While law enforcement rightfully plays a central role in ensuring public safety, including responding to incidents of crime, they should not be expected to address the root causes of violence. Ultimately, violence prevention requires a truly comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach, like the one implemented in Mobile, Alabama, where local leaders...
In collaboration with local police, non-law enforcement organizations such as offices of violence prevention, schools, and city and county public health departments could receive gunfire data and analytics about where and when gun violence occurs, ensuring that appropriate community resources can be deployed to offer immediate and lasting support while...
Data for Good is a community-based program that shares precision data about where and when gun violence occurs so non-law enforcement organizations can provide prompt interventions to residents in need of services and support. According to the Annals of Internal Medicine, survivors of firearm injury have a 51% increase in...
ShotSpotter’s Director Community Engagement Dr. Gerard Tate was joined by Reverend Damita Davis-Howard from Ceasefire Oakland, John Bush from the City of Savannah’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE), and Wayne Rawlins, President of Ummah Futures International. During the ninety-minute conversation, they discussed the importance of data-driven, community interventions...
I was one of the panelists along with former ATF Associate Deputy Director and ShotSpotter’s VP of Analytics & Forensic Services Tom Chittum, and the President of Ummah Futures International Wayne Rawlins. In just thirty minutes, and with an overarching focus on the importance of law enforcement collaboration, our conversation...
This is largely due to the increase in using data to identify problems and direct preventative efforts. Introducing science in the form of evidence-based policing has proven more effective at reducing crime and improving community safety than traditional methods. While significant progress has been made, we still have a ways...
Twelve major U.S. cities set homicide records in 2021. As yet another summer surge storms into fall, a national debate continues on how communities and police can work together to enhance public safety for all. This debate has not always been productive. Loud voices on social and mainstream media are...
According to the Gun Violence Archive, there were roughly 21,000 deaths (not counting suicides) and 41,000 injuries due to guns in 2021. Furthermore, a 2019 report from the House Joint Economic Committee estimated that gun violence costs the US $229 billion a year in lost income and in police and...
On July 26, I had the privilege of addressing the 46th Annual Training Conference of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives in Orlando, FL. Joining me on a panel titled “Technology, Data, & Community Engagement: Innovation in Gun Violence Prevention and Reduction” were Wayne Rawlins, project manager for...
The outlook is stark. Across the country, law enforcement agencies are facing a staffing crisis, both in the recruitment and retention of officers. A June 2021 survey, by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), of about 200 police departments reflected a resignation rate up 18% between April 2020 and March...