CEASEFIRE NEW ORLEANS
Based on the CURE Violence model (formerly CeaseFire Chicago), CeaseFire New Orleans specifically was implemented to reduce street violence in the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans. The CeaseFire model uses violence interrupters and outreach workers with street credibility to interrupt and resolve potentially violent situations before they escalate – with a focus on retaliatory shootings and mediating ongoing conflicts among groups. CeaseFire focuses on changing the behavior of a small number of carefully selected members of the community – those with a high chance of either being shot or being a shooter in the immediate future. From 2010 – 2012, half of the shooting victims in the Central City target area were 16-25 year old African American males. With that in mind, CeaseFire focuses on placing people on caseload in that demographic.
In the fourth quarter of 2013, CeaseFire New Orleans expanded to include a new Hospital Crisis Intervention Team at the University Medical Center Trauma Unit. This team responds to violence across all of New Orleans with a proactive emphasis on NOLA FOR LIFE hotspots. The goal is to prevent the victim from being shot again and prevent retaliatory violence.
Finally, CeaseFire New Orleans aims to change community norms about violence by mobilizing support services and the larger community to demand a change in behaviors that lead to shootings and killings.
WHY PART OF MURDER REDUCTION STRATEGY
Central City was one of the most violent neighborhoods in New Orleans, and responding to a shooting victim at the hospital is an ideal opportunity for an intervention to prevent future violence.
Evidence base: Evaluations of CURE Violence show a 40% - 45% reduction in shootings and killings in program target areas
Risk/protective factors addressed: Gun ownership; involvement in gangs; deficits in social cognitive or information-processing abilities
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS AND RESULTS
Though the press release to announce CeaseFire was in April 2012, December 2012 is considered the operational launch date, as the organization was still establishing itself during the initial months and not yet fully functioning. Therefore the best time period to analyze the effectiveness of CeaseFire Central City is by comparing 2010 – 2012 to 2013 – 2015. Evaluations of other CeaseFire cities have identified shooting victims rate (fatal and non-fatal) to be the most important indicator in measuring CeaseFire performance. In addition, retaliatory shootings and gang shootings are of importance.4
*Population estimates are 4,591 from 2010-2012 and 5,220 from 2013-2015. The CeaseFire Central City target zone is bordered by S. Claiborne, Thalia, Dryades/Oretha Castle Haley, and Louisiana (Dryades to Lasalle)/Washington (Lasalle to S. Claiborne). This area closely matches Orleans Parish census tracts 85, 86, 92, and 140. Population estimates for these tracts are available from 2010-2014, and the population’s chosen are midpoints of the pre and post periods.
**CeaseFire targets 16-25 year old African American males to be on caseload, who were half of the shooting victims in the Central City target area from 2010–2012.
***Gang/group member involved shooting data is unreliable for 2010 and 2011.
The Hospital Crisis Intervention Team launched in October 2013 and responds to every shooting victim at the University Medical Center hospital between the ages of 16-25, to prevent re-injury and retaliation. Since launch, on 19 occasions an individual was shot, released from the hospital, and shot again at a later date. In the same time length before launch, that occurred 34 times.