Project Longevity
Last Revised: October 30, 2025
- Issue Areas
- Justice and public safety
Program overview
Tackling gun violence: Project Longevity is a group violence prevention initiative based in Connecticut. The initiative is a collaboration between law enforcement, social services, and community organizations that aims to reduce gun violence and other violent crime.
Identifying those involved in violent crime: Project Longevity identifies individuals involved in gun violence and other violent crime. This is first done through a two-part “problem analysis.” In part one, called the “Group Audit,” law enforcement agencies share information about the location, membership, and activities of active street groups. In part two, “Incident Reviews,” Project Longevity staff review shootings to determine whether they involved a member of an active street group identified during the group audit phase. Through this process, individuals are identified and selected to be a part of Project Longevity services, either through a “call-in” or a “custom notification.”
Conducting call-ins: “Call-ins” bring together identified individuals with law enforcement, community representatives, and social services. These sessions are structured around a specific three-part messaging. First, law enforcement and prosecutors warn of enhanced legal consequences that will follow continued acts of violence. Secondly, community representatives (typically people impacted by gun violence, or former perpetrators of it) share their testimonies and moral pleas against gun violence. And lastly, social services coordinators offer assistance with case management and other services to those who indicate need, including employment assistance, GED courses, drug and alcohol abuse treatment, and more.
Custom notifications: “Custom notifications” happen after a violence has occurred and involve one-on-one counseling and treatment with an individual. This individual may be someone who perpetrated violence or was impacted by violence. Custom notifications involve meeting the person at their home or in their neighborhood, and this is done by a local program manager or a senior law enforcement agent.
- Strategies
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Community-led violence prevention
- Location
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Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven (CT).
Two studies with rigorous designs provide some evidence for Project Longevity as a strategy for reducing violent crime.
A 2016 quasi-experimental design study conducted in New Orleans, LA., demonstrated an 18.6 percent reduction in monthly homicides, a 16.2 percent reduction of firearm-related assaults, and a 30.1 percent reduction in gang-involved homicides following the implementation of the GVRS.
In a 2020 quasi-experimental design study conducted in New Haven, CT, on Project Longevity, researchers found that three years after its implementation, GMI incidents were reduced by nearly five incidents per month.
In a non-randomized study conducted in New Haven, CT, analyzing data from 2011-2014, research showed that the number of total shootings decreased by 4 shootings per month on average, and GMI shootings and homicides decreased by 5.33 during the months where a call-in took place.
Building trust and buying in across partners: Stakeholders in this study noted “poor interagency collaboration” and “lack of buy-in” from local law enforcement as two of the biggest challenges in effectively running the program. Stakeholders understand collaboration as essential to the work. A coordinated effort between law enforcement, community organizers, and social services is imperative to building trust in the community for survivors, affected families, and offenders to seek assistance and resources.
Providing capacity to encourage collaboration: Project Longevity supports interagency collaboration through a dedicated program manager, whose work is largely to bridge the gap between law enforcement agents and community/social service providers, in line with the program’s deterrence and social service support goals.