Community violence

Introduction

Community violence happens in public areas between unrelated individuals who may or may not know each other (CDC, 2022). Community violence can include homicide, assault, sexual assault, and gang violence and can be fatal or nonfatal.

Community violence can occur anywhere, but the risk of exposure increases with poverty, racism, racial segregation, and discrimination, conflict in the home, low employment, police-community tensions, homelessness, availability of firearms, and other social determinants of health. Men aged 10-24 in communities of color are disproportionately affected (CDC, 2022a). 

Importantly, community violence causes sustained levels of fear and trauma that leave lingering psychological impacts on all exposed. Living in areas with high levels of community violence also increases the risk of developing chronic diseases, as violence or fear of violence may prevent individuals from engaging in healthy behaviors (CDC, 2022a). Urban, suburban, and rural areas are all affected by community firearm violence.

Scope of the problem in Colorado

• Violent crimes have risen in Colorado in the past five years. 11,203 firearm-related crimes were reported in Colorado in 2022 (CAPTA, 2023). 
• In 2020, there were 235 firearm homicide deaths in Colorado, or 4.07 per 100,000 (CGVS, 2022). 
• Colorado ranks as the 30th highest state with respect to the firearm homicide rate (CGVS, 2022). 
• Prevention Approaches
• Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Programs aim to reduce rehospitalization rates due to violence-related injuries such as gunshot wounds. Community Violence Intervention aims to engage at-risk individuals, provide social services and trauma-informed care, and interrupt the transmission of violence. The Cure Violence Approach is another emerging and promising intervention for reducing firearm injury and death.
• The built environment plays an important role in preventing community violence. The built environment includes all of the physical parts of where people live and work (e.g., homes, buildings, streets, open spaces, and infrastructure) (CDC, 2011). Although violence interventions have traditionally targeted individuals, altering high-risk environments is a practical, sustainable, and high-impact way to reduce community violence (Kondo, 2018).  
• Research shows that policing and incarceration often serve to revictimize individuals and increase retaliatory violence (Johns Hopkins, n.d.). Efforts to reimagine public safety focus on interrupting cycles of violence, conducting street-level outreach, improving social conditions and inequities, and investing in safe and healthy communities. Emerging evidence also demonstrates housing remediation and income support policies reduce the risk of firearm injuries and death (South et al., 2023; Rowhani-Rahbar et al., 2022).

Prevention approaches

Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Programs aim to reduce rehospitalization rates due to violence-related injuries such as gunshot wounds. Community Violence Intervention aims to engage at-risk individuals, provide social services and trauma-informed care, and interrupt the transmission of violence. The Cure Violence Approach is another emerging and promising intervention for reducing firearm injury and death.

The built environment plays an important role in preventing community violence. The built environment includes all of the physical parts of where people live and work (e.g., homes, buildings, streets, open spaces, and infrastructure) (CDC, 2011). Although violence interventions have traditionally targeted individuals, altering high-risk environments is a practical, sustainable, and high-impact way to reduce community violence (Kondo, 2018).  

Research shows that policing and incarceration often serve to revictimize individuals and increase retaliatory violence (Johns Hopkins, n.d.). Efforts to reimagine public safety focus on interrupting cycles of violence, conducting street-level outreach, improving social conditions and inequities, and investing in safe and healthy communities. Emerging evidence also demonstrates housing remediation and income support policies reduce the risk of firearm injuries and death (South et al., 2023; Rowhani-Rahbar et al., 2022).
 

References

1. CAPTA. Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority. 2023. Colorado Crime Statistics. Accessed September 11, 2023. 
2. CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). 2022a. Community Violence Prevention. Accessed September 11, 2023.
3. CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). 2022b. Firearm Deaths Grow, Disparities Widen: Comprehensive Strategies Can Prevent Violence and Help Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities. Accessed September 28, 2023.
4. CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). 2011. Impact of the Built Environment on Health. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/publications/factsheets/impactofthebuiltenviro…. Accessed September 28, 2023. 
5. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health. N.d. Community Violence Intervention. Accessed September 11, 2023. 
6. CGVS (Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions). 2022.  A Year in Review: 2020 Gun Deaths in the U.S. Accessed September 28, 2023. 
7. Kena G. and Morgan, R.E. 2023. Criminal Victimization in the 22 Largest U.S. States, 2017–2019.  U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics. Accessed September 10, 2023. 
8. Kondo, M.C., Andreyeva, E., South, E.C., MacDonald, J.M. and Branas, C.C., 2018. Neighborhood interventions to reduce violence. Annual review of public health, 39:253-271. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040617-014600
9. Rowhani-Rahbar, A., Schleimer, J.P., Moe, C.A., Rivara, F.P. and Hill, H.D., 2022. Income support policies and firearm violence prevention: a scoping review. Preventive medicine, 165, p.107133.
10. South, E.C., Macdonald, J.M., Tam, V.W., Ridgeway, G. and Branas, C.C., 2023. Effect of abandoned housing interventions on gun violence, perceptions of safety, and substance use in Black neighborhoods: a citywide cluster randomized trial. JAMA Internal Medicine, 183(1), pp.31-39.