Enhancing Community Safety through Interagency Collaboration: Lessons from Connecticut's Project Longevity

Area of Science:

• Criminology
• Public Health
• Sociology

Background:

• Group Violence Interventions (GVIs) integrate law enforcement, community engagement, and social services for violence reduction.
• Limited research exists on the practical implementation of GVI strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To qualitatively examine the implementation of Project Longevity, a large-scale Group Violence Intervention initiative in Connecticut.
• To identify key challenges and lessons learned in establishing interagency collaboration for gun violence reduction.

Main Methods:

• A qualitative case study approach was used.
• Interviews were conducted with 24 law enforcement and non-law enforcement partners involved in Project Longevity.

Main Results:

• Interagency collaboration emerged as the most significant implementation challenge for Project Longevity.
• Participants' perspectives highlighted the complexities in establishing and maintaining collaborative efforts.

Conclusions:

• Effective implementation of GVIs requires addressing interagency collaboration challenges.
• The findings offer practical insights for practitioners developing and managing gun violence reduction programs.