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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 12:45 am
Time: 12:45 am
Results for project safe neighborhoods (new mexico, u.s.)
1 results foundAuthor: Denman, Kristine Title: Evaluation of Dlo’ayazhi Project Safe Neighborhoods Summary: Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a nationwide crime reduction initiative sponsored by the Department of Justice (DOJ). It has been in operation for over a decade. It began with a focus on firearm crimes, and in 2006, expanded to include gang crimes. This initiative is typically implemented in urban areas; however, in 2008 the DOJ invited the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety to apply for the program. The successful application outlined a plan for implementing PSN in and around the Crownpoint area of the Navajo Nation. In 2011, DOJ provided supplemental funding to continue PSN efforts in Crownpoint and expand into the Shiprock area, which is in the northwestern part of New Mexico. This report summarizes a process evaluation of these expansion efforts, as well as ongoing PSN efforts in the Crownpoint area. There are three primary principles that guide the PSN model: it is meant to be community based, coordinated and comprehensive. PSN is designed to be centered on the community in which it is being implemented, recognizing and reacting to community needs and the local resources available to address those needs (http://www.psn.gov/about/index.html). For example, while PSN focuses on gun and gang crime, the Navajo Nation PSN program has been expanded to include a domestic violence component. This addition represents a Task Force response to concerns about domestic violence voiced by representatives of the Navajo Nation. Across the country, United States Attorney’s Offices (USAO) coordinate PSN efforts in their respective districts. The USAO designates a Task Force Coordinator whose charge is to convene a PSN Task Force that brings together representatives from law enforcement and prosecution at all jurisdictional levels (local, tribal, state and federal), as well as community leaders, research partners, and others. This Task Force then meets regularly to develop collaborative strategies to address PSN program goals. The Task Force meetings are a venue for planning, reporting on and refining PSN activities and initiatives. In addition to managing these efforts, the PSN Task Force Coordinator reports back to the Department of Justice regarding local PSN efforts. Finally, PSN is meant to be comprehensive. The Navajo Nation PSN focuses on intervention, prevention, and prosecution of gun crimes, gang related/motivated offenses, juvenile violence and domestic violence offenses occurring on the Navajo Nation. Intervention involves violence suppression through targeted law enforcement operations. Prevention includes educational programming, outreach and support services. For example, the educational component involves a program called Project Sentry which targets at-risk youth, and is designed to prevent their involvement in gun and gang crime. Other prevention efforts occur as well. Outreach includes family advocacy and support for domestic violence issues and related problems, such as substance abuse. Finally, prosecution of targeted crimes occurs at the tribal and federal levels. The Navajo Nation PSN program is unique among PSN programs. It is among the first to be implemented on tribal lands, and must address challenges that differ from those typically seen in urban areas. First, the geography of the area differs from that of a typical urban PSN site. It is a very large geographical area, with many undeveloped roads and many areas that are sparsely populated. Second, there are fewer law enforcement officers per square mile relative to that seen in an urban area. In addition, this PSN initiative must take into account tribal law, and be able to work with tribal government in addition to negotiating municipal, state and federal laws. Finally, there are cultural differences and sovereignty issues that PSN must be sensitive to and take into account when implementing the initiative. However, the area is also similar to other PSN sites in that the community leaders have identified violence and gangs as a problem. They note that these problems are associated with substance abuse and poverty issues, like other PSN locales. Further, there is concern that particular housing structures on the Navajo Nation have become crime magnets, similar to urban dwellings. The USAO for the District of New Mexico (USAO NM) requested evaluation services in support of the Navajo PSN initiative from the New Mexico Statistical Analysis Center at the University of New Mexico’s Institute for Social Research. The USAO NM outlined two primary evaluation goals. First, the USAO NM expressed particular interest in determining how well the Task Force was coordinating activities and forging connections between disparate groups. Second, they were interested in better understanding the challenges to PSN implementation on the Navajo Nation so that they could best meet these challenges. There are five questions guiding this evaluation: 1. What portions of PSN are being implemented? 2. How well are PSN Task Force partners coordinating activities to implement the program goals? 3. What are Task Force members’ perceptions of PSN’s impact and success? 4. What are the facilitators to PSN implementation in the target areas? 5. What are the barriers to PSN implementation in the target areas? The purpose of this evaluation, then, is to determine whether the initiative is being implemented in the way that it is intended, to understand the perceived success of the initiative, and to pinpoint facilitators and barriers to implementation, focusing especially on coordination of activities. The results are meant to be used to make decisions about whether and how to refine the program activities and to provide feedback to the funders regarding program compliance. Details: Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico, Institute for Social Research; New Mexico Statistical Analysis Center, 2013. 73p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 6, 2013 at: http://nmsac.unm.edu/psn-process-evaluation-final-report.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://nmsac.unm.edu/psn-process-evaluation-final-report.pdf Shelf Number: 0 Keywords: Crime Prevention ProgramsDomestic ViolenceGang ViolenceGun ViolenceNavajo NationProject Safe Neighborhoods (New Mexico, U.S.)Violent CrimeYouth Violence |