baltimore city mayor's office of sustainable solutions · violence reduction initiative -...

Violence Reduction InitiativePerformance ReportJanuary 2019

Mayor’s Office of Sustainable Solutions/ CitiStatSMART

City Hall, Room 606

100 N. Holliday Street

Baltimore MD, 21202

443-984-3608

Baltimore CityMayor's Office ofSustainable Solutions

Violence Reduction Initiative - Performance Report Mayor’s Office of Sustainable Solutions

OverviewThe Mayor's Office of Sustainable Solutions facilitates the performance management for a multi-agency taskforce focused on violence reduction across the city’s most distressed neighborhoods. Reducing gun violence is the Mayor’s top priority, and one of her Violence Reduction Plan's key strategies is to Enhance and Expand Cross Agency Coordination.

Citywide in 2018, 309 homicides were recorded, a 10% decrease over 2017's tragic number. The approach to address the root causes of violence through the Violence Reduction Initiative is contributing to the delivery of the results needed. In the original seven Violence Reduction Zones – those areas of the City that have been targeted with concentrated City and police resources because they are the most challenged and troubled in terms of crime and violence – progress has been significant. (An eighth VRI zone was added in the summer.) The combined total of homicides and non-fatal shootings was down 24% in 2018.

Strategies


Geographic Focus AreasThe VRI focuses on eight target zones within the city to prioritize city services and law enforcement activities. The zones were determined through an analysis by the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice to encompass areas disproportionately impacted by violent crime and most in need of city services.

CollaborationThe Baltimore Police Department and Mayor’s Office of Sustainable Solutions facilitate an 8:00 a.m. in-person briefing every day. These meetings enable problem solving, establish ongoing communication between stakeholders, and maintain a constant focus on the initiative. Through the VRI the typical silos of city services have been broken down, and stakeholders have been able coordinate interdependent processes more efficiently than ever before.

-14%

-5% -3% -2%

6%10% 11%

15%18%

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-40%

-15%

-37%

-5%

-31%

-22%

-39%

-27%

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SD* NED NWD ED** WD SED*** SWD ND*** CD Total

2017-2018 Percent Change in Combined Homicides and Shootings: Inside vs. Outside VRI

Change Outside VRI Change Inside VRI


Crime Trends

Since the VRI expansion in Feb 2018, all VRI zones with the exception of the Eastern 1 zone have seen reductions in the number of homicides and shootings, including compared to their respective 2015-2017 three-year averages. Overall, since full implementation, VRI zones have seen an average 26 percent decrease in combined homicides and nonfatal shootings. Additionally, across all VRI zones, year-over-year victim-based crimes have decreased for all categories. However, these declines have not occurred evenly across the city. MOSS, MOCJ, and BPD are working with research partners at JHU to better understand possible displacement effects and the VRI's impacts on citywide crime trends in 2019.

*Southern VRI Zone was implemented later, in August 2018**Eastern Zone comparison calculated from average of Eastern 1 and Eastern 2 zones.***Southeast and Northern Districts do not have VRI zones.

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Combined homicides and shootings by VRI zone before and after VRI expansion (Feb 2018)

CENTRAL

EASTERN 1 EASTERN 2

WESTERN

NORTHEASTERN NORTHWESTERN

TRI-DISTRICT SOUTHERN

VRI expansion


Environmental ConditionsImprove timeliness and effectiveness of city service delivery in VRI zones to enhance residents' quality of life and maintain beautiful neighborhoods.

311 Service DeliveryCity stakeholders

DPW Solid Waste, Housing Code Enforcement, Dept. of Transportation

Performance measures

Number of key Service Requests (SRs) closed

Average time to close on key SRs

Successes

For most key SRs, close time decreased, and percent closed on time and total volume increased (comparing pre-VRI 2017 to post-VRI 2018)

Implementing 311 audit.

DPW night crews successfully deployed in Oct 2018.

Agencies working around the clock with BPD to pinpoint environmental concerns.

DOT LED street light conversion beginning at end of 2018 will focus on VRI zones, followed by additional 6,000 conversions.

311 Citizen Service Requests in VRI zones


Coordinated OutreachConcentrate and coordinate city services and outreach efforts in high-crime areas, with a focus on connecting residents and young people with resources and opportunities.

Extended Hours at Recreation CentersCity stakeholders

Dept. Recreation and Parks


Number of recreation center visitors

Percent of youth attending who live in VRI zones

Highlights: 58,000 visitors to rec centers near VRI zones. Opportunity to improve Rec Center attendance data collection.

Employment OutreachCity stakeholders

Mayor's Office of Employment Development


Number of individual outreach contacts

Number of Mobile Job Center contacts

Highlights: 6,000+ individuals reached through joint outreach and mobile jobs unit. Developing performance measures for tracking number of job placements.

BPD citizen outreachCity stakeholders

BPD Youth & Community


# youth outreach events

Highlights: 5,000+ young people and residents through summer programming and other events.

Needle exchange & overdose outreach trainingCity stakeholders

Health Dept., BHSB


Number of clients served through needle exchange

Number of individuals trained through overdose outreach

Highlights: 7,500+ clients served through needle exchange. Heavy outreach in Central and Tri-District zones. Opportunity to improve outreach data collection.

Home safety inspections &public educationCity stakeholders

BCFD


Number of ontacts through public education events

Number of home safety inspections

Number of smoke alarms installed

Highlights: 20,000+ home safety inspections conducted. Teams have reached outreach saturation in certain areas around VRI zones.

BMORE Beautiful/Care-A-LotCity stakeholders

Environmental Control Board


Number of youth engagements

Highlights: 2,000 individuals reached through trainings, clean-ups

2,441

5,885

6,989 7,472 7,557

9,546

11,769 12,379

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6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

Southern* Eastern 1 Eastern 2 NW Western Central NE Tri-District

Coordinated Outreach Volume by VRI Zone(Number of individuals reached since VRI expansion Feb-Dec 2018)

Needle Exchange Clients

Overdose Outreach Training Participants

Fire Dept Oublic Education Participants

Smoke Detector Checks

Home Safety Inspections

Employment Development

BPD citizen outreach

Total


*Southern VRI Zone was created in August 2018.

Since the VRI expansion in Feb 2018, city agencies have made well over one hundred thousand individual engagements with city residents. These contacts range from visitors to rec centers with extended hours to recipients of direct services such as needle exchanges and employment development. In almost all cases participating agencies have met their performance goals for weekly outreach volume in the VRI zones. Moving forward, MOSS is meeting individually with VRI agencies and BPD to assess performance measures and to refine an outreach strategy that meets the needs of the city's most vulnerable residents.

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ND CD NED WD SD SWD ED NWDPolice District

Priority Business Engagement

Monitoring

Priority

Cooperating

Closed - inspection

Closed - padlock


Public nuisance reviewCity stakeholders

BPD, Law Dept, Housing Code Enforcement


Number of In-District and downtown meetings between District Commanders and business/property owners.

Number of formal target letters delivered to business owners.

Percent of businesses under nuisance review that make the improvements required by BPD and community members (such as logging or reporting crimes, upgading lighting or surveillance, implementing "good neighbor" agreements)

Highlights: Improved tracking of businesses and properties in public nuisance/padlock process.

Priority BusinessesThe VRI priority business working group seeks to develop, implement, and evaluate an inter-agency plan to provide coordinated support, outreach, and, code & law enforcement to businesses with a significant nexus to violent crime in the VRI zones.

Small business developmentCity stakeholders

BDC, MDHCD, Mayor's Office of Small, Minority and Women-Owned Business Development, Dept of Planning, Main Streets


Number of FIGs and micro-loans awarded

Trainings and counseling services

Number of outreach visits

Number of new businesses in VRI commercial corridors

Highlights: Collaboration with BDC and State DHCD for facade improvement projects in Penn North & Monument St corridors. 500+ BDC outreach visits in VRI zones pre-expansion.

Coordinated code enforcementCity stakeholders

Fire Marshal, Health Dept, Housing, State Comptroller's Office, Environmental Control Board, Baltimore Sheriff 's Office, BPD Vice, Liquor Board


Number of joint and individual business inspections in VRI zones

Highlights: 665 inspections in VRI zones since Feb 2018.

Identified process improvements for joint code enforcement data collection and communication for Social Club Task Force.

Partnership formed with State Comptroller's Office for joint code enforcement and fraud detection.

* Priority status indicates businesses flagged by BPD that are in VRI zones and also formally in the public nuisance review process.

Performance Report Mayor’s Office of Sustainable Solutions

Community meetingsCity stakeholders

Mayor's Office of Neighborhoods, BPD, VRI city agencies


Number of neighborhood walks in VRI zones

Highlights: Monthly community meeting volume consistently met. Opportunity to develop performance measures of collective efficacy and community trust

Neighborhood site visitsCity stakeholders

Mayor's Office of Neighborhoods, VRI city agencies


Number of neighborhood walks in VRI zones

Highlights: 40 walks conducted since VRI expansion in Feb 2018. Opportunity to develop performance measures of citizens' feelings of public safety and trust.

Community Engagement & PartnershipsThe goal of the VRI's current community engagement efforts is to prioritize social and physical concerns identified by community members which contribute to violent crime in Baltimore's neighborhoods. This is assessed primarily through community meetings, VRI neighborhood walks, and day-to-day citizen engagement with BPD.

MOAAME EngagementCity stakeholders

Mayor's Office of African-American Male Engagement

Highlights: Over 500 men convened during 2 community meetings this summer plus engagement around VRI walk locations. While in the communities, each Fishermen 3-man team engages 50 men on average in 3-hour spans.

Performance Report Mayor’s Office of Sustainable Solutions

baltimore city mayor's office of sustainable solutions · violence reduction initiative -...

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