SITE OVERVIEW ♦ OMAHA | NEBRASKA
Target Area: Northeast Omaha (Zip code 68111) • Population: 22,000
Fiscal Agent: City of Omaha
Research Partner: Police Research and Policy Group (PRPG)
Crime Concerns: Gang-related violence, homicides, and aggravated assaults
BCJI Funding Year: 2012 Planning & Enhancement
Neighborhood Profile
Northeast Omaha is historically underserved, experiencing disproportionately high levels of violent crime and poverty. Specifically, the socioeconomic conditions are some of the worst in the country – the target area exhibits the highest African American childhood poverty rate and the third highest African American poverty rate. In addition, all census tracts within the target area score nine or above on the Community Disadvantage Index, which indicates that the area is 90 percent more disadvantaged than the rest of the country.
Violence in the target area follows a cyclical pattern with periods of calm followed by periods of gang-related shootings and homicides. The worst outbreaks of violence are often associated with high-risk gang offenders reentering the community after incarceration. This devastates the target area’s physical and social health and further inhibits revitalization efforts.
Planning Process
The Omaha RISE program is a collaborative initiative between the City of Omaha, Nebraska Probation, the Omaha Police Department, Eastern Nebraska Community Action Partnership, the Empowerment Network, and the Police Research and Policy Group to address violence related to gang offenders and offer wrap-around services for probationers that are under community supervision. Their planning phase, which consisted of semi-monthly meetings that lasted from November 2012 to June 2013, yielded several notable findings. Specifically, analysis confirmed the overwhelming need of this particular location, and gave further insight into the unique demographic attributes of the target area. A spatial analysis pinpointed areas of poverty, violent crime hot spots, homicide locations, density of shootings, and density of returning citizens residency, all of which were overwhelmingly concentrated in the 68111 area.
Implementation Strategies
BCJI partners pursued the following targeted interventions from 2013 through 2016:
- Ten-week training workshops hosted by the Eastern Nebraska Community Action Partnership aimed at helping probationers take care of all aspects of their health, wellness, and financial needs.
- Collaborating with the Empowerment Network’s Adopt-A-Block initiative on livability projects, including but not limited to street clean-up, community garden construction, or volunteering at a community event.
- Mandatory participation in one community policing event in which the Omaha Police Department engages community members.
- Compliance home visits by Nebraska Probation and Omaha Police Department Gang Unit.
Final results of the BCJI project are being assessed as the project completes activity in 2016.
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