FEATURED THIS MONTH

This month we are featuring Anthony Braga and Philip Cook’s book “Policing Gun Violence”. Drawing on fifty years of research and practical experience, Policing Gun Violence argues that it is possible for the police to create greater public safety while respecting the rights of individuals and communities.

The authors argue that law enforcement are the primary agency tasked with controlling gun violence, both as part of their general responsibility for promoting public safety and for enforcing laws restricting gun transactions, possession and carrying.  In this book, they state that more effective policing is key to the success of any effort to reduce community gun violence.  The stakes are high, considering gun violence disproportionately affect people of color and is highly concentrated in Black and brown communities.

These challenges open a series of important questions: how can police departments find the right balance between over- and under- policing of high-violence areas?   What does the evidence say is the best practices for police to preempt and deter gun violence, while engendering support and cooperation from the public?  Bringing together policy evidence and proactive strategies, Anthony Braga and Philip Cook’s book suggest an approach to reducing gun violence through law enforcement strategies.

NEW RESOURCES

• RAND Corporation interactive web-based tool on Visualizing Firearm Mortality and Law Effects.
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives released an expansive federal report on guns used in crimes

MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

• Some Red States Weigh Bans on Enforcing U.S. Gun Laws – The Wall Street Journal
• How Does the Threat of Gun Violence Affect You? – The New York Times
• New York’s restrictive gun laws didn’t stop the Buffalo shooter – Vox, featuring Josh Horwitz.
• Three days. 10 mass shootings. More than 50 victims. U.S. sees worst weekend of 2023 – USA Today, featuring Daniel Webster.
• Ghost gun use in U.S. crimes has risen more than 1,000% since 2017, federal report says – CBS News, featuring Daniel Webster.
• How One City Cut Gun Violence in Half and May Become a Model Around the County – ABC News
• 6 Major Takeaways from the ATF’s First Report in 20 Years on U.S. Gun Crime – NPR
• What one ‘red flag’ case in Denver says about how the city removes guns – CPR News, featuring Shannon Frattaroli.
• It’s Tempting to Say Gun Violence is About Mental Illness. The Truth is Much More Complex – AAMC, op-ed by Jeffrey Swanson.
• Why Most Gun Laws Aren’t Backed Up by Evidence – FiveThirtyEight featuring Cassandra Crifasi.
• Sending Help Instead of the Police in Albuquerque – The New Yorker.
• A judge in Texas is using a recent Supreme Court ruling to allow domestic abusers to keep their guns –  The Conversation, by Shannon Frattaroli and April Zeoli.
• ERPO in 8 Charts: What We learned from Reading Hundreds of ‘Red Flag’ Cases in Colorado – CPR News.
• Can Community Programs Help Slow the Rise in Violence? – ProPublica.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• March 14: Joyce Foundation webinar, New National Polling Data on Different Approaches to Public Safety in America.
• April 17-19: The 2023 SAVIR annual conference in Denver, CO.