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

   

New York, NY, October 29, 2010 -- The National Network for Safe Communities (NNSC) of John Jay College of Criminal Justice has received a $447,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) to support further implementation of its innovative crime prevention strategies. The NNSC, an initiative of the College’s Center for Crime Prevention and Control, seeks to restore communities by eliminating overt drug markets and preventing violent crimes associated with street gangs.

“The National Network for Safe Communities is enabling communities across the United States to adopt strategies that have been proven to reduce crime. The COPS grant will help to expand the Network’s reach and replicate its positive outcomes,” said Jeremy Travis, President of John Jay College and NNSC co-chair.

This nationally recognized effort represents a significant shift in how law enforcement addresses the cycle of urban violence. Professor David Kennedy’s National Network strategies have been implemented in over 75 cities, of which 51 are official members forming a coalition of police chiefs, prosecutors, corrections officials, community leaders, service providers, mayors, street workers, scholars and others committed to building a new standard of practice for reducing violent crime; eliminating overt drug markets; promoting racial reconciliation between minority communities and police; and, reducing high levels of incarceration.

“With this support from COPS, the NNSC will enhance its capacity to share and improve crime prevention strategies that are protecting communities from both drugs and violence and from the unintended consequences of traditional law enforcement,” said Professor  Kennedy, Director of the College’s Center for Crime Prevention and Control, NNSC co-chair, and the chief architect of these crime reduction strategies.  “This partnership with the COPS Office represents a new level of legitimacy and support for work that’s been in development for over fifteen years.”

At the core of this initiative is a Leadership Group that is committed to developing the strategies further and sharing their experiences and insights with a larger Network. Leadership Group jurisdictions within the NNSC are Boston (Massachusetts), Chicago (Illinois), Cincinnati (Ohio), Los Angeles (California), Milwaukee (Wisconsin), Newark (New Jersey), Oakland (California), Providence (Rhode Island), High Point (North Carolina), and the States of California and North Carolina. 

The National Network for Safe Communities is dedicated to implementing these crime reduction strategies nationally; to institutionalizing them; to continuing to evaluate and improve them; and thereby to dramatically reduce crime and incarceration in America. For more information about the NNSC, visit www.nnscommunities.org.

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. For more information about the Center, visit www.jjay.cuny.edu/ccpc.

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. For more information, visit www.jjay.cuny.edu.