This is a big fucking deal.
Comparing the growth of other Kinds of nonprofits, the researchers believe
they were able to identify the causal effect of these community groups
Every 10 additional organizations in a city with 100,000 residents, they
estimate, led to a 9 percent drop in the murder rate and a 6 percent drop in
violent crime.
In a criminology field that has produced some eyebrow-raising ideas, this
one is actually not so surprising. That national finding echoes local studies
of some individual programs, like one run by the Pennsylvania
Horticultural Society that converts abandoned lots into green spaces and
that has been linked in Philadelphia to reduced gun violence.
The research also affirms some of the tenets of community policing: that
neighborhoods are vital to policing themselves, and that they can address
the complex roots of violence in ways that fall beyond traditional police
work.
“It’s absolutely consistent with what I would argue is probably the prevalent
theory of policing among the major cities today,” Richard Myers, the
executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, said of the new
research.“Any time people’s basic needs are met, violence goes down – that’s not new,” said Noreen McClendon, who directs the nonprofit Concerned Citizenes of South Central Los Angeles.
in other news, water is wet
The Unsung Role That Ordinary Citizens Played in the Great Crime Decline
ugh 