Focused deterrence strategies
Local governments can invest in this strategy using State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
- This strategy can help prevent violence. The U.S. Department of Treasury has indicated that strategies that help achieve this outcome are eligible for the use of Fiscal Recovery Funds.
- Investments in this strategy are SLFRF-eligible as long as they are made in qualified census tracts or are designed to assist populations or communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
Program overview
Concentrating efforts on a specific crime: Focused deterrence is a policing strategy that aims to reduce incidence of a particular crime, like drug dealing or gun violence. Police departments execute on the strategy by presenting individuals at high risk of engaging in that crime with a series of incentives (e.g., access to employment training) and deterrents (e.g., prioritizing outstanding warrants for that individual or group).
Convening an interagency working group: Before implementing a focused deterrence strategy, the initiating organization (generally a police department) convenes an interagency working group. This group typically includes representatives from law enforcement agencies, social service organizations, the justice system, and more. The working group develops clear, legally-defensible criteria for identifying individuals at risk of committing the targeted crime and solidifies the set of incentives and deterrents that will be used in the intervention.
Communicating with offenders: When rolling out a focused deterrence strategy, law enforcement agencies typically hold an intervention meeting. This meeting includes the individuals at high risk of engaging in the targeted crime, along with representatives from law enforcement and social services agencies, key community leaders, and others. During the meeting, facilitators explain the plan to enforce laws regarding that criminal behavior and review both the enhanced penalties that individuals will face if they continue committing the targeted crime and the incentives that are available if they change their behavior.
Providing incentives and support services: After holding an intervention meeting, the interagency working group offers at-risk individuals a range of social services. These services are meant to incentivize and give individuals the means to discontinue further criminal behavior. Common services include counseling, case management, substance use treatment, employment training, and more.
Enhancing enforcement as a deterrent: Under the focused deterrence model, individuals who continue to engage in the targeted criminal behavior are subject to enhanced enforcement. Examples of enhanced enforcement include prioritizing prosecutions, the collection of evidence, or the servicing of outstanding warrants against offenders.
- Strategies
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Evidence-based policing
- Cost per Participant
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Not available
Multiple studies with rigorous designs demonstrate that focused deterrence is a well-supported strategy for reducing crime.
- This assessment is based on evidence from a 2017 research synthesis.
Coordinate agency resources: While a focused deterrence strategy is led by an interagency working group, it requires support from a range of other actors. These include research and evaluation staff, crime analysis and intelligence experts, communications staff, and more. Working groups should formally outline which organizations will provide these resources at the start of their focused deterrence effort.
Develop a process for identifying those at-risk: When identifying individuals to target with a focused deterrence intervention, officials must consider equity and civil rights protections. Working groups can accommodate these protections by developing a consistent process that uses clear and defensible criteria to identify individuals who may engage in the targeted criminal behavior. With these guardrails in place, working groups should conduct an audit of community leaders and area police to identify individuals seen as driving criminal behavior in the area.
Leverage community support: Working groups should identify individuals and community-based organizations that may be effective in convincing at-risk individuals to stop future criminal behavior (e.g., relatives of crime victims). These messengers should be included in the initial intervention meeting and engaged on an ongoing basis afterwards to encourage them to support at-risk individuals when law enforcement and social service representatives are not present.
Recruit strong case managers: As focused deterrence is an interagency effort, it can be difficult for at-risk individuals to access the social services they are offered in a timely and efficient manner. Case managers capable of coordinating service providers can ensure that at-risk individuals receive the services they need.