Above: Marchers protest along 24th Street against gun violence in Kansas City, Aug. 2, 2004. Pictured: Rachel Riley, whose son was shot dead in 2003. (Star photo by Norman Ng)
A new 40-page report from the Department of Justice on Atlanta’s successful fight to reduce gun violence – with lessons, they say, for other cities:
- Atlanta’s goal was to preempt juvenile gun violence by breaking the chain of illegal events leading up to these crimes— disrupting illegal gun supply, demand, and carrying, and rehabilitating offenders.
- In its final form, the Atlanta gun violence project consisted of a small but determined coalition of Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies and prosecutors, with the Atlanta Police Department (APD) in a central role.
- Tactics ranged from traffic stops and directed patrol to Federal prosecution of adult gun traffickers.
- The key to problem solving is ongoing, communitywide action involving multiple public agencies and private organizations. Because this approach is data driven, researchers work side by side with practitioners.
