SITE OVERVIEW ♦ LOWELL | MASSACHUSETTS
Target Area: Centralville • Population: 10,000
Fiscal Agent: City of Lowell Police Department
Research Partner: University of Massachusetts Lowell
Crime Concerns: Violent crime among youth, drug-related crime, property crime
BCJI Funding Year: 2012 Planning & Implementation
Neighborhood Profile
As one of the first BCJI sites awarded funding in 2012, the City of Lowell Police Department and its partners focused BCJI activities on Centralville, which at the time had the highest crime rate of Lowell’s 11 distinct neighborhoods. Lowell Police attributed much of the crime to pervasive local drug problems and lack of positive alternatives for youth. These and other challenges were exacerbated by the fact that the Centralville is physically isolated from the rest of the city by the Merrimack River, and had an extraordinarily high number of foreclosed properties – 22% of all foreclosures in the city in 2011. Data showed that 36% of individuals living in Centralville over the age of 16 were unemployed, and many people had current or prior involvement with the justice system.
Planning Process
The Lowell Police Department and the Centralville Neighborhood Action Group worked with a diverse group of public agencies and non-profit partners on their BCJI effort, which they named the Centralville Friends for Improvement, Revitalization and Enforcement (C-FIRE). During the planning process, the participating organizations broke into three subcommittees—law enforcement, youth and revitalization—that each worked over roughly six months to develop a detailed logic model (theory of change) to describe their vision, mission, current conditions, inputs, outputs (activities and participants), and measurable outcomes. The researcher analyzed available data to aid the work of the committees, such as temporal patterns in assaults, burglaries, drug offenses and other crimes, and truancy rates and numbers of youth involved in programming. In addition, the partners supplemented existing information with data from a property condition survey, and discussions with Centralville residents about their vision and priorities.
Implementation Strategies
The Lowell Police Department and project partners implemented a variety of research-based, evidence-based and innovative strategies through BCJI in 2014-2015, including:
- Enforcement. Police conducted saturated patrols of identified crime hotspots and surveillance/crackdowns of drug houses as part of a problem-oriented policing strategy.
- Prevention. Youth agencies and the Parks & Recreation Department provided more summer youth programming and extracurricular activities during the school year, with added transportation to help young people access programs that were previously difficult to reach. Truancy prevention services included bilingual home visits with parents.
- Intervention. Partners conducted street outreach to connect disengaged neighborhood youth with wraparound services, including mental health counseling.
- Revitalization. C-FIRE partners conducted foreclosure workshops and counseling to keep more residents in their homes, worked with City agencies to abate nuisance properties and launched a unique gardening program that enabled residents to produce food and build leadership skills.
Results
The researchers’ report noted that C-FIRE, along with several other strategies and efforts community-wide, led to crime reduction. Part I crime in Centralville declined 10% when analyzing the 2.5 years that CBCR was active (July 2013 – December 2015) as compared to the prior 2.5 years. Notably, robberies declined 16% and burglaries decreased 32.5%. In one hot spot, the decline in Part I crimes was 24%, including a 22% reduction in aggravated assaults. Total Part II crimes in Centralville increased by 3%, reflecting the 21% increase in drug violations during the intervention – an expected result of the police saturation strategy focused on drugs. Property crime decreased overall by 13.2%, with burglaries plummeting 51.9% and larceny/theft down 10.5% in one hot spot.
Other outcomes speak to benefits for youth in Centralville. Juvenile arrests dropped 19% during the intervention period, and more than 60 young people completed summer jobs programs and workshops on work readiness and financial literacy. Participation in youth programs jumped when transportation made consistent participation by Centralville youth possible. In post-BCJI focus groups, people said that young people who participated in programming had a greater sense of belonging and stronger connections to the community.
For a complete discussion of outcomes, contact the City of Lowell Police Department.
Featuring this Site
- View a fall 2015 presentation by the Lowell BCJI team.
- This profile of Lowell’s 2012 BCJI Planning & Implementation grant focuses on how the community worked through options for helping local youth connect to services and programs, as well as discussing revitalization and law enforcement strategies.
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