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Social Justice Resource Center: Domestic Abuse Facts & Figures

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Social Justice Resource Center: Domestic Abuse Facts & Figures

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Domestic violence is any kind of behavior that a person uses to control an intimate partner through fear and intimidation. It includes physical, sexual, psychological, verbal, and economic abuse. Some examples of domestic abuse include battering, name-calling and insults, threats to kill or harm one's partner or children, destruction of property, marital rape, and forced sterilization or abortion.

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Social Justice Resource Center: Gun Violence Facts & Figures

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Social Justice Resource Center: Gun Violence Facts & Figures

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Giffords Law Center
58% of American adults or someone they care for has experienced gun violence in their lifetime.
Everytown Research Small Arms Survey
There are 51,438 gun retailers in the United States. In addition there are 61,562, "collectors," 7,356 pawn shops as well as importers and manufacturers for a total of 129,817 gun dealers in the country.

(For comparison, there are 14,098 McDonalds and 36,536 grocery stores.)
Business Insider
The states with the highest gun death rates in the nation:

Each of these states has lax gun violence prevention laws as well as a higher rate of gun ownership.
Violence Policy Center
The states with the lowest gun death in the nation are:

Each of these states has strong gun violence prevention laws and a lower rate of gun ownership.
Violence Policy Center Small Arms Survey
The U.S. has 1,073,743 arms that are registered and 392,273,257 that are not.
Small Arms Survey
There are approximately 310 million firearms in the U.S. - not including weapons owned by the military. Of these, 114 million are handguns, 110 million are rifles, and 86 million are shotguns. This is about twice as many guns per capita as there were in 1968.
Congressional Research Service Pew Research Center
Gun sales have increased in recent years. After the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, many states eased laws on gun ownership. Gun sales often rise after massacres when people are afraid of gun-buying restrictions.
U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive
Another spike in gun sales increased during the COVID 19 health crisis when people were fearful that the pandemic could lead to civil unrest.
The New York Times
The biggest reason (67%) gun owners say that they own a gun is for protection.
Pew Research Center

39% of men say they own a gun, compared with 22% of women

48% of white men say they own a gun

31% of adults with a high school diploma or less and 34% of those with some college education say they own a gun.

Among whites, 40% of those with a high school diploma or less say they own a gun.

Pew Research Center
Since the 9/11 attacks, approximately 4,000 Americans have been killed by terrorists. Over the same period, over 400,000 Americans were killed by gun violence.
Wikidpedia
42% of active shooter incidents occurred at a business.

21% of active shooter incidents occurred at an educational institution.

14% of active shooter incidents occurred in an open space.

10% of active shooter incidents occurred at a government owned property.

5% of active shooter incidents occurred at a home or residence.

4% of active shooter incidents occurred at a church or place of worship.

4% of active shooter incidents occurred at a hospital or health care facility.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
About 60% of gun deaths in the US are self-inflicted.

Gun violence is the leading cause of death for young people ages 10-19 (after motor vehicle crashes).

67% of all homicides in the US were conducted by a firearm.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Handguns comprise about 72% of the firearms used in murder and manslaughter incidents; 4% are with shotguns; 4% are with rifles and 18% are with unspecified firearms.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
4.6 million children live in homes where guns are unlocked and loaded.
Gifford Law Center
U.S. children and teens are 17 times more likely to die from a gun than their peers in 25 other
high-income countries combined.
Children's Defense Fund
Black high school students in the US are over twice as likely than white high school students to miss school due to safety concerns.
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
An average of 8 children and teens under the age of 20 are killed by guns every day.

Youth in rural U.S. counties are as likely to die from a gunshot as those living in urban counties. Rural children die of more gun suicides and unintentional shooting deaths. Urban children die more often of gun homicides.
American Academy of Pediatrics
Domestic Violence

The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation increases the risk of homicide by 500%.
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
19% of domestic violence involves a weapon.
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
66% of females murdered by intimate partners were killed with guns.
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
A woman whose abuser owns a firearm is 5 times more likely to be murdered than a woman whose abuser does not own a gun.
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Women in the US are 11 times more likely to be murdered with a gun than in other developed nations.
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Having a gun in the home increases the risk of homicide 20 times when there is a history of domestic violence.
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
20% of homicide victims with restraining orders are murdered within 2 days of obtaining the order; 33% are murdered within 1 month.
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
48% of women killed by intimate partners were killed by dating partners.
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
76% of women murdered by intimate partners were stalked.
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
A person who has been convicted of the felony or misdemeanor crime of domestic violence toward a spouse, former spouse, cohabiting intimate partner or a person with whom the offender shares a biological child is prohibited from owning firearms. Likewise, a person under a permanent restraining order is not permitted to own firearms. However current law does not prohibit the following people from possessing firearms:

People convicted of domestic violence against a current or former dating partner

People convicted of stalking

People under an ex parte (temporary) restraining order

Many people who are legally prohibited from owning guns are able to purchase them, because:

Local records often do not contain sufficient detail to flag offenders

Offenders can purchase firearms at gun shows or from private sellers, thereby bypassing the background check system

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Mass shootings (4 or more injured or killed) in the U.S.

2014: 269

2015: 335

2016: 382

2017: 346

2018: 337

2019: 417
Gun Violence Archive
74% of people who carry out mass shootings are using legally obtained firearms.
Mother Jones
38% of active shooters used more than one weapon.
Apex Officer
The Dickey Amendment was a provision in the 1996 U.S. federal government spending bill which mandated that "none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may be used to advocate or promote gun control." The amendment was lobbied for by the National Rifle Association (NRA), and named after its author Jay Dickey, a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas. In response the CDC avoided all research on gun violence for fear for 2 decades for fear that it would be financially penalized.

The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (ATF) is barred from computerizing its records and must look up records by hand. Dealer records are required to be "non-searchable" under federal law and keyword searches, or sorting by date or any other field, are strictly prohibited.The rationale for the law is that gun rights groups argue that once the government has a list of firearms, it could use that list to confiscate weapons from private citizens.
The National Rifle Association (NRA)

The NRA has changed its focus over last 150 years. When the NRA was officially incorporated in 1871, its primary goal was to "promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis". The NRA's website says the organization is "America's longest-standing civil rights organization"
The Federal Election Commission
Financial Considerations

Every year, gun violence costs the American economy $229 billion.
Giffords Law Center
Gun violence expenses include:

Medical treatment

Legal fees

Long term prison costs

Long term medical and disability expenses

Mental health care

Emergency services

Police investigations

Security enhancements

Mother Jones
In the wake of declining gun ownership, the gun industry has focused on the development and marketing of military style firearms to appeal to a shrinking core market of white males.
Violence Policy Center
Suicide attempts without a gun are 5% successful

Suicide attempts with a gun are 85% successful.
Everytown Research
Since 1982 the city of Kennesaw, Georgia has required all of its residents to carry guns.

In 2005 Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) which protects firearms manufacturers and dealers from being held liable when crimes have been committed with their products.

Gun purchasers with prior convictions for driving under the influence are nearly 3 times more likely to be arrested in the future for domestic partner violence
Health Affairs Journal
1% of gun dealers are responsible for nearly 60% of guns recovered at crime scenes. Slightly more than 5% of gun dealers are responsible for selling nearly 90% of those guns.
U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
Regulation

91% of Americans support background checks for gun purchasers.

87% of NRA members agree that support for Second Amendment rights goes hand-in-hand with keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.

74% of NRA members and 87% of non-NRA gun owners support requiring criminal background checks of anyone purchasing a gun.
Giffords Law Center
Teddy bears are more regulated than guns. Guns are the only consumer products manufactured in the United States that are not subject to federal health and safety regulation. All other products that Americans use or come into contact with are regulated by a federal health and safety agency.
Violence Policy Center
Despite over 80% of Americans who support it, there are virtually no federal or state laws that restrict people on the federal terrorist watch list to own or possess a gun.
Giffords Law Center
Firearm sales and transfers proceed in more than 91% of cases (more than 2,000 individuals) where known or suspected terrorists on the terror watchlist undergo firearm background checks.
Giffords Law Center
40% of guns sold in the U.S. are without background checks.
Annals of Internal Medicine
A background check normally takes about 30 seconds.
Criminal Watch Dog
Background checks are required only with a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL), which includes retailers such as Walmart. A background check is not required to purchase a gun online, through a gun show, or through some private sales.
Criminal Watch Dog
The FBI has 72 hours to finish a background check and if it isn't able to do so, a gun sale may proceed. This time limit has allowed over 4,000 gun sales to occur each year.
Giffords Law Center Pew Research Center Pew Research Center Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Nearly 66% of crime guns recovered in states with strong gun laws were originally sold in states with weak gun laws.
Gifford Law Center
Studies of crime gun recoveries in Chicago, New York City, and Boston-all cities in states with strong gun laws-show that as many as 87% of the firearms used in crime in these cities were trafficked from other states which often have weaker gun laws.
Gifford Law Center
States with strong gun laws see increased rates of gun homicide and gun crime when they border states with weak gun laws.
Gifford Law Center

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Giffords Law Center 58% of American adults or someone they care for has experienced gun violence in their lifetime. Everytown Research Small Arms Survey There are 51,438 gun retailers in the United States. In addition there are 61,562, "collectors," 7,356 pawn shops as well as importers and manufacturers for a total of 129,817 gun dealers in the country.

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Resource listing of NYC organizations working to prevent and reduce domestic violence and sexual assault, and serving survivors of such violence.

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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE/SEXUAL ASSAULT

Mission: AVP empowers lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and HIV-affected communities and allies to end all forms of violence through organizing and education, and supports survivors through counseling and advocacy. AVP envisions a world in which all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and HIV-affected people are safe, respected, and live free from violence. AVP provides direct services such as immediate crisis intervention, safety planning, short or long-term counseling, police, court and social services advocacy and accompaniment, information and referrals, legal counseling, and support groups. AVP's Speakers Bureau provides education and support for survivors of violence to share their stories to educate the public about how to prevent violence, and what to do if they or someone they love is affected by anti-LGBTQ & HIV-affected violence. They also run leadership development institutes to build community-organizing and campaign skills.

Website: http://www.avp.org/get-involved/volunteer
Phone: 212-714-1184
Email: mmikowicz@avp.org
What volunteers do:

tabling at community safety nights, marches, rallies

street-based outreach and SafeBar/Safe Nights Program

serve on PRIDE committees

staff front desk to forward calls to hotline

staff hotline (40-hour training on nights and weekends that includes in-depth anti-oppression training, then commit to a year of monthly hotline shifts on nights or weekends)

Mission: Many New Yorkers face daily hurdles such as chronic homelessness, HIV/AIDS, language barriers, domestic violence, lack of necessary job skills, and more. Since 1977, CAMBA has helped New Yorkers transform their lives by providing holistic programs to individuals, families and communities. CAMBA serves more than 45,000 individuals and families, including 9,000 youth, each year. We help people who are low- and moderate-income; people who are homeless, at risk of homelessness or transitioning out of homelessness; individuals living with or at risk of HIV/AIDS; immigrants and refugees; children and young adults; entrepreneurs and other groups working to become self-sufficient. CAMBA offers integrated services and programs in: economic development, education & youth development, family support, health, housing, and legal services.

Website: https://www.camba.org/Lists/CAMBACareers/AllItems.aspx
Phone: 718-287-2600
Email: info@camba.org
What volunteers do:
Borough: Brooklyn (primarily)

Mission: The Center for Anti-Violence Education (CAE) develops and implements comprehensive violence prevention programs for individuals and organizations. Through a combination of education, physical empowerment, and leadership development, CAE provides underserved communities throughout the New York metropolitan area with skills to break cycles of violence. CAE's self-defense and violence-prevention programs focus on women, girls and LGBTQ communities, with a special sensitivity to the needs of survivors. Participants build the skills and strength to heal from, prevent, and counter violence. We do this work to actively create a peaceful, just, and equitable world.

Website: http://caeny.org/support-us/volunteerintern/
Phone: 718-788-1775
Email: http://caeny.org/contact-us/
What volunteers do:

Mission: The Korean American Family Service Center (KAFSC) supports and empowers adults, youth and children to lead safe and healthy lives based on dignity, compassion and mutual respect. We are committed to preventing and ending domestic violence, sexual assault, and relationship abuse, and creating a violence-free society. Our counseling, education and advocacy programs for individuals and families in the New York Tri-State area are provided in a culturally and linguistically appropriate setting.

Website: http://kafsc.org/volunteer
Signup form: http://form.jotform.us/form/32595194185160
Phone: Ji Ye Kim at 718-460-3801 x34
Email: jiye.kim@kafsc.org
What volunteers do:

staff hotline evenings, weekends, holidays (5-week training provided, must be bilingual Korean-English)

assist with children 5-13 in afterschool program

mentor teen youth clients

pro-bono lawyers accompany clients to court to obtain orders of protection, child support, child custody (must be bilingual)

Borough: Queens

Mission: Founded in 1990, the New York Legal Assistance Group provides high quality, free civil legal services to low-income New Yorkers who cannot afford attorneys. Our comprehensive range of services includes direct representation, case consultation, advocacy, community education, training, financial counseling, and impact litigation. NYLAG assists victims of domestic violence, immigrants seeking citizenship, elderly New Yorkers in need of public benefits and homecare, children with special needs, tenants at risk of foreclosure and eviction. NYLAG is unique for its ability to serve not only the abject poor, but also individuals and families who earn slightly above the government-designated poverty threshold. We're able to serve this population because we neither apply for, nor do we receive, Federal Legal Services Corporation (LSC) funding. NYLAG has 125 community offices located in courts, hospitals, and community based organizations in all five boroughs of New York City as well as Westchester, Rockland and Long Island. We also partner with over 600 health and human services agencies across the City to provide cross-referrals and ensure holistic care for New Yorkers in need.

Website: http://nylag.org/get-involved/volunteer-opportunities
Phone: 212-613-5000
Email: volunteer@NYLAG.org

What volunteers do:

retired attorneys, attorneys in transition, law students and law graduates interact directly with clients and provide legal and factual research, litigation preparation, client advocacy, discovery, motion practice under supervision of NYLAG attorneys (commit to working minimum of 2 days or 15 hours per week either at NYLAG's Manhattan headquarters or at community offices across the five boroughs)

translate and interpret

administration

development

general operations

Mission: Safe Horizon is the nation's leading victim assistance organization. Our mission is to provide support, prevent violence, and promote justice for victims of crime and abuse, their families and communities. Safe Horizon envisions a society free of family and community violence. We will lead the way by empowering victims of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault and human trafficking to move from crisis to confidence.

Website: https://www.safehorizon.org/volunteer/
Phone: 212-577-7700
Email: n/a
What volunteers do:

rape crisis advocate

childcare assistant in domestic violence shelter

childcare assistant at child advocacy center

teen mentor in domestic violence shelter

meal prep for homeless youth at drop-in center

administrative assistant

Mission: Sanctuary for Families is New York's leading service provider and advocate for survivors of domestic violence, sex trafficking, and related forms of gender violence. We work to end gender violence through three key strategies: direct services, outreach and training, and systems-change advocacy. Through high-quality service provision and rigorous evaluation practices, we impact over 10,000 adults and children every year.

Website: https://www.sanctuaryforfamilies.org/support-us/volunteer/volunteer-form/
Phone: 212-349-6009
Email: info@sffny.org
What volunteers do:

assist staff in children and youth services program by providing tutoring support with arts and crafts, participating in outings or spending time with a child in childcare groups (various times Monday-Friday)

assist with document translation (can be done at home and completed via email) and more infrequently, in-person interpreting (most often Spanish, French, Chinese, and Hindi, other languages as well)

assist with planning and execution of fundraising benefits and other special events (short-term commitment)

clerical assistance with administrative tasks including photocopying, data entry and filing

law students or individual attorneys assist Sanctuary's legal staff in the legal challenges facing survivors of gender violence

Mission: For over 75 years, Edwin Gould's Community of Care has addressed the complex and often overwhelming issues that confront society. Rooted in a history of services focused on the needs of orphaned children during the early years of the twentieth century, our programming now includes a comprehensive array of services incorporating evidence-based practices to address those in need across the life-span. Our cornerstone foster care and adoption services are joined by community-based preventive services designed to assist at-risk families; programming focused on the prevention of domestic violence, intervention to assist victims of such violence, and advocacy toward policy change; criminal justice services; school-based programs; health and mental health services; vocational, and economic empowerment programming; and group living environments for developmentally disabled adults who wish to live independently.

Website: http://www.egscf.org/get-involved/volunteer/
Email: mrichardson2@egscf.org
Phone: 212-437-3500
What volunteers do:
Borough: Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan

Mission: We are a community based non-profit organization dedicated to the eradication of domestic and intimate partner violence. VIP fills a gap in services to Latina survivors and their children in a culturally competent environment that is supportive, non-judgmental, and respects each victim's right to self-determination. Our mission is to lead Latina victims of domestic violence to safety, empower them to live free of violence and reach and sustain their full potential. We pursue our mission by raising community awareness, engaging in activism and providing culturally competent services.

Website: www.vipmujeres.org
Phone: 1-800-662-5880 (24 hour bilingual hotline and first point of contact for all inquiries)
E-mail: Julia Sick jsick@vipmujeres.org

What volunteers do:
FYI:

Mission: For decades, Womankind has been serving survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and sexual violence of all ages. We provide innovative healing services and award-winning assistance to women and their children. Depending on circumstance, they have access to a safe place to live, assistance with housing, employment, English language training, legal immigration assistance, financial empowerment, and so much more.The survivors we serve, along with their communities, are frightened because of immigration concerns, hate crimes, the potential of widening gaps in the social welfare safety net, loss of health insurance, and the decline of affordable housing, among other concerns. Womankind is an expert in serving Asian women and their children. Our services are multilingual and culturally responsive. But services are equally valuable for the many non-Asians, the men and boys, and members of the LGBTQ community that we serve. Assistance is offered through all stages of life, from childhood to elder years. For those whose lives have been impacted by violence, Womankind helps them move forward from isolation to connectedness, from surviving to thriving.
What volunteers do:
FYI:

useful languages include Chinese (multiple dialects), Japanese, Bengali, Tagalog, Korean, Hindi, Vietnamese

Borough: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens

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Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault - We Are New York Values

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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE/SEXUAL ASSAULT Mission: AVP empowers lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and HIV-affected communities and allies to end all forms of violence through organizing and education, and supports survivors through counseling and advocacy. AVP envisions a world in which all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and HIV-affected people are safe, respected, and live free from violence.

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Hate crimes are the highest priority of the FBI's civil rights program because of the devastating impact they have on families and communities. The Bureau investigates hundreds of these cases every year, and we work to detect and prevent incidents through law enforcement training, public outreach, and partnerships with community groups.

Traditionally, FBI investigations of hate crimes were limited to crimes in which the perpetrators acted based on a bias against the victim's race, color, religion, or national origin. In addition, investigations were restricted to those wherein the victim was engaged in a federally protected activity. With the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, the Bureau became authorized to also investigate crimes committed against those based on biases of actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or gender.

History

The FBI investigated what are now called hate crimes as far back as World War I. Our role increased following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Before then, the federal government took the position that protection of civil rights was a local function, not a federal one. However, the murders of civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney, near Philadelphia, Mississippi, in June 1964 provided the impetus for a visible and sustained federal effort to protect and foster civil rights for African Americans. MIBURN, as the case was called (it stood for Mississippi Burning), became the largest federal investigation ever conducted in Mississippi. On October 20, 1967, seven men were convicted of conspiring to violate the constitutional rights of the slain civil rights workers. All seven were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to 10 years.

Defining a Hate Crime

A hate crime is a traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias. For the purposes of collecting statistics, the FBI has defined a hate crime as a "criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity." Hate itself is not a crime-and the FBI is mindful of protecting freedom of speech and other civil liberties.

The FBI's Role

As part of its responsibility to uphold the civil rights of the American people, the FBI takes a number of steps to combat the problem of hate crimes.

Investigative Activities: The FBI is the lead investigative agency for criminal violations of federal civil rights statutes. The Bureau works closely with its local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement partners around the country in many of these cases.

Law Enforcement Support: The FBI works closely with state/local/tribal authorities on investigations, even when federal charges are not brought. FBI resources, forensic expertise, and experience in identification and proof of hate-based motivations often provide an invaluable complement to local law enforcement. Many cases are also prosecuted under state statutes such as murder, arson, or more recent local ethnic intimidation laws. Once the state prosecution begins, the Department of Justice follows the proceedings to ensure that the federal interest is vindicated and the law is applied equally among the 95 U.S. Judicial Districts.

Prosecutive Decision: The FBI forwards results of completed investigations to local U.S. Attorneys Offices and the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice, which decide whether a federal prosecution is warranted. Prosecution of these crimes may move forward, for example, if local authorities are unwilling or unable to prosecute a crime of bias.

Public Outreach: Outreach is a critical component of the FBI's civil rights program. The FBI engages with various local and national organizations to identify violations of federal law designed to protect the civil rights of individuals in the United States. Many FBI's field offices participate in working groups with state and local law enforcement partners, as well as community groups within their area of responsibility. These working groups combine community and law enforcement resources to develop strategies to address local hate crime problems.

Training: The FBI conducts hundreds of operational seminars, workshops, and training sessions annually for local law enforcement, minority and religious organizations, and community groups to promote cooperation and reduce civil rights abuses. Each year, the FBI also provides hate crimes training for new agents, hundreds of current agents, and thousands of police officers worldwide.

Hate Crime Statistics

The FBI has gathered and published hate crime statistics every year since 1992. Our latest reports:

For more information please visit ucr.fbi.gov.

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Hate Crimes | Federal Bureau of Investigation

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Hate crimes are the highest priority of the FBI's civil rights program because of the devastating impact they have on families and communities. The Bureau investigates hundreds of these cases every year, and we work to detect and prevent incidents through law enforcement training, public outreach, and partnerships with community groups.

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"Violence in the Shelter: The Price of Underfunding"

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"Violence in the Shelter: The Price of Underfunding"

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Opinion piece that focuses on the intersection of homelessness and violence, and the ways funding and provision of services become contributing factors

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I imagine not seeing many hands. In fact, I imagine not seeing any hands. No one expects to die at work, not even police officers and firefighters, much less social workers and their colleagues fighting the good fight in the nonprofit sector. In my 10 years working with psychiatrically and medically disabled homeless adults in programs at Coalition for the Homeless, CAMBA and Project Renewal, I had heard of only two assaults, though undoubtedly there were more. But never murder.

Late in the afternoon on Monday, April 27, 2015, my friend and colleague Ana Isabel Charle was abducted, sexually assaulted and shot to death as she left work at Project Renewal's Bronx Boulevard Men's Shelter, a 108-bed shelter for single adult men with mental illness located in the Bronx.

Ana and I had been clinical directors at two CAMBA-run shelters in Brooklyn, and in December 2013 she'd asked me to come on board as she prepared to open Bronx Boulevard Men's Shelter. Since I was unable to join her team, Ana recommended me for a program director position at one of Project Renewal's OMH-licensed transitional residences. I got the job, and once again we were at the same organization, leading our teams in the effort to help the single adult mentally ill population rebuild their lives.

Ana's killer had his sights set on my 36-year-old friend and colleague, a mother of two young girls. At a vigil held in front of the shelter on May 6, word had it that he had told other shelter residents, "I'm going to kill that b*tch." If true, why didn't anyone say anything? Was it the no-snitch culture that permeates the streets? Or that so many threats are bandied about every day no one pays much attention anymore? Was it a conscious and all-too-common choice not to get involved?

Ana's death brought Project Renewal to its knees, rocked the homeless services community and sent shockwaves through the entire city. During a June 2015 memorial, Project Renewal President and CEO Mitchell Netburn renamed "Bronx Boulevard," as the shelter was commonly known, "Ana's Place," in her honor.

Much of our ensuing discussion in the homeless services community centered on increasing security, improving staff training and meeting the challenges posed by the reintegration of violent felons with mental illness. I've spent a lot of time thinking about what may have been missed in the time leading up to this heinous crime and how, going forward, we can minimize the chance of missing critical clues to impending disaster while working with a fragile, displaced community of mentally ill homeless people.

While focusing on security and training certainly makes sense (there is never enough of either), the time, money and effort being spent needs to be balanced in favor of detection and intervention before violence occurs. This can best be achieved by front-loading the response of homeless services providers to potential crises - through hiring more qualified and better paid staff, in sufficient numbers - rather than back-loading the response by increasing security and training budgets after someone has been killed or injured.

I recently met with a colleague who is a program administrator for a New York City-based nonprofit that he saids holds "13 or 14 city contracts" to run "about 73 shelters." In discussing a wide range of shelter-related issues, we touched upon staffing at one of his programs, a 200-bed Bronx shelter for mentally ill chemically addicted women. I asked what his organization's educational requirement is for case management staff. He answered, "A high school diploma or GED," sheepishly adding that they're hoping to improve the educational standard to require "some college." "But right now," he added somewhat forlornly, "Our main focus is getting more beds on line."

With the shelter system bursting at the seams, I felt for my colleague. We both understand the enormous challenge of running shelters for mentally ill, substance-abusing adults with front line staff whose highest level of education is, in most cases, a high school diploma or GED. Nothing against those whose education stopped after high school or after having obtained their GED - with salaries at roughly $32,000 to $38,000 per year, the system isn't offering the competitive pay that would attract individuals with college degrees. These hardworking, dedicated case managers and other lower-paid front line staff have way too much asked of them while being inserted into situations they are, in many cases, ill-equipped to manage.

If we want social services programs serving the homeless and mentally ill to work to the benefit of us all, we need to press our leaders to provide enough funding to hire qualified professionals in sufficient numbers. Putting social workers with college-level experience on the front lines of the homelessness crisis in our city will automatically increase security by enhancing a program's ability to better manage the most challenging and potentially dangerous clients. Program staff need the time and space to engage and discover and intervene when a deeply troubled man with a violent history is walking around saying he's going to kill a specific person and also wondering aloud how to talk to girls.

Without an immediate commitment to fund the appropriate staffing of our shelters, tragedies like Ana's murder will become the cost of doing business. So in the aftermath of this senseless act, I continue to wonder, will nonprofits fighting the good fight be provided the resources and tools to engage their troubled clients appropriately? Will our thought leaders and politicians work to fill the gaps in "the system" and keep workers safe? Or are we waiting for more headlines?
Craig Moncho is a NYS-licensed Social Worker who has served the homeless in New York City since 2005. He blogs at www.thesocialworkpractitioner.com

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Violence In the Shelter: The Price of Underfunding

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I imagine not seeing many hands. In fact, I imagine not seeing any hands. No one expects to die at work, not even police officers and firefighters, much less social workers and their colleagues fighting the good fight in the nonprofit sector.

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Highly interactive resource (best viewed on a computer browser) highlighting over 200 perspectives on gun violence and culture

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245 Americans across the political divide share their views — and try to find common ground

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As of Tuesday, March 17, 2020, the NYC Family Justice Centers buildings are temporarily closed as part of the City's response to Coronavirus (COVID-19). Services and support for survivors remains available by phone. Learn more

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic or gender-based violence, help is available.

Call 311 to be connected to the nearest NYC Family Justice Center

Find resources and support in NYC by searching the City's NYC HOPE Resource Directory

Call the City's 24-hour Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-621-HOPE (4673) for immediate safety planning, shelter assistance, and other resources. TTY: 800-810-7444

In an emergency, dial 911.
NYC Family Justice Centers

You can visit any New York City Family Justice Center (FJC) to get connected to free and confidential assistance for victims and survivors of domestic and gender-based violence, which can include sexual violence, human trafficking, stalking, and intimate partner violence. All Centers are open Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. No appointment is needed.

At any NYC FJC, survivors of domestic and gender-based violence and their children can get connected to organizations that provide case management, economic empowerment, counseling, civil legal, and criminal legal assistance. Located in all five boroughs, FJCs are safe, caring environments that provide one-stop services and support. Key City agencies, community, social and civil legal services providers, and District Attorney's Offices are located on-site at FJCs, to make it easier for survivors to get help.

All are welcome regardless of language, income, gender identity, or immigration status. Interpretation services are available on-site at every FJC, and locations are wheelchair accessible. Call ahead to request other accommodations.

How Can the Family Justice Centers Help?

NYC Family Justice Centers can help you with:

Planning for your safety

Applying for public benefits, shelter, housing, and other support services

Mental health and counseling services to support emotional well-being for you and your children

Information on job training programs, including help with resume writing and interviewing skills

Referrals to education programs, including workshops to help with budgeting, credit repair, and English as a Second Language (ESL) classes

Legal help for orders of protection, custody, visitation, child support, divorce, housing, and immigration

Connecting to trained law enforcement, such as NYPD, NYC Sheriff's Office, and District Attorney's Office

Childcare for children age 3+ while you get services at the FJC

Locations

NYC Family Justice Center, Bronx

198 East 161st Street, 2nd Floor
718-508-1220
Subway: 4, B, and D to Yankee Stadium
Bus: BX1, BX2, BX6, and BX13

NYC Family Justice Center, Brooklyn

350 Jay Street, 15th Floor
718-250-5113
Subway: A, C, F, and R to Jay Street
or 2, 3, 4, and 5 to Borough Hall
Bus: B25, B26, B38, B54, B57, B61, B62, B65, B67, B75, and B103

NYC Family Justice Center, Manhattan

80 Centre Street, 5th Floor
212-602-2800
Subway: 4, 5, and 6 to Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall
J and Z to Chambers Street
N, Q, and R to Canal Street
1, 2, 3, A, and C to Chambers Street
Bus: M5, M9, M22, and M103

NYC Family Justice Center, Queens

126-02 82nd Avenue
718-575-4545
Subway: E and F to Kew Gardens-Union Turnpike
Bus: Q10, Q37, Q46, and Q60

NYC Family Justice Center, Staten Island

126 Stuyvesant Place
718-697-4300
Staten Island Railroad to St. George Ferry Terminal
Bus: S40, S42, S44, S46, S48, S51, S52, S61, S62, S66, S74, S76, S78, S81, S86, S90, S91, S92, S94, S96, and S98

For Service Providers

NYC FJCs regularly offer Core I, Core II, and Advanced trainings for service providers.
Sign up for upcoming trainings

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Call 311 to be connected to the nearest NYC Family Justice Center Find resources and support in NYC by searching the City's NYC HOPE Resource Directory Call the City's 24-hour Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-621-HOPE (4673) for immediate safety planning, shelter assistance, and other resources. TTY: 800-810-7444 In an emergency, dial 911.

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Safe Horizon | Homepage

Quickly exit site Click on this button when your abuser enters the room. This page will be changed to Google.

Safe Horizon envisions a society free of family and community violence. We will lead the way by empowering victims of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault and human trafficking to move from crisis to confidence.

Safe Horizon is the nation's leading victim assistance organization. Our mission is to provide support, prevent violence, and promote justice for victims of crime and abuse, their families and communities.

Client-Centered Practice (CCP)

We believe our clients are the experts in their own lives and collaborate with each client in addressing risks, needs, and concerns that are most important to that individual. We offer support, information, and expertise so that each client can choose their own path.

Safe Horizon's toll-free hotlines are gateways to assistance for tens of thousands of victims each year.

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Moving Victims from Crisis to Confidence - Safe Horizon

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Safe Horizon | Homepage Quickly exit site Click on this button when your abuser enters the room. This page will be changed to Google. Safe Horizon envisions a society free of family and community violence. We will lead the way by empowering victims of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault and human trafficking to move from crisis to confidence.

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An Atlas of Gun Violence in America

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Six years. 190,000 shootings. How has gun violence marked your corner of the country?

Daniel Nass is The Trace's associate editor for data and graphics. He analyzes data, creates graphics, and builds interactives for The Trace's investigations and daily coverage.

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The Gun Violence Map: Six Years of American Shootings

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Six years. 190,000 shootings. How has gun violence marked your corner of the country? Daniel Nass is The Trace's associate editor for data and graphics. He analyzes data, creates graphics, and builds interactives for The Trace's investigations and daily coverage.

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CITE THIS

Violence. It's the act of purposefully hurting someone. And it's a major issue facing today's young adults.

According to the 2011 Center for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance survey, 16.6 percent of high school students carried a weapon at least once during the 30 days before they were surveyed. And, 7.4 percent reported that they have been threatened or injured with a weapon. Many different factors cause violent behavior. The more these factors are present in your life, the more likely you are to commit an act of violence.

What causes someone to punch, kick, stab or fire a gun at someone else or even him/herself?

There is never a simple answer to that question. But people often commit violence because of one or more of the following:

Expression. Some people use violence to release feelings of anger or frustration. They think there are no answers to their problems and turn to violence to express their out of control emotions.

Manipulation. Violence is used as a way to control others or get something they want.

Retaliation. Violence is used to retaliate against those who have hurt them or someone they care about.

Violence is a learned behavior. Like all learned behaviors, it can be changed. This isn't easy, though. Since there is no single cause of violence, there is no one simple solution. The best you can do is learn to recognize the warning signs of violence and to get help when you see them in your friends or yourself.

Recognizing violence warning signs in others

Often people who act violently have trouble controlling their feelings. They may have been hurt by others. Some think that making people fear them through violence or threats of violence will solve their problems or earn them respect. This isn't true. Some violence occurs as a response to prolonged hurt, trauma, bullying or victimization. People may use violence to get something, while others may act out of self-protection or desperation.

People who behave violently lose respect. They eventually find themselves isolated or disliked, and they still feel angry and frustrated.

Anger itself is not always a sign that violence is imminent. While anger may be a warning sign of violence, it must be put in context. In fact, by assuming that anger or increased substance abuse will always lead to violence means that many non-violent people who are in need of help become unfairly characterized as violent. What is most important to look at is if there are "new" signs and significant changes in behavior.

The presence of some of the signs or factors listed below should alert us to the possibility that an individual may be at risk of violence. It should be noted, however, that the presence of one or more signs or factors does not necessarily mean that the person will be violent.

Some signs of potential for violence may be historical or static (unchangeable) factors like:

A history of violent or aggressive behavior

Young age at first violent incident

Having been a victim of bullying

History of discipline problems or frequent conflicts with authority

Early childhood abuse or neglect

Having witnessed violence at home

Family or parent condones use of violence

A history of cruelty to animals

Having a major mental illness

Being callous or lacking empathy for others

History of vandalism or property damage

Other signs of potential violence may be present over time and may escalate or contribute to the risk of violence given a certain event or activity. These might include:

Serious drug or alcohol use

Gang membership or strong desire to be in a gang

Access to or fascination with weapons, especially guns

Trouble controlling feelings like anger

Withdrawal from friends and usual activities

Regularly feeling rejected or alone

Feeling constantly disrespected

Some signs of potential violence may be new or active signs. They might look like:

Increased loss of temper

Frequent physical fighting

Increased use of alcohol or drugs

Increased risk-taking behavior

Declining school performance

Acute episode of major mental illness

Planning how to commit acts of violence

Announcing threats or plans for hurting others

Obtaining or carrying a weapon

There is research that indicates that new or active signs are more predictive of short-term risk of violence than historical factors, which may be more predictive of longer term risk.

What you can do if someone you know shows violence warning signs

When you recognize violence warning signs in someone else, there are things you can do. Hoping that someone else will deal with the situation is the easy way out.

Above all, be safe. Don't spend time alone with people who show warning signs. If possible without putting yourself in danger, remove the person from the situation that's setting them off.

Tell someone you trust and respect about your concerns and ask for help. This could be a family member, guidance counselor, teacher, school psychologist, coach, clergy, school resource officer or friend.

If you are worried about being a victim of violence, get someone in authority to protect you. Do not resort to violence or use a weapon to protect yourself.

The key to really preventing violent behavior is asking an experienced professional for help. The most important thing to remember is to not go it alone and to take any signs or threats seriously.

It's normal to feel angry or frustrated when you've been let down or betrayed. But anger and frustration don't justify violent action. Anger is a strong emotion that can be difficult to keep in check, but the right response is to always stay cool.

Here are some ways to deal with anger without resorting to violence:

Learn to talk about your feelings - if you're afraid to talk or if you can't find the right words to describe what you're going through, find a trusted friend or adult to help you one-on-one.

Express yourself calmly - express criticism, disappointment, anger or displeasure without losing your temper or fighting. Ask yourself if your response is safe and reasonable.

Listen to others - listen carefully and respond without getting upset when someone gives you negative feedback. Ask yourself if you can really see the other person's point of view.

Negotiate - work out your problems with someone else by looking at alternative solutions and compromises.

Take a self time-out and calm yourself down before you respond to the situation or person who is triggering your anger.

Anger is part of life, but you can free yourself from the cycle of violence by learning to talk about your feelings. Be strong. Be safe. Be cool.

Are you at risk for violent behavior?

If you recognize any of these signs for violent behavior in yourself, talk with someone who can help, a friend, but especially an adult you trust.

You don't have to live with the guilt, sadness and frustration that comes from hurting others.

Admitting you have a concern about hurting others is the first step. The second is to talk to a trusted adult such as a school counselor or psychologist, teacher, family member, friend or clergy. They can get you in touch with a licensed mental health professional who cares and can help.

Controlling your own risk for violent behavior

Everyone feels anger in his or her own way. Start managing it by recognizing how anger feels to you.

When you are angry, you probably feel:

Muscle tension

Accelerated heartbeat

A "knot" or "butterflies" in your stomach

Changes in your breathing

Trembling

Goose bumps

Flushed in the face

You can reduce the rush of adrenaline that's responsible for your heart beating faster, your voice sounding louder and your fists clenching if you:

Take a few slow, deep breaths and concentrate on your breathing.

Imagine yourself at the beach, by a lake, or anywhere that makes you feel calm and peaceful.

Try other thoughts or actions that have helped you relax in the past.

Keep telling yourself:

"Calm down."

"I don't need to prove myself."

"I'm not going to let him/her get to me."

Stop. Consider the consequences. Think before you act. Try to find positive or neutral explanations for what that person did that provoked you. Don't argue in front of other people. Make your goal to defeat the problem, not the other person. Learn to recognize what sets you off and how anger feels to you. Learn to think through the benefits of controlling your anger and the consequences of losing control. Most of all, stay cool and think. Only you have the power to control your own violent behavior. Don't let anger control you.

Some people who have trouble dealing with their feelings don't react by lashing out at others. Instead, they direct violence toward themselves. The most final and devastating expression of this kind of violence is suicide. Like people who are violent toward others, potential suicide victims often behave in recognizable ways before they try to end their lives. Suicide, like other forms of violence, is preventable. The two most important steps in prevention are recognizing warning signs and getting help. Warning signs of potential self-violence may include:

Previous suicide attempts

Significant alcohol or drug use

Threatening or communicating thoughts of suicide, death, dying or the afterlife

Sudden increase in moodiness, withdrawal or isolation

Major change in eating or sleeping habits

Feelings of hopelessness, guilt or worthlessness

Poor control over behavior

Impulsive, aggressive behavior

Drop in quality of school performance or interest

Lack of interest in usual activity

Getting into trouble with authority figures

Perfectionism

Giving away important possessions

Hinting at not being around in the future or saying good-bye

Feeling like a burden to others

These warning signs are especially noteworthy in the context of:

A recent death or suicide of a friend or family member

A recent break-up with a boyfriend or girlfriend or conflict with parents

News reports of other suicides by young people in the same school or community

Often, suicidal thinking comes from a wish to end deep psychological pain. But keep in mind that pain often diminishes and feelings change. There are almost always options to something as final as suicide. Sometimes we just need some help to see them.

If a friend mentions suicide, take it seriously. Listen carefully and then seek help immediately. Never keep their talk of suicide a secret, even if they ask you to. Remember, you risk losing that person forever.

When you recognize the warning signs for suicidal behavior, do something about it. Tell a trusted adult what you have seen or heard. Get help from a licensed mental health professional as soon as possible. They can help work out the problems that seem so unsolvable but, in fact, are not.

Take a stand against violence.

The original Warning Signs of Youth Violence guide was co-produced by the APA and MTV in 1999 to help young people recognize when a classmate or friend might be a potential danger to themselves or others. The project was launched with the airing of a 30-minute MTV special, called "Warning Signs" on April 22, 1999. "Warning Signs" was the first major piece of programming in "Fight for Your Rights: Take a Stand Against Violence," MTV's 1999 pro-social campaign. Over the past decade, APA's grassroots network of psychologist worked in communities to provide information on the warning signs of youth violence by organizing video viewing and discussion programs and giving media interviews and presentations.

In January 2013, the Warni ng Signs of Youth Violence guide was updated with assistance from the following psychologists:

Alan Berman, PhD, ABPP
American Association of Suicidology, Washington, D.C.

Eva Feindler, PhD
Long Island University/C.W. Post Campus

Phillip M. Kleespies, PhD
VA Boston Healthcare System

Peter Sheras, PhD
University of Virginia; Curry School of Education

APA gratefully acknowledges the following original contributors to this guide:

Alan Berman, PhD
American Association of Suicidology, Washington, D.C.

Eva Feindler, PhD
Long Island University/C.W. Post Campus

Arnold Goldstein, PhD
Syracuse University, Center for Research on Aggression

Nancy Guerra, EdD
University of California at Riverside

Rodney Hammond, PhD
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Peter Sheras, PhD
University of Virginia; Curry School of Education

Fernando Soriano, PhD
San Diego State University; San Diego Children's Hospital

Disclaimer

Information contained in this publication should not be used as a substitute for professional health and mental health care or consultation. Individuals who believe they may need or benefit from care should consult a psychologist, school psychologist or other licensed health/mental health professional. To find a psychologist, visit APA's Psychologist Locator. Acknowledgements

About the American Psychological Association

APA, located in Washington, D.C., is the leading scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance the creation, communication and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people's lives.

Updated January 2013

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CITE THIS Violence. It's the act of purposefully hurting someone. And it's a major issue facing today's young adults. According to the 2011 Center for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance survey, 16.6 percent of high school students carried a weapon at least once during the 30 days before they were surveyed.

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Violence Prevention Resources & Statistics

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sexual exploitation by helping professionals

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sexual abuse of people with disabilities

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There are many types of sexual violence, including rape, child sexual abuse, and intimate partner sexual violence-and other crimes and forms of violence may arise jointly in these instances.

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Gang and Group Violence PreventionAssessing New York City's Youth Gun Violence Crisis: Crews

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Gang and Group Violence PreventionAssessing New York City's Youth Gun Violence Crisis: Crews

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Gang and Group Violence Prevention
INITIATIVE
Assessing New York City's Youth Gun Violence Crisis: Crews

The success or failure of community strategies to address the youth gun violence crisis is often attributed in part to how well the problem is understood and diagnosed. With support from The New York Community Trust, the Crime Commission has undertaken an analysis of youth gun violence and crew activity - violent turf rivalries among less-organized, smaller and normally younger groups than traditional gangs - in select New York City communities. Our initial findings from available data, existing research, and interviews with stakeholders are presented in a series of papers titled, "Assessing New York City's Youth Gun Violence Crisis: Crews".

New York City has famously experienced unprecedented, sustained reductions in crime over the last 25 years. Areas once so dangerous that they resembled foreign war zones now are home to some of the most desirable real estate in the country. We proudly and rightfully point to our success, calling ourselves the "safest big city in America". But there are places and people that have been left behind. There are areas which have not seen violent crime rates drop to nearly zero - as others have - or anywhere close. Certain races and age groups are also still far more likely to become victims and be responsible for violent crime than others.

The root causes of violent crime have not changed either-and the circumstances under which crime is committed sound eerily familiar to the high-crime New York of 25 years ago that we now refer to as the "bad old days". Therefore, in order to make real strides in improving the quality of life amongst these persistently hardest-hit groups, we must address the root causes of why youth become involved in gun violence and crews.

The NYPD publically acknowledged that youth "gangs" are becoming more organized and more violent, finding that more than a third of all shootings in New York City now involve what the NYPD calls "crews". In order to truly identify how youth are involved in organized activity (gangs, crews, etc.) and gun violence, the Crime Commission researched legal and intelligence definitions and conducted fieldwork with community residents, service providers, and policymakers which revealed three broad categories of organization:

TRADITIONAL GANGS
Groups that have clear hierarchy, structure, organization, rules of conduct and are profit-motivated, usually affiliating with national gangs such as the Bloods.

CREWS
Fluid groups formed based on where members live, such as a building or block, creating violent turf rivalries. Crews generally do not have clear hierarchy, structure, or rules, and are usually not profit-motivated.

GROUPS
Unorganized groups, often temporal in nature, which form as a result of interpersonal conflicts.

This research and fieldwork demonstrated that crews - and not traditional, hierarchical gangs - are a major part of violent crime statistics and analysis. Crews actually account for a great deal of youth criminal activity, especially violent crime - and without proper interventions for this type of activity, we will not be able to adequately address what has been a persistent public safety and criminal justice issue for New York City.

In order to develop more effective responses to crews it is essential for stakeholders to acknowledge the victimization of those involved, understand their underlying needs, and identify the neighborhood conditions that impact them.

Although there have been significant recent investments by policymakers and funders - ranging from organizing task forces and work groups, to deploying new law enforcement strategies, to implementing programmatic interventions - New York City's ability to fully understand and diagnose its crew problem is hindered by a lack of data and coordination.

While the NYPD collects data on crew members and related criminal activity, law enforcement data are typically insufficient to inform comprehensive responses because it is collected for the purpose of informing suppression and investigation strategies. At the same time, community-based organizations collect a range of data about the underlying needs of the individuals involved, but often lack the capacity to analyze and communicate these data to inform policy and programming decisions. Further, the City lacks a collaborative effort among stakeholders dedicated to addressing this problem.

Preventing crew violence cannot be accomplished by a single agency or organization. Effective solutions require the combination of insight, hard work, and dedication from a wide variety of organizations and stakeholders. New York City should immediately mobilize stakeholders to take steps toward developing a comprehensive strategy to address the city's crew violence problem.

The Crime Commission's Assessment Offers The Following Recommendations:

Implement A Collaborative Approach:

Deliver and sustain adequate services to prevent crew violence.

Develop funding strategies that promote stability and consistent service delivery, and thus situate providers in a position to succeed.

Better track the risks, needs, victimizations, and activities of youth involved in crews, as well as the conditions impacting them by harnessing the wealth of knowledge possessed by stakeholders.

Facilitate a collaborative effort among stakeholders to minimize the duplication of efforts and maximize the use of resources available to selected needs.

Better Collect And Share Data:

Share aggregated data on crews between government agencies and citizens.

Request the NYPD to report crew-related crimes as part the Mayor's Management Report and/or weekly CompStat reports.

Create information-sharing forums both within and across stakeholder groups (e.g., government, community-based organizations, youth) in order to share insights and identify effective prevention and intervention strategies.

Build the capacity of community-based organizations.

Support must be provided to community-based organizations for internal capacity building by instituting a civilian CompStat-like data management system for violence prevention programs.

Strengthen inter-organization collaboration to facilitate the integration of resources and responses.

Coordinate A Continuum of Interventions:

Incorporate programs that have different points of contact with youth at each developmental milestone.

Government must invest in locally accessible interventions that focus on education and vocational skills, address victimization, trauma and grief, and emphasize the role of the family and community.

As youth develop their identity, set goals, and plan for their future they stop committing crime. By implementing these suggestions, the city can build comprehensive strategies that reduce crew violence and make our communities safer.

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citizens crime commission of new york city

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Citizens Crime Commission of New York City | Gang and Group Violence Prevention

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Gang and Group Violence Prevention INITIATIVE Assessing New York City's Youth Gun Violence Crisis: Crews The success or failure of community strategies to address the youth gun violence crisis is often attributed in part to how well the problem is understood and diagnosed.

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NYAGV Brochures

NYAGV Fact Sheets and Presentations
Children and Gun Violence Research Reports

State Gun Laws and Pediatric Firearm-Related Mortality, American Academy of Pediatrics, July 2019

Frequently Asked Questions About Universal Background Checks, Center for American Progress, November 30, 2018

Reducing Firearm Injuries and Deaths in the United States: A Position Paper From the American College of Physicians, Annals of Internal Medicine, 10/30/18

Keeping America's Schools Safe from Gun Violence, Center for American Progress, April 7, 2017

Black Homicide Victimization in the US: An Analysis of 2014 Homicide Data, Violence Policy Center, March 2017

States with Weak Gun Laws and Higher Gun Ownership Lead Nation in Gun Deaths, New Data for 2015 Confirms, Violence Policy Center, January 2017

America Under Fire: An Analysis of Gun Violence in the United States and the Link to Weak Gun Laws, Center for American Progress, October 11, 2016

When Men Murder Women, Violence Policy Center, September 2016

Gun Policy News and Research Sites

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NYAGV Brochures NYAGV Fact Sheets and Presentations Children and Gun Violence Research Reports State Gun Laws and Pediatric Firearm-Related Mortality, American Academy of Pediatrics, July 2019 Frequently Asked Questions About Universal Background Checks, Center for American Progress, November 30, 2018 Reducing Firearm Injuries and Deaths in the United States: A

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Interactive mapping tool

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Gangs of New York City and How Close You Live to Them

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Gangs and street crews can be found in every pocket of the city, according to this map based on information provided by the NYPD. Clearly, not everyone in these areas are in a gang, but their territories bleed over many neighborhoods. Are you on their turf? Find out.

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New York State Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) InitiativeCrime, Arrest, and Firearm Activity Report 

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New York State Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) InitiativeCrime, Arrest, and Firearm Activity Report 

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This is a data-heavy resource. Use Ctrl+F to search around for what you're looking for.

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February 20, 2020

Every day, more than 100 Americans are killed with guns and 200 more are shot and wounded. The effects of gun violence extend far beyond these casualties-gun violence shapes the lives of millions of Americans who witness it, know someone who was shot, or live in fear of the next shooting.
In order to illustrate the magnitude of everyday gun violence, Everytown has gathered the most comprehensive, publicly available data. Still, significant data gaps remain-a result of underfunded, incomplete data collection at the state and federal level. Filling these gaps is necessary to truly understand the full impact of gun violence in the United States.

Average Deaths per YearCenters for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) Fatal Injury Reports. A yearly average was developed using five years of most recent available data: 2014 to 2018. While it is broadly considered to be the most comprehensive firearm fatal injury source, two of the intent categories-Shootings by Law Enforcement and Unintentional Deaths-are estimated to be greatly underreported. This underreporting is largely due to missing information on death certificates, which may result in misclassification of intent. Multiple media sources and nonprofit groups have tracked shootings by law enforcement, but no reliable public database captures unintentional shootings. Intent category averages may not total to yearly average due to rounding.
Total 37,603

*Note: This intent category is believed to be underreported and is likely being misclassified as homicide.Loftin C, Wiersema B, McDowall D, Dobrin A. Underreporting of justifiable homicides committed by police officers in the United States, 1976-1998. American Journal of Public Health. 2003; 93(7): 1117-1121.See also: Barber C, Azrael D, Cohen A, Miller M, et al. Homicides by police: Comparing counts from the National Violent Death Reporting System, Vital Statistics, and Supplementary Homicide Reports. American Journal of Public Health. 2016; 106(5): 922-927. The Washington Post's database is widely cited and estimates that 988 civilians are fatally shot by police in an average year-nearly twice as many as recorded by the CDC.Fatal Force. The Washington Post. Data reflects a 5 year average (2015 to 2019) of deaths attributed to police shootings. https://wapo.st/policeshootings?tid=ss_tw.

Nearly two-thirds of gun deaths are suicides.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) Fatal Injury Reports. A yearly average was developed using five years of most recent available data: 2014 to 2018. The U.S. gun suicide rate is 10 times that of other high-income countries.Grinshteyn E, Hemenway D. Violent death rates in the US compared to those of the other high-income countries, 2015. Preventive Medicine. 2019; 123: 20-26.

Access to a gun triples the risk of death by suicide.Anglemyer A, Horvath T, Rutherford G. The accessibility of firearms and risk for suicide and homicide victimization among household members: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Opoliner A, Azrael D, Barber C, Fitzmaurice G, Miller M. Explaining geographic patterns of suicide in the U.S.: The role of firearms and antidepressants. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2014; 160(2): 101-110. Gun suicides are concentrated in states with high rates of gun ownership.Injury Epidemiology. 2014; 1(1): 6.

Most people who attempt suicide do not die-unless they use a gun. Across all suicide attempts not involving a firearm, 4 percent will result in death. But for gun suicides, those statistics are flipped: Approximately 90 percent of gun suicide attempts end in death.Conner A, Azrael D, and Miller M. Suicide case-fatality rates in the United States, 2007 to 2014: A nationwide population-based study. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2019; 885-95.

White men represent 74 percent of firearm suicide victims in America.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) Fatal Injury Reports. A yearly average was developed using five years of most recent available data: 2014 to 2018. White men defined as non-Hispanic white.

One-third of gun deaths are homicides.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) Fatal Injury Reports. A yearly average was developed using five years of most recent available data: 2014 to 2018. Homicide includes legal intervention. The U.S. gun homicide rate is 25 times that of other high-income countries.Grinshteyn E, Hemenway D. Violent death rates in the US compared to those of the other high-income countries, 2015. Preventive Medicine. 2019; 123: 20-26.

Access to a gun doubles the risk of death by homicide.Anglemyer A, Horvath T, Rutherford G. The accessibility of firearms and risk for suicide and homicide victimization among household members: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2014; 160(2): 101-110.

Gun homicides are concentrated in cities-half of all gun homicides took place in just 127 cities, which represented nearly a quarter of the U.S. population.Aufrichtig A, Beckett L, Diehm J, Lartey J. Want to fix gun violence in America? Go local. The Guardian. January 9, 2017. https://bit.ly/2i6kaKw. Within these cities, gun homicides are most prevalent in racially segregated neighborhoods with high rates of poverty.Ibid.

Black Americans represent the majority of gun homicide victims.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) Nonfatal Injury Reports. The CDC derives national estimates of nonfatal firearm injuries treated in hospitals from a survey of hospitals known as the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). According to the CDC, some of these estimates may be unstable. The CDC's nonfatal injury data has come under scrutiny largely because of increasing error margins in recent years. Nonetheless, data provided by the CDC on nonfatal injuries is the most common data currently used in gun violence prevention research. To account for fluctuations between years, a yearly average was developed using five years of the most recent available data: 2014 to 2018. In fact, Black Americans are 10 times more likely than white Americans to die by gun homicide.Ibid.

Firearms are the leading cause of death for American children and teens.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) Fatal Injury Reports. Data from 2018. Children and teenagers aged 1 to 19, Black defined as non-Hispanic, number of deaths by known intent (homicide, suicide, unintentional deaths). Age 0 to 1 calculated separately by the CDC because leading causes of death for newborns and infants are specific to the age group.

More than 1,700 children and teens die by gun homicide every year.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) Fatal Injury Reports. A yearly average was developed using five years of most recent available data: 2014 to 2018. Analysis includes: ages 0 to 19, and homicide including legal intervention. For children under the age of 13, these gun homicides most frequently occur in the home and are often connected to domestic or family violence.Fowler KA, Dahlberg LL, Haileyesus T, Gutierrez C, Bacon S. Childhood firearm injuries in the United States. American Academy of Pediatrics. 2017; 140(1): e20163486.

Black children and teens are 14 times more likely than white children and teens of the same age to die by gun homicide.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) Fatal Injury Reports. A yearly average was developed using five years of most recent available data: 2014 to 2018. Analysis includes: ages 0 to 19, non-Hispanic only and homicide including legal intervention.

Women in the U.S. are 21 times more likely to be killed with a gun than women in other high-income countries.Grinshteyn E, Hemenway D. Violent death rates in the US compared to those of the other high-income countries, 2015. Preventive Medicine. 2019; 123: 20-26.

In an average month, 53 American women are shot to death by an intimate partner,Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program Data: Supplementary Homicide Reports, 1976-2018. Kaplan, Jacob concatenated files as posted on: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2019-10-27. https://doi. org/10.3886/E100699V8. Everytown includes data from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) in national IPV statistics; however Florida's state-specific IPV statistics are suppressed, as FDLE only captures incidents of spousal IPV, which results in undercounting. and many more are shot and wounded.

Nearly one million women alive today have been shot or shot at by an intimate partner.Sorenson SB, Schut RA. Nonfatal gun use in intimate partner violence: A systematic review of the literature. Ibid. See also: Tjaden P, Thoennes T. Trauma, Violence & Abuse. 2016; 1524838016668589. Approximately 4.5 million American women alive today have been threatened with a gun by an intimate partner.Full report of the prevalence, incidence, and consequences of violence against women: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey. National Institute of Justice, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2000.

Access to a gun in a domestic violence situation makes it five times more likely that a woman will be killed.Campbell JC, Webster D, Koziol-McLain J, et al. Risk factors for femicide in abusive relationships: Results from a multisite case control study. American Journal of Public Health. 2003; 93(7): 1089-1097.

58 percent of American adults or someone they care for have experienced gun violence in their lifetime.SurveyUSA Market Research Study. Data collected from December 7, 2018 to December 11, 2018. https://bit.ly/2ExxpyZ. See question 39.

Approximately three million American children witness gun violence every year.Finkelhor D, Turner HA, Shattuck A, Hamby SL. Prevalence of childhood exposure to violence, crime, and abuse: Results from the National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence. The Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics. 2015; 169(8): 746-754. Everytown analysis derives the 3 million number by multiplying the share of children (ages 0-17) who are exposed to shootings per year (4.2%) by the total child population of the U.S. in 2016 (~73.5M).

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Gun Violence in America - EverytownResearch.org

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Every day, more than 100 Americans are killed with guns and 200 more are shot and wounded. The effects of gun violence extend far beyond these casualties-gun violence shapes the lives of millions of Americans who witness it, know someone who was shot, or live in fear of the next shooting.

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via Youth.gov

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The Safe Dates Project is an intervention that includes school activities (e.g., a theater production performed by peers, a curriculum of ten 45-minute sessions taught by health and physical education teachers, and a poster contest) and community activities (e.g., services for adolescents in abusive relationships and service provider training). A four-year follow-up study found reductions in the likelihood of being a victim or a perpetrator of moderate psychological and physical violence as well as sexual violence among the eighth- and ninth-grade students from North Carolina who had participated in the Safe Dates Project; however, there were no reductions in the likelihood of being a victim of severe physical or psychological violence. Further, findings showed that those students involved in the Safe Dates Project reported less acceptance of dating violence and traditional gender roles, a stronger belief in the need for help, and more awareness of services available in the community.

Ending Violence is a curriculum designed for high school students that focuses on educating youth about the legal repercussions and protections for perpetrators and victims of dating violence. An evaluation of Break the Cycle's Ending Violence curriculum with a sample of predominately Latino teens from a large urban school district found that the youth demonstrated improved knowledge of the laws related to dating violence, less acceptance of female-on-male aggression, and increased perception of the likelihood and helpfulness of seeking assistance from various sources after they had completed the program.

The 4th R, an interactive classroom curriculum for ninth-grade students, aims to reduce youth dating violence by addressing youth violence and bullying, unsafe sexual behavior, and substance use. Researchers found that the rate of physical dating violence for a random sample of Canadian students who participated in the curriculum was significantly lower than the control group (9.8 percent versus 7.4 percent). Significance wasn't maintained for those who had been dating in the previous year. However, boys in the intervention group were significantly less likely than boys in the control group to engage in dating violence (2.7 percent, compared to 7.1 percent). Girls in both groups showed the same rates of dating violence (11.9 percent versus 12 percent). This was also true when the previously dating subsample was analyzed.

The Youth Relationships Project

The Youth Relationships Project is a prevention program focused on addressing the emotional, behavioral, and cognitive factors that allow youth to strengthen the expression of positive interactions with dating partners and reduce the probability of power-assertive and violent behavior. The project educates youth about gender-based violence, and helps them to develop skills and social actions such as personal responsibility, communication, and community participation. An experimental study that randomly assigned 14- to 16-year-olds from child protective services to control or to the Youth Relationship Project curriculum found that the intervention was effective in reducing incidents of physical and emotional abuse and symptoms of emotional distress over time for the youth in the intervention. Specifically, youth in the intervention showed significantly greater declines in the use of coercive tactics within the dating relationship and enhanced motivation, interest, and understanding of the content of the program.

Shifting Boundaries, a school-based dating violence prevention program for middle school students (sixth and seventh grades), had positive effects on reducing dating violence within a randomized experimental study in a large urban school district. The study looked at the effectiveness of a classroom curriculum, a school intervention at the building level, and a combination of the two. The classroom intervention included six sessions in which there was an emphasis on the consequences of perpetrating teen dating violence (including state laws and penalties), the construction of gender roles, and healthy relationships. The building‐based intervention included the use of temporary school‐based restraining orders, higher levels of faculty and security presence in areas identified through student mapping of safe/unsafe "hot spots," and the use of posters to increase awareness and reporting of teen dating violence to school personnel. Compared to a control group, the students who participated in the building-only interventions and those who experienced both the building interventions and the classroom interventions were more knowledgeable about the consequences of perpetrating teen dating violence, more likely to avoid areas where teen dating violence is likely to occur, and more likely to intervene as a bystander six months post intervention. The combination also resulted in reduced incidences of sexual and physical dating violence by as much as 50 percent up to six months after the intervention. The classroom-only intervention did not prove effective.

¹ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005
² Maas, Fleming, Herrenkohl, & Catalano, 2010
³ O'Keefe & Aldridge, 2005
⁴ The programs displayed are not endorsed by the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs, but provide a snapshot of some of the programs that focus on decreasing teen dating violence.
⁵ Foshee et al., 2005
⁶ Foshee et al., 2005
⁷ Jaycox et al., 2006
⁸ Wolfe, et al., 2009
⁹ Pittman, Wolfe, & Wekerle, 2000
¹⁰ Taylor, Stein, Woods, & Mumford, 2011

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The Safe Dates Project is an intervention that includes school activities (e.g., a theater production performed by peers, a curriculum of ten 45-minute sessions taught by health and physical education teachers, and a poster contest) and community activities (e.g., services for adolescents in abusive relationships and service provider training).

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U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention

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Sexual violence is a significant problem in the United States that can have a profound impact on lifelong health, opportunity, and well-being. CDC works to understand the problem of sexual violence and prevent it.

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Learn about the warning signs and consequences for sexual violence