SITE OVERVIEW ♦ NEW HAVEN | CONNECTICUT
Target Area: The Newhallville Neighborhood • Population: 6,900
Fiscal Agent: City of New Haven
Research Partner: University of New Haven, College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences
Crime Concerns: Gang activity, shootings, homicides, and other violent crimes
BCJI Funding Year: 2014 Planning & Implementation
Neighborhood Profile
Located in the north-central section of New Haven, the Newhallville neighborhood has a predominately African American population (85%). Residents face a variety of economic challenges – the unemployment rate is twice that of the City’s rate, 60 percent of residents live below the poverty line, and 4 in 10 residents regularly experience a food insecurity. Additionally, residents experience poor health outcomes with reported elevations in chronic conditions such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes.
New Haven, and specifically the Newhallville neighborhood is experiencing a renewed epidemic of gun violence. Between the years 2011 to 2014, there were 78 shootings in the target area (an average of about one victim every three weeks). The neighborhood also witnessed a nearly 8 percent increase in firearm-related crimes in the past decade (shootings, robberies with firearms, and unlawful discharges). A large portion of residents have prior involvement with the criminal justice system with ex-offenders living on nearly every street. Recidivism is often cited as a contributing factor to crime, which could explain the ongoing cycle of violence in the community.
Planning Process
Although Newhallville has experienced a number of economic and criminal challenges, it has also benefited from federal support through the Department of Justice’s Smart Policing Initiative (SPI), the Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) through the Greater New Haven Community Loan, and a Community Development Block Grant. The BCJI project will build on the extensive work already undertaken in the target area through these grants. BCJI partners are now working to analyze crime patterns, hot spot locations, and the social networks of offenders. They are also examining the following strategies to achieve the four objectives stated above:
- Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)
- Project Fresh Start – provides reentry support
- Project Longevity – provides focused deterrence
- Street Outreach Worker – reconnects youth to the community
- Youth Stat – provides opportunities and support for at-risk youth
- Newhallville Community Management Team – strengthens resident relations
Within these strategies, there has been a collective development of an action plan that addresses the challenges and establishes clearly defined interventions. Understanding the need to visualize successes and failures of their endeavors, partners have also created benchmarks for performance measures and accountability processes.
Other Key Partners
Charter Oak Group (COG), The Neighborhood Research Advisory Committee (NRAC); the New Haven Police Department, The New Haven Family Alliance (NHFA), The Justice Education Center, The Newhallville Community Management Team (NCMT), and State Departments of Correction, Children and Families, and Adult/Juvenile Probation
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