BJA FY 15 Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program

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Healthy, vibrant communities are places that provide the opportunities, resources, and an environment that children and adults need to maximize their life outcomes, including high-quality schools and cradle-to-career educational programs; high-quality and affordable housing; thriving commercial establishments; access to quality health care and health services; art and cultural amenities; parks and other recreational spaces; and the safety to take advantage of these opportunities. Unfortunately, millions of Americans live in distressed communities2 where a combination of crime, poverty, unemployment, poor health, struggling schools, inadequate housing, and disinvestment keep many residents from reaching their full potential. Research suggests that crime clustered in small areas, or crime “hot spots,” accounts for a disproportionate amount of crime and disorder in many communities. The complexity of these issues has led to the emergence of comprehensive place-based and community-oriented initiatives that involve service providers from multiple sectors, as well as community representatives from all types of organizations, to work together to reduce and prevent crime and to revitalize communities.In many ways, community safety and crime prevention are prerequisites to the transformation of distressed communities, including the revitalization of civic engagement. Addressing community safety is the role of criminal justice agencies, the community, and its partners as a whole. To improve and revitalize communities, all relevant stakeholders should be included: law enforcement and criminal justice, education, housing, health and human services, community and faith-based non-profits, local volunteers, residents, and businesses.Given the significant needs and limited resources of some of these communities, local and tribal leaders need tools and information about crime trends in their jurisdiction and assistance in assessing, planning, and implementing the most effective use of criminal justice resources to address these issues. The criminal justice field has been creating new evidence-informed and evidence-based strategies designed to prevent and deter future crime in hot spots.This program is funded pursuant to the “Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015” under the Edward Byrne Memorial criminal justice innovation program appropriation (P.L. 113-235).The Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation (BCJI) program was created as part of a larger, interagency effort across multiple federal agencies to assist distressed communities to both build capacity and revitalize neighborhoods. For more details on these interagency programs, see the section titled “How does BCJI fit within larger place-based and neighborhood revitalization efforts across federal agencies?” on page 7.

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