Hailed as a “central strategy” to reduce youth gun violence and gang activity in Detroit, the city’s Ceasefire intervention program has been given a “no effects” evidence rating by federal law enforcement researchers.
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), which evaluates criminal justice policy, found Ceasefire led to “no statistically significant differences” in weapons arrests or shooting victimization among 15-to-34-year-olds across several year, reports WDET. “A No Effects rating implies that implementing the program is unlikely to result in the intended outcome and may result in a negative outcome,” NIJ notes in its CrimeSolutions program profile of Ceasefire Detroit. Federal officials also gave a “no effects” evidence rating for Project Green Light, a police surveillance program that feeds closed-circuit television camera footage at businesses like gas stations and liquor stores directly to the Detroit Police Department. The program started in 2016 and covers more than 850 locations in the city "There were no statistically significant effects on disorder occurrences or violent crime,” the NIJ notes on Project Green Light. “The intervention did result in statistically significant reductions in property crime around treated businesses, compared with matched control businesses, at 1-year postimplementation.” In one study of Ceasefire, researchers led by Giovanni Circo of the University of New Haven found that attendees at Detroit Ceasefire’s call-in meetings had a 29 percent lower likelihood of being arrested and a 47 percent lower chance of being arrested for violent offenses. In contrast to Detroit’s rating, federal evaluations of Ceasefire programs in Boston and Oakland, Ca. resulted in “effective” evidence ratings, which suggests that programs are resulting in intended outcomes.