Don't Shoot: One Man, a Street Fellowship, and the End of Violence in Inner-City America - Hardcover

Kennedy, David M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1608192644 ISBN 13: 9781608192649

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA, 2012

Synopsis

Gang- and drug-related inner-city violence, with its attendant epidemic of incarceration, is the defining crime problem in our country. In some neighborhoods in America, one out of every two hundred young black men is shot to death every year, and few initiatives of government and law enforcement have made much difference. But when David Kennedy, a self-taught and then-unknown criminologist, engineered the "Boston Miracle" in the mid-1990s, he pointed the way toward what few had imagined: a solution.

Don't Shoot tells the story of Kennedy's long journey. Riding with beat cops, hanging with gang members, and stoop-sitting with grandmothers, Kennedy found that all parties misunderstood each other, caught in a spiral of racialized anger and distrust. He envisioned an approach in which everyone-gang members, cops, and community members-comes together in what is essentially a huge intervention. Offenders are told that the violence must stop, that even the cops want them to stay alive and out of prison, and that even their families support swift law enforcement if the violence continues. In city after city, the same miracle has followed: violence plummets, drug markets dry up, and the relationship between the police and the community is reset.

This is a landmark book, chronicling a paradigm shift in how we address one of America's most shameful social problems. A riveting, page-turning read, it combines the street vérité of The Wire, the social science of Gang Leader for a Day, and the moral urgency and personal journey of Fist Stick Knife Gun. But unlike anybody else, Kennedy shows that there could be an end in sight.

About this title

Product Description:

Don't Shoot "Gang- and drug-related violence is the defining crime problem in our country, and has been for decades. The statistics are alarming and the toll incalculable, and despite countless initiatives from government, law enforcement and social service communities, little has proven effective. Still, remarkably, David Kennedy foresees what no one else could imagine: a happy ending. He has been on the fro Full description

Review:

Awards and Honors:

Two Innovation in Government Awards, Herman Goldstein International Award for Problem Oriented Policing, Two International Assoc. of Chiefs of Police Webber Seavey Awards, and Person of the Year Award from Law Enforcement News

Director's Commendation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms

Letter of Appreciation, Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers

Statement of Thanks, Vice President Al Gore

Today, the High Point antiviolence strategy is no longer an untested theory... It has proven itself time and time again with nearly unbelievable reductions in violence, and every time it has worked it has drawn more followers. It has, in fact, become a movement. (Tate Chambers, Dept of Justice, Executive Office for United States Attorneys)

This profession is in his debt. The number of lives that he has saved are in his debt, whether they know him or not. (Bernard Melekian, Director, Dept of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing)

...his thoughts leave the reader feeling optimistic about the possibilities for positive change - unlike many other books on inner-city violence. (Brian T. Smith is a Ph.D. Candidate at Rutgers University School of Criminal Justice. Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books)

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1608192644
• ISBN 13: 9781608192649
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320