MENU TITLE: Allegheny Cty, PA: Reducing Juv. Crime . Series: OJJDP Published: June 1997 24 pages 47,995 bytes Allegheny County, PA: Mobilizing To Reduce Juvenile Crime Heidi M. Hsia, Ph.D. From the Administrator For the past 4 years, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has been promoting a comprehensive strategy as the best way to respond to juvenile violence in communities throughout the United States. In 1994, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, took steps to replace the community's fragmented response to juvenile violence with a collaborative and coordinated approach. The Allegheny County comprehensive antiviolence mobilization effort involves the law enforcement community, public and private agencies, grassroots organizations, and individual citizens. It recognizes that juvenile crime is a societal problem that can be solved only with the cooperation of the entire community. The county is already seeing positive results from this coordinated approach. From 1994 to 1995, the overall number of juveniles arrested and the number arrested for violent crime declined in Allegheny County -- declines that exceeded those recorded statewide. While Allegheny County works to meet the challenge of sustaining the long-term commitment necessary for continued progress, other communities considering new ways to reduce juvenile violence will surely find both inspiration and practical lessons from the approach described in this Bulletin. Shay Bilchik Administrator ------------------------------ Juvenile crime and its immediate and long-term economic and human costs have become a national concern. Programs to prevent and reduce delinquency have developed across the country. Among them, what has taken place in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, exemplifies a large-scale, comprehensive, and proactive effort to mobilize the community to achieve a collaborative and coordinated antiviolence approach. After 2 years, system improvements, including increased and coordinated services for juveniles at high risk of engaging in juvenile crime, have led to a corresponding reduction in juvenile crime, including violent crime. This Bulletin describes the background and the development of the communitywide collaborative process in Allegheny County, documents examples of the accomplishments resulting from this process, and examines the reasons for success. It also considers the broad juvenile justice context in which the community effort has taken place and concludes with lessons learned and future challenges. ------------------------------ Background Allegheny County, which includes the city of Pittsburgh, has a population of 1,336,450 and is the second most populated county in Pennsylvania. From 1989 to 1993, when the county's overall crime arrest rate declined and the overall juvenile crime arrest rate remained relatively stable, the rate of juvenile violent crime arrests -- murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault -- increased dramatically. In response to this increase in juvenile violent crime and the resulting public concern, a countywide comprehensive antiviolence effort was launched to: o Mobilize the law enforcement community through Law Enforcement Agency Directors (LEAD) meetings. o Mobilize public and private agencies, grassroots organizations, and individuals through the Youth Crime Prevention Council (YCPC). o Mobilize citizens through mass community education. The mobilization process can best be characterized by extensive and steadfast coordination, collaboration, and involvement of all parts of the community, resulting in positive systemic changes and collaboration across socioeconomic, ethnic, and political lines. Law Enforcement Agency Directors Meetings LEAD meetings began as periodic gatherings of Federal law enforcement agencies to address issues of public safety. By the end of 1993, these meetings had been expanded to include 17 Federal, State, county, and local law enforcement leaders, each dedicated to aggressively overcoming turf issues through information sharing and intensive collaboration. The U.S. attorney for western Pennsylvania, Frederick W. Thieman, chairs these monthly meetings. (See table 1 for membership listing.) Through LEAD, a centralized and coordinated effort was established in Allegheny County to target tough law enforcement interventions on those individuals and entities that expose young people to violence, guns, and drugs. It was also through LEAD that the leaders of the law enforcement community agreed that youth violence is not just a law enforcement issue but a societal one. Therefore, these law enforcement community leaders have become not only a unified force for tough law enforcement but also a strong voice for comprehensive, communitywide prevention efforts designed to reduce youth violence. Interagency task forces were formed under LEAD to address a variety of law enforcement issues, including youth violence. Youth Crime Prevention Council In May 1994, the U.S. attorney's office hosted a 1-1/2-day retreat in which 42 policymakers representing a broad cross section of Allegheny County convened to address youth violence. At the retreat it became clear that the community's response to youth violence was fragmented and that a community collaborative and coordinated approach was critically needed. YCPC, also chaired by the U.S. attorney, was established in June 1994. YCPC has an 8-member steering committee and a 21-member action committee. (See table 2 for membership listing.) The Council consists of leaders from law enforcement, government, juvenile justice, education, the faith community, the media, and health and human services, and also includes grassroots community activists, neighborhood representatives, families, and youth. The Council meets monthly to work on jointly developing a youth crime prevention plan and performs the following functions: o Assessing community needs: YCPC studies the crime trends in Allegheny County, identifies the level of juvenile violence, and analyzes issues underlying juvenile crime to reach consensus about the needs to be addressed in the local community. o Developing strategies: YCPC creates a unified strategy to address local juvenile crime, emphasizing tough law enforcement and community-driven prevention efforts. o Establishing implementation plans: YCPC identifies potential initiatives and prioritizes them for implementation. These initiatives reflect the following activities that the county is undertaking to reduce juvenile crime: - Afterschool safe places. Create a network of safe places with constructive activities for youth in high-risk neighborhoods. - Sports leagues. Create sports programs in at-risk neighborhoods. - Jobs. Create and find jobs for young people. - Family support centers. Provide prevention, healthy child development, and economic self-reliance support for at-risk families. - Mentoring. Increase the number of trained volunteer mentors to meet the demand. - Head Start/day care. Increase the enrollment of underprivileged children in quality early education and family support programs. - Juvenile justice. Ensure appropriate consequences for serious and violent juvenile offenders. - Leadership development. Promote the development of leadership skills in youth. - Community accountability. Involve community residents in decisionmaking about the youth crime reduction strategies for their neighborhoods. - Gun proliferation. Stop the spread of illegal guns and target law enforcement efforts against those who make guns available to youth. - Health/wellness. Promote healthy behaviors through home visitation, pre- and postnatal training, and other means. - Inschool activities. Encourage students to participate in existing inschool activities and provide school-based probation and other services within more schools. - Substance abuse. Develop public education campaigns to spread substance abuse prevention and intervention messages. - Police response. Expand community oriented policing emphasizing prevention, problem solving, and intervention. - Domestic violence prevention. Increase countywide shelter capacity for domestic violence victims and evaluate the local impact of domestic violence on juveniles. In addition, a strategic plan for a community antiviolence effort is established each year. o Implementing initiatives: For each initiative, YCPC brings together a team of collaborating agencies that work together to coordinate resource-seeking and program development efforts. The Council continues to coordinate the efforts of these groups. o Leading and coordinating community efforts: YCPC performs an umbrella leadership role, serving as a clearinghouse to coordinate community efforts regarding young people and ensuring grassroots participation. Mass Community Education YCPC representatives have been instrumental in pursuing methods of mass community education designed to reach every individual in the community, to present a realistic picture of youth crime in the county, and to mobilize the entire community to be actively involved in raising its children and ensuring public safety. The county intends to continue these large-scale and ongoing community education efforts to involve all citizens in the effort to reduce youth violence. ------------------------------ Examples of Accomplishments in Local Initiatives o Turf issues have been reduced through information sharing as the county strives for a unified approach to reduce youth violence. For example, a shared data base of drug investigations, shared radio frequencies, joint review of crime trends, and sharing of gang intelligence among law enforcement agencies all significantly facilitate coordinated drug investigations and antigang strategies. o LEAD has established six task forces composed of officials from various law enforcement agencies. Coordination among the task forces occurs through three channels: monthly LEAD meetings; unofficial case discussions and information sharing among the agents within a task force or an agency, and across task forces and agencies; and the use of the Drug Enforcement Coordination System (DECS). DECS, which became operational in mid-1995, is a localized and individual-based information system maintained by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). When a law enforcement agency develops a drug crime suspect profile, that agency's DECS coordinator submits the suspect's name, address, and any additional information to DECS. If more than one agency submits information about the same suspect, DEA links the involved agencies for a collaborative and coordinated investigation. The work of the task forces has been impressive. For example, the Greater Pittsburgh Violent Crime/Gang Task Force is staffed by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Pennsylvania State attorney general's office, the Pennsylvania State police, and the Pittsburgh city police department. This effort was responsible for breaking up a bank robbery gang that had committed 15 armed robberies in western Pennsylvania. The task force recently focused on juvenile gangs. At times, the task force coordinates its activities with the Violent Traffickers Project (VTP) Task Force, which is staffed by personnel from the Pittsburgh police, Allegheny County police, Allegheny County sheriff's office, Pennsylvania State police, Pennsylvania State attorney general's office, the FBI, and DEA. In late 1996, the Gang Task Force, working in conjunction with the VTP Task Force, indicted 45 members of Pittsburgh's most notorious street gangs in a 120-count Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act indictment. The Western Pennsylvania Firearms Trafficking Gun Task Force is composed of three Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents; two city of Pittsburgh detectives; and one Allegheny County detective. Depending on the location of the investigations, the task force is supplemented by three detectives from outlying counties (Westmoreland and Fayette) and one investigator from the State attorney general's office. This task force also coordinates its activities with the city of Pittsburgh Gun Task Force. In 1995 and 1996, the Gang Task Force, together with the city of Pittsburgh Gun Task Force, brought charges against 58 street criminals and gun dealers who had been stealing guns and selling weapons to youth gangs. The Weed and Seed Task Force II, working in conjunction with Pittsburgh police, arrested 400 individuals who preyed upon young people and other vulnerable residents in public housing communities located in Weed and Seed neighborhoods. All of these task forces are consistent with the key initiatives established by YCPC. o Four new Allegheny County family support centers (now totaling 22) were established. These centers house community-based and community-driven programs designed to offer support to area families while their problems are in the early stages. Specific services provided are parenting and childhood development education, healthcare, childcare, and social and recreational activities. o Sports leagues were started in 12 communities. These programs provide youth in high-crime neighborhoods, who are involved in gangs or at risk of gang involvement, with supervised flag football, basketball, hockey, softball, volleyball, and track programs. Some of these leagues are coeducational and some are for girls only. They provide youth with constructive alternatives to gang and delinquent behaviors, encourage positive group interaction, promote teamwork and good sportsmanship, enhance skill development, and provide age-appropriate fitness training. Training and employment opportunities are also provided in the areas of coaching, officiating, and sports photography. Educational support is provided through tutoring, academic skill-building classes, and 2-year scholarships to local community colleges. An average of 3,200 youth participate in these sports leagues each year. Juvenile offenders also have been referred to the leagues, with 60 court-referred juveniles currently enrolled under the Great Start Program. o YouthWorks, a campaign for summer and year-round jobs, placed 2,448 high school students in private and nonprofit sector jobs in 1996. The job program includes mentoring and leadership training to expose the students to role models in the workplace and encourages their career aspirations. o Three communities planned and implemented Communities That Care, a neighborhood-based antiviolence and delinquency prevention initiative. These communities assessed their juvenile crime prevention needs and developed and implemented plans to reduce juvenile crime that meet their unique local needs. Under this initiative, the Hosanna House in Wilkinsburg trained 5 young African-American men to serve as advocates and role models for 50 boys in grades 1 through 6 at the Wilkinsburg Kelly School. These men teach students positive social skills, help them examine and predict the consequences of their choices, and promote a desire for academic achievement. As a result of this individualized approach, in the first year of the program the grades of 47 of 48 participating students improved and absenteeism decreased by 50 percent. Through the East End Cooperative Ministry, adult outreach workers work individually with 15 to 20 high-risk children in Lincoln Elementary School to build relationships, encourage school attendance, teach conflict resolution, and provide afterschool support for homework completion and other educational and recreational opportunities. o New youth leadership development models were established to recognize and develop valuable leadership skills and to guide youth to use these skills in positive and productive pursuits such as violence prevention. o In March 1995, a television program entitled "It Takes a Whole Community To Raise a Child," produced with the Pittsburgh Urban League, featured stories about citizens in the community who had done something to reverse the cycle of violence. Simultaneously aired without commercial interruptions on all western Pennsylvania television stations, the program resulted in a great deal of press coverage, enthusiastic community response, and followup activities to further community education efforts. o YCPC has become a well-known and highly respected leader of youth crime initiatives in the county. Consequently, YCPC's support and endorsement are sought by programs presenting proposals and grant requests. The collaborative effort fostered by YCPC has also facilitated grant applications, attracted private funds, minimized duplication of effort, and prevented isolated and uncoordinated efforts. With each funding opportunity, such as the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's (OJJDP's) Title V Community Prevention Grants Program, the county has furthered its collaborative process through the use of YCPC. YCPC ensures that the proposed programs are within the scope of its priority initiatives and that they complement existing programs as envisioned by all stakeholders. ------------------------------ Reasons for Success of the Coordination Process o Leadership. The U.S. attorney's office has effectively mobilized the law enforcement community and the community at large. Locally there are many leaders in the juvenile justice and human services fields, and also in the business, religious, ethnic, and grassroots communities, who are committed to collaborative and coordinated efforts in reducing youth violence. Many of these leaders serve on the Council and its committees. As a result, leaders of virtually all segments of the community are represented in this community mobilization effort. o Thoughtful selection of Council members. At an early stage, it was recognized that youth crime is a societal problem that has an impact on the entire community, that existing efforts to reduce youth crime had been fragmented, and that one agency could not deal with it effectively alone. As a result, two themes emerged in membership selection: - Inclusiveness. YCPC membership includes government officials, foundation members, business and religious leaders, community leaders, and the media. Each member is active in the community and, by virtue of his or her position, is expected to make a significant and unique contribution to the work of the Council. The bishop of the Catholic diocese of Pittsburgh, for example, "lends both a spiritual perspective and a vast network of churches with considerable resources" (Certo, 1996). The membership is also balanced in terms of gender and ethnicity. - Top-down and bottom-up method. Council members include leaders in various fields who can get things done with their power of persuasion and position and grassroots activists with credibility in the neighborhoods. For example, the effort to create jobs for youth is led by a group of prominent businesspeople. Their advocacy within their own companies and networking with CEO's and presidents of other companies greatly facilitate the creation of jobs for youth. On the other hand, youth job placement and support are coordinated within neighborhood networks of community-based organizations, schools, and residents. o Active solicitation of youth participation. This exhaustive effort was evident in the initial needs assessment work of the Council and continues with later projects. For example, to develop a strategy for the Youth Leadership Development Skills Initiative, the president of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, who heads the initiative, solicited input from 20 youth organizations at a retreat and from 50 youth in 5 focus groups and involved 30 additional youth to review the draft strategy -- all in a concerted effort to ensure that the final product was representative of and responsive to the needs of youth. Similarly, the Council's annual strategic plans rely heavily on the testimony of young people, parents, and community leaders in the 88 city neighborhoods and 130 municipalities in the county. o YCPC as the umbrella coordinating body for youth violence reduction efforts. YCPC is recognized in Allegheny County as the coordinator and endorser for youth-supporting activities. For example, members of LEAD (the U.S. attorney, the district attorney, head of the local office of the FBI, and city police chief) are active in YCPC, and YCPC has members representing the media (the president and CEO of Pittsburgh's public television station, the president of a local television station, and the community relations consultant for a local television station). With such overlapping memberships, coordination and collaboration are ensured across both prevention and law enforcement activities and also in the publicity they generate. o Persistent followthrough. Both YCPC and LEAD meet monthly. These meetings serve as forums for following through on issue discussions and task implementation. At these meetings leaders of initiatives and task forces report on progress and solve problems. Members are encouraged by the reported progress, and momentum for continuing the effort is maintained. Similarly, mass community education is not conducted as a one-time energizing event, but as an integral part of YCPC's yearly strategic plans and ongoing efforts. ------------------------------ Broad Juvenile Justice Context To truly assess and appreciate Allegheny County's extraordinary efforts in reducing juvenile crime, one must also examine the broad juvenile justice context within which the community mobilization efforts described above occur. First, Allegheny County is home to the National Center for Juvenile Justice (NCJJ), the University of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University, all of which are prestigious institutions with renowned scholars in the juvenile justice field. The Pittsburgh Youth Study on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency at the University of Pittsburgh, supported by OJJDP, has followed 1,500 boys in grades 1, 4, and 7 since 1987. It includes site-specific studies at Pittsburgh on the prevalence, frequency, and onset of delinquent behavior; mental health and family factors of predelinquent and delinquent behaviors; and various forms of substance abuse and drug dealing. This longitudinal study informed OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders (Wilson and Howell, 1993) and has guided program development for this population nationwide. The Pittsburgh-specific element of the study has enabled a greater understanding of juvenile crime problems in Allegheny County and has informed and influenced its policies, procedures, and program development efforts in the juvenile justice area. NCJJ has established an Allegheny County-specific data base that includes several years of arrest data and juvenile court case disposition data by census tract and neighborhood. The Center has served as a valuable resource for the county in its program planning and evaluation efforts. The county's proximity to Carnegie Mellon University helps the county keep abreast of the findings of the National Institute of Justice-funded Youth Violence, Guns, and Links to Illicit Drug Market study. All three institutions and their researchers are rich resources for reliable data to enable the county to make informed decisions in reducing juvenile crime. Second, there is a strong State, county, and private commitment to, and investment in, reducing juvenile crime in Allegheny County. For example, Allegheny County has been called the "family support capital of the Nation." Its 22 family support centers, with State, local, and private funds, provide intensive preventive and supportive services to nearly 2,000 families in high-risk neighborhoods each year through parenting and child development support, home visitation, and case management to increase parental competence and the families' ability to utilize other community resources. Thousands of children and adults each year benefit from other programs offered by the centers, such as parent support groups, health education, mentoring, and tutoring. The Health Education Center, a not-for-profit affiliate of Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania, in collaboration with the Girl Scouts, the American Red Cross, Blue Cross, the city housing authority, and the city parks department, facilitates health promotion and life skills activities for girls and young women in eight western Pennsylvania public housing communities. In January 1995, the Female Outreach Collaborative (FORCE) was launched with collaborative foundation funding. Outreach workers provide support and positive reinforcement to at-risk and delinquent 12- to 18-year-old girls in five high-crime areas in Pittsburgh's East End and in Wilkinsburg and refer them to appropriate education, employment, and health services. FORCE seeks to intervene early in delinquent behaviors of girls and interrupt the cycle of violence in which girls and young women are often both victims and offenders. Hundreds of girls have been served by this program. Local foundations have also supported a strategic planning process for the Mayor's Youth Initiative for Serious Offenders. The strategic planning process involved the mayor of Pittsburgh and his youth policy staff; juvenile court, law enforcement, and school officials; health and human services providers; and community leaders in designing an intensive and mandatory 6-month to 2-year probationary program for Pittsburgh-area youth who return to their home communities from secure institutional or other residential placements. The initiative is being implemented with both public and private funds. Programs such as Hosanna House and the East End Cooperative Ministry are also examples of ongoing collaborative efforts among all sectors of the community, including church, government, business, and education. By involving these sectors, the community is better able to meet its need for a special focus on families and youth. Third, Allegheny County is an active participant in many federally funded initiatives that empower communities, promote positive and healthy child development and economic self-sufficiency, prevent exploitation of children, and strengthen families. Examples are the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Enterprise Communities, National Youth Sports Program, Public Housing Drug Elimination Program, and YouthBuild; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Community Partnership Demonstration Program and Healthy Start sites; the U.S. Department of Labor's Job Corps and Youth Fair Chance; and the Corporation for National Service's AmeriCorps program. The community mobilization efforts led by YCPC coordinate with and build upon these federally funded initiatives. Fourth, significant improvement in law enforcement and in the juvenile justice system has occurred in Allegheny County as a result of targeted efforts funded by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). In the past 2 years, a total of about $15 million in DOJ grant funds has enabled important system improvements in law enforcement and juvenile justice in Allegheny County. Examples include the following: o Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Grants. From fiscal year (FY) 1995 until early FY 1997, Allegheny County received about $7.7 million to hire more than 118 officers with COPS-Phase I; COPS AHEAD (Accelerated Hiring, Education, and Deployment); COPS FAST (Funding Accelerated for Smaller Towns, specifically, those with populations under 50,000); and COPS Universal Hiring Grant funds. COPS MORE (Making Officer Redeployment Effective) grants of more than $4.5 million will help automate the county's records management system, which will result in the redeployment of approximately 180 officers. A COPS Community Policing to Combat Domestic Violence Grant will enable the county to employ community policing to enhance police response to domestic violence. With this sizable increase of new officers, community oriented policing has been expanded in neighborhoods with high crime and gang activities. In neighborhoods with public housing, city and housing authority police will work together in community policing. Particular attention will be paid to creating alternatives to gang membership for youth. The city of Pittsburgh's COPS program has undertaken a "Scared Straight" project, in which youth displaying early delinquent behavior visit adult prisoners to help the youth foresee the consequences of criminal behaviors, with the goal of steering them away from lives of crime. A long-range strategy is to incorporate training for community oriented policing into formal police training programs, thereby equipping all police officers with new problem-solving and community organization skills. o Balanced and Restorative Justice Project (BARJ). Allegheny County was chosen as one of the first three sites to receive OJJDP-supported intensive training and technical assistance under the BARJ program, including guideline materials to assist in implementing major changes in the juvenile justice system. The county's juvenile justice system has worked toward emphasizing offender accountability, community protection, and competency development to address the needs of victims, communities, and offenders. For example, the Community Intensive Supervision Project (CISP) of Allegheny County works with juveniles to build strong community bonds by structuring community service activities through which they can pay the community back for crimes committed. Specifically, the juveniles planned and developed a garden in a once-blighted area in their neighborhood and shared their produce by cooking and delivering meals to homeless people. "Since the first harvest, participants have been hired for their gardening skills for other public gardens in the city [of Pittsburgh] and find great potential for their work. Allegheny County is also involving their community in planning for a restorative juvenile justice system. Committees are being organized comprised of staff and community members to look at competency development, community protection and offender accountability" (Balanced and Restorative Justice Project Update). The BARJ project is now in its third year and is a significant force in the reform of the county's juvenile justice system. o Accountability-Based Community (ABC) Intervention Project for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders. Funded by OJJDP, Allegheny County's ABC Intervention Project is an effort to implement a plan for a systemwide strategy of intervention, treatment, and rehabilitation for serious, violent, and chronic juvenile offenders that combines accountability and sanctions with increasingly intensive community-based intervention, treatment, and rehabilitation services if a juvenile reoffends. Components include victim assistance and victim awareness, parental responsibility, healthcare, education, substance abuse and violence prevention, restitution, and personal accountability. Accomplishments to date include a comprehensive assessment of the county's juvenile court and available interventions, enhancement or establishment of juvenile court linkages with the larger county community, completion of courtwide strategic planning, development of a new mission for the juvenile court, critical assessments of the juvenile court's case management processes and aftercare capacity, and development of effective interventions for African-American offenders, gang-involved youth, and female offenders. o Allegheny County Minority Community- Based Prevention/Intervention Initiatives. In 1991, the Center for Juvenile Justice Training and Research was awarded OJJDP funds through the State to conduct the minority processing research project, The Role of Race in Pennsylvania's Juvenile Justice System. The study confirmed that "minority youth were over-represented among referrals to Pennsylvania juvenile courts and that African American youth constituted the actual majority of placements in the State" (Williams and Spangenberg, 1996). Subsequently, minority community-based prevention/intervention initiatives were launched in different communities to reduce the flow of minority youth into the juvenile justice system and reduce their numbers in secure confinement. In Allegheny County, the following programs have been implemented: - The Great Start Program, sponsored by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania. - Project Africa and Operation Hammer, sponsored by the East Liberty Concerned Citizens. - Targeted School-Based Outreach, sponsored by the YMCA of Pittsburgh. Together, these three community-based programs provide 140 African-American youth each year with culturally competent programming in the areas of participatory sports; mentoring and tutoring; socialization and cultural enrichment; job readiness, part-time employment, and career guidance; nonviolent conflict resolution; healthy recreation; pregnancy prevention; life skills classes; family activities and counseling; and education trips. Finally, the Weed and Seed Demonstration Project in Allegheny County, funded by the Executive Office for Weed and Seed, has conducted a comprehensive multiagency program since 1992 to coordinate the delivery of criminal justice and social services to eliminate violent crime, drug trafficking, and drug-related crime; provide positive youth activities; renovate buildings; and beautify sites. The demonstration began in the Hill District and was later expanded to the Hazelwood and Glen Hazel neighborhoods of the city and also to the Homestead and West Homestead neighborhoods in the county. In these Weed and Seed neighborhoods, community policing is embraced by ranking members of the police department and is conceptualized as a generalized technique that demands the involvement of all officers. All hotline calls regarding drug activity and all drug arrests are entered into the D-Map System, a computerized crime tracking location data base. The D-Map System enables accurate and up-to-date tracking of the "hot spots" of drug activity in the target area. The 13 police officers in these neighborhoods also work closely with community groups and have jointly established programs such as Block Watch Crime Prevention Programs; Blue Buddy Program (officers participate in community events to establish a positive image of the "uniform" in the eyes of the children); Police Explorers Program (officers work with high school students who are interested in law enforcement careers); Leaders in Training for Tomorrow (a leadership development program); and Health Safety Day and the Keystone Aquatics (programs in which children are taught health and safety awareness and skills). The positive impact of the community-oriented effort in the Weed and Seed neighborhoods is demonstrated by the fact that in the second quarter of 1996, increased patrols in the Hazelwood target area resulted in 75 arrests, 90 percent of which were for drug-related offenses, and in confiscation of drugs, beepers, and cellular phones. Residents in the community observe that the Hazelwood area has appeared to be "calmer." Examples of prevention, intervention, and treatment programs include the Young Fathers Program, which works to instill in young fathers the responsibilities of parenthood; the Youth Employment Program, through which more than 300 youth have found jobs; and a string orchestra and a banner project that offer arts exploration for youth. Results of beautification projects in the form of Earth Day, the Bricks and Mortar Program, and gardens developed in previously high-crime areas are evident throughout these Weed and Seed sites. Most notably, all of these initiatives have been part of the coordinated efforts under the umbrella of YCPC and have contributed significantly to the county's prevention, intervention, and law enforcement capacities. ------------------------------ Lessons Learned and Future Challenges It requires a great deal of energy and perseverance to bring so many people and organizations to the table to reach consensus and to implement key initiatives. In addition, tension and conflict are bound to occur between policymakers and citizens and among various groups. Sensitivity to these issues, and tact and skill in dealing with them, are all critical in keeping the group focused on productive work. Further, a community's ready access to leading experts and institutions in the juvenile justice field provides useful information and technical assistance in its policymaking along with planning and implementation of initiatives to reduce juvenile crime. This in turn enhances the credibility of the community mobilization efforts within the community and with various funding sources. Allegheny County's demonstrated ability to garner significant Federal, State, local, and private funding bespeaks the importance of establishing and maintaining collaborative relationships between community practitioners and university researchers. Future challenges for Allegheny County remain in sustaining and building upon the momentum of this community mobilization effort. Reductions in juvenile crime, as measured by consistent reductions in the numbers of juveniles arrested over time, are the ultimate indicators of the success of Allegheny County's community mobilization efforts. The 1995 juvenile arrest data from the Pennsylvania State police show a significant decline from 1994 in Allegheny County as compared with the statewide data (see table 3). Specifically, there was a 13-percent decline in the overall number of juveniles arrested and a 30-percent decline in the number of juveniles arrested for violent crime in Allegheny County from 1994 to 1995; the percentages of decline statewide were 2 percent and 9 percent, respectively. These reductions occurred within a context of generally increasing numbers of overall juvenile arrests and juvenile arrests for violent crime, both in Allegheny County and statewide, from 1992 through 1994, and within a stable juvenile population in Allegheny County and statewide from 1992 through 1995. It should be noted, however, that juvenile crime is a multifaceted societal problem that requires concerted efforts on the part of everyone in the community for a long period of time. At present, one can conclude that Allegheny County's coordinated effort to reduce youth violence has shown encouraging signs of success. Given more time, and provided that the communitywide collaborative and coordination process continues, recent reductions in juvenile crime are likely to continue and be long lasting. ------------------------------ For Further Information Task Forces of the Law Enforcement Agency Directors (LEAD) o John McIlwain Group Supervisor, Pittsburgh Field Office I Room 2104, Federal Building 11000 Liberty Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15222 412-395-6911 412-395-4613 (fax) Youth Crime Prevention Council of Allegheny County, PA o Robert Nelkin, Coordinator 412-624-7425 412-624-1187 (fax) For written inquiries: The United States Attorney Western District of Pennsylvania 633 United States Post Office and Courthouse Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee o William Coe, Manager The United States Attorney's Office Western District of Pennsylvania 633 United States Post Office and Courthouse Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-644-6700 412-644-4549 (fax) Balanced and Restorative Justice Project (BARJ) o George Kinder, Program Coordinator Community Intensive Supervision Project 519 Penn Avenue, Second Floor Pittsburgh, PA 15221 412-243-6886 412-243-6950 (fax) Accountability-Based Community (ABC) Intervention Project for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders o Douglas Thomas, Research Associate National Center for Juvenile Justice 710 Fifth Avenue, Third Floor Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-227-6950 412-227-6955 (fax) Community-Based Juvenile Delinquency Prevention/Intervention Programs State Contact o Mary Ann Rhoads Delinquency Prevention Specialist Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) P.O. Box 1167 Federal Square Harrisburg, PA 17108-1167 717-787-8559 717-783-7713 (fax) E-mail: rhoads@pccd.state.pa.us Youth Crime Prevention Council Intervention Committee o James Allen Youth Policy Director Office of the Mayor, City of Pittsburgh Public Safety Building 100 Grant Street, Suite 732 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-255-2258 412-255-8663 (fax) Weed and Seed Demonstration Project o Dave Farley, Project Director Office of the Mayor 512 City County Building Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-255-4765 412-255-2687 (fax) E-mail: farley@infobahn.icubed.com ------------------------------ References Balanced and Restorative Justice Project Update. Winter 1996. Vol. 1, No. 2. St. Paul, MN: Center for Restorative Justice and Mediation, University of Minnesota. Certo, T. 1996. Primary care. Pittsburgh (February): 54-59. Freivalds, P. 1996 (July). Balanced and Restorative Justice Project (BARJ). Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Nelkin, R., ed. 1997. Youth Crime Prevention Council 1997 Strategic Plan. Pittsburgh, PA: U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania State Police Arrest Reports for Allegheny County, 1992-1995. Rhoads, M.A. 1997 (March). "Allegheny County Minority Over Representation Initiative." Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention: Project Summary and Analysis. Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. Thieman, F.W. 1995. Allegheny County Antiviolence Initiative: A Community Report. U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Pennsylvania. Williams, R.R., and C. Spangenberg. 1996 (March). 1996 Update of Pennsylvania's FY 1994-1996 Three-Year Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Plan. Wilson, J.J., and J.C. Howell. 1993 (December). Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders. Program Summary. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The World Almanac and Book of Facts. 1994. Mahwah, NJ: Funk & Wagnalls. ------------------------------ Table 1: Membership of Law Enforcement Agency Directors (LEAD) Meetings o Allegheny County police department o Allegheny County sheriff's department o Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms o City of Pittsburgh police department o District Attorney of Allegheny County o U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration o Federal Bureau of Investigation o U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service o U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division o Office of the United States Attorney (Chair) o Pennsylvania attorney general's office o Bureau of Narcotics Investigation/Drug Control o Pennsylvania State police o U.S. Customs Service o U.S. Marshal's Office o U.S. Postal Inspection Service o U.S. Secret Service ------------------------------ Table 2: Membership of Youth Crime Prevention Council (YCPC) Steering Committee: o The Chair County Commissioner o The vice president of a major public utility company, who also serves as president of the board of directors of the Pittsburgh Urban League o The chairperson of one of the largest locally based foundations in the country o The president and CEO of Pittsburgh's public television station o The mayor of the city of Pittsburgh o The United States attorney (Chair) o A leading officer of one of Pittsburgh's major corporations o The bishop of the Catholic diocese of Pittsburgh Action Committee: o The executive director of the largest female offenders program in Pittsburgh o The director of intergovernmental relations for the city of Pittsburgh o An assistant U.S. attorney o The president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Urban League o The deputy mayor of the city of Pittsburgh o The director of the family division of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County o The president of a local television station o The president of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation o The retired president and CEO of a major Pittsburgh corporation o The director of the National Center for Juvenile Justice o The vice president for program and policy of the Pittsburgh Foundation o The secretary for pastoral life of the Catholic diocese of Pittsburgh o The president of the Allegheny Policy Council o The president of United Way o The director of the County Mental Health, Mental Retardation, Drug and Alcohol, and Health and Human Services Program o The senior program officer for a major local foundation o The community relations consultant for a local television station o A pastor of a large Baptist church and former president of the Pittsburgh chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) o The executive director of the Allegheny County Conference on Community Development o The vice president of the Pittsburgh chapter of the NAACP o The district attorney of Allegheny County ------------------------------ Table 3: Juvenile Arrests in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania Statewide (1992 to 1995) Allegheny County Number of persons under 18 years old arrested 1992: 8,701 1993: 8,398 1994: 9,190 1995: 7,952 Number of persons under 18 years old arrested for violent crime* 1992: 593 1993: 608 1994: 730 1995: 515 Population under 18 years old 1992: 290,748 1993: 293,507 1994: 293,392 1995: 290,857 Pennsylvania Statewide Number of persons under 18 years old arrested 1992: 95,864 1993: 96,003 1994: 107,772 1995: 105,249 Number of persons under 18 years old arrested for violent crime* 1992: 5,181 1993: 5,791 1994: 6,275 1995: 5,685 Population under 18 years old 1992: 2,806,909 1993: 2,881,032 1994: 2,881,142 1995: 2,887,142 *Violent crime includes murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Sources: Pennsylvania State Police; Pennsylvania State Data Center. ------------------------------ This Bulletin was prepared by Heidi M. Hsia, Ph.D., State Representative, State Relations and Assistance Division, OJJDP. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office for Victims of Crime.