SITE OVERVIEW ♦ BROOKLYN | NEW YORK
Target Area: A section of the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood • Population: 10,700
Fiscal Agent: Center for Court Innovation
Research Partner: The Center for Court Innovation Research Department
Crime Concerns: Domestic Violence, juvenile delinquency, and violent crimes
BCJI Funding Year: 2015 Planning
Neighborhood Profile
The target area for the BCJI project is an 18-square block area within Bedford-Stuyvesant that is home to two large New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) public housing developments—Marcy Houses and Tompkins Houses. The area is 51 percent Hispanic and 43 percent African American. In 2014, Tompkins Houses was selected as one of fifteen public housing developments citywide in the New York City Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety, an initiative aimed at the 15 developments that account for close to 20 percent of violent crime in public housing.
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) reports a 75 percent decrease in violent crime over the past 20 years. However, domestic violence has declined only 13 percent since 2001, and domestic violence incident reports have increased among residents of public housing. Bedford-Stuyvesant is one of six neighborhoods identified by the New York City Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence (OCDV) with particularly high numbers of multiple domestic violence indicators, including domestic violence-related homicide rates and child abuse investigations indicated by domestic violence. However, rates of victim services utilization by community members are disturbingly low—only 360 victims from the 79th Precinct visited the OCDV’s Brooklyn Family Justice Center in 2014.
Planning Process
The Center for Court Innovation will lead a cross-sector planning process designed to create a culturally appropriate, community-focused intervention to change local norms of silence and acceptance around domestic violence, reduce offending, and increase public safety. Working with the NYPD and District Attorney’s Office for domestic violence incident data, the researchers will help program staff to conduct a place-based crime mapping analysis of domestic violence crimes within the catchment area, working with the NYCHA Tenant Association and other residents at Tompkins and Marcy Houses, service providers, schools, businesses, and faith-based organizations.
Many of the models used to reduce community violence in high-crime neighborhoods leave domestic violence out of the equation. The program will review multiple violence prevention models to determine viability to reduce the acceptability and practice of domestic violence. Examples include the Cure Violence gun violence prevention model, Offender Notification Meetings (Project Safe Neighborhood), Trauma-Informed Programming for Men of Color, and Building Connections with the Family Justice Center. Examples of possible Early Action Projects to generate education and buy-in around future programming include a Family Resource and Fun Fair for adults and kids and an initial group for young men in the community based on the Make it Happen model.
Other Key Partners
The Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence (OCDV), New York City Housing Authority, the North Brooklyn Coalition Against Family Violence, Community Driven Solutions, Inc., and the New York District Attorney’s Office and the New York City Council
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