Preventing Gun Crimes

Gun crimes sadly, in my opinion, are on the rise in our society. Pre-Columbine Massacre, our society had gun violence but it was not televised, on every channel or on every page of the newspaper. Social media has been a huge part of the reasoning behind violence being so open to society. According to the text, the Youth Firearms Violence Initiative (YFVI) was one approach to juvenile gun crime. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) launched YFVI by providing one million dollars to ten participating police departments. The money was to fund interventions for combating the rise in youth firearm violence. (Hess et al, 2012) Outside of the Youth Firearms Violence Initiative, “traditional enforcements did not produce significant changes in firearms violence levels.” (Hess et al, 2012) The YFVI actually yielded raw data showing the positive effects of the initiative. Another key finding was “cooperating with other law enforcement agencies and community organizations and representatives was a key factor in effective implementation of firearms violence control and prevention strategies.” (Hess et al, 2012) Keeping the lines of communication open with other agencies is paramount when dealing with crime. Effective communication ensures all agencies are on the same page. Baltimore, …show more content…
The school based activities involved two city police officers that worked with middle and high schools. The program also supported the Magnet School for Law Enforcement, a criminal justice curriculum for high school students. Furthermore, three officers implemented the Straight Talk About Risk (STAR) Program in 1992. The STAR Program was designed to teach gun safety to children and youth in ages of Pre-K through twelfth grade and to reduce unintentional childhood gun traumas, injuries, and deaths. (Hess et al,