey Award for Operation Ceasefire, a strategy designed by Kennedy to prevent gang violence (and a precursor to CIRV).  Operation Ceasefire also won the prestigious Innovations in American Government Award, from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, in 1997, and the Herman Goldstein Award for Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing in 1998.  In 2007, the drug market elimination strategy he designed for the High Point, North Carolina Police Department also won an Innovations in American Government Award.  .

”This is wonderful,” says Kennedy.  “The CIRV partnership – the city of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Police Department, and my research colleagues at the University of Cincinnati – is doing brilliant work and – literally – saving lives.  It deserves this national recognition.”

Kennedy’s strategy identifies the violent groups that drive “street” violence; builds a partnership of law enforcement, social service providers, and community activists to engage with them; and delivers to the groups a firm message that their own communities need the violence to stop and want them alive and out of prison, that there is help for those who want off the streets, and explains ahead of time the law enforcement consequences that will fall on violent groups.

Jointly sponsored by IACP and Motorola, the Webber Seavey Award is presented annually to agencies and departments worldwide in recognition for promoting a standard of excellence that exemplifies law enforcement's contribution and dedication to the quality of life in local communities. This program helps law enforcement agencies worldwide and the communities they serve by redefining the concept of law enforcement and how it is routinely performed. The award is named for Webber S. Seavey, the IACP's first president.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police is the world's oldest and largest nonprofit membership organization of police executives, with over 20,000 members in over 89 different countries. IACP's leadership consists of the operating chief executives of international, federal, state and local agencies of all sizes.

The Center for Crime Prevention and Control fosters innovative crime reduction strategies through hands-on fieldwork, research, and unique partnerships with communities, police, prosecutors and other law enforcement professionals.  Its staff is actively engaged in crime prevention initiatives in jurisdictions around the country and the world fostering close working relations with practitioners within key criminal justice and community institutions.

Established in 1964, John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York is an international leader in educating for justice. It offers a rich liberal arts and professional studies curriculum to upwards of 14,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 135 nations. In teaching and research, the College approaches justice as an applied art in service to society and as an ongoing conversation about fundamental human desires for fairness, equality and the rule of law.