Public Health Approaches to Violence Prevention

From the introduction:

Most people may not think of jogging and biking as crime reduction strategies, but in neighborhoods in East Palo Alto, Calif., with the highest levels of shootings, law enforcement officers and residents are coming together and engaging in these types of outdoor activities to combat crime.

The East Palo Alto Police Department's Fitness Improvement Training (FIT) Zones are part of an innovative initiative aimed at testing whether improvements in community health can help increase community safety in the city's most dangerous neighborhoods. The FIT Zones implement health-related programs in public spaces that have been underused by residents and overtaken by gang members. The idea is that as residents increase outdoor physical activities like power walking, yoga and Zumba dancing, they will increase their presence in public spaces, improve their health, and regain control and ownership of their neighborhoods.

Source: National Institute of Justice (United States)

Read online: Healthy Communities May Make Safe Communities: Public Health Approaches to Violence Prevention 

Changing Course: Preventing Youth From Joining Gangs

From the introduction:

The consequences of gangs — and the burden they place on the law enforcement and public health systems in our communities — are significant. People who work in the fields of public health and public safety know that efforts to address the problem after kids have already joined gangs are not enough. To realize a significant and lasting reduction in youth gang activity, we must prevent young people from joining gangs in the first place.

Source: National Institute of Justice (U.S.A.)

Download full ebook:  Changing Course: Preventing Youth From Joining Gangs