(JRI Re-Defining the Police Response to Homicide: Assessing the Richmond, California Comprehensive Homicide Initiative by Michael D. White James J. Fyfe John S. Goldkamp Suzanne P. Campbell May 2000 The research described in this report was supported by grant # 96-DD-BX-0091 from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, United States Department of Justice. The points of view expressed in this document do not represent the official positions of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the local jurisdictions represented in this report, or the Federal Government. CRIME AND JUSTICE RESEARCH INSTITUTE 520 North Columbus Blvd., Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19123 (215) 627-3766 www.ciri.com [email protected] 0 0 0 Re-Defining the Police Response to Homicide: Assessing the Richmond, California Comprehensive Homicide Initiative CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IV EXECUTIVE SUMMARY VI INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... VI HOMICIDE IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE TRADITIONAL POLICE RESPONSE ......................... VI RECONSIDERING THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM: DEVELOPING A COMPREHENSIVE HOMICIDE INITIATIVE ................................................................................................................................ VI RICHMOND'S COMPREHENSIVE HOMICIDE INITIATIVE ............................................................. VII TRUANT RECOVERY PROGRAM ............................................................................................... VIII ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF RICHMOND'S COMPREHENSIVE HOMICIDE INITIATIVE ................. VIII IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICE POLICY AND PRACTICE ................................................................... IX I. INTRODUCTION: HOMICIDE IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE TRADITIONAL POLICE RESPONSE 1 ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT .................................................................................................. 1 RECENT TRENDS IN HOMICIDE .................................................................................................... 3 CHANGING THE TRADITIONAL POLICE RESPONSE TO HOMICIDE ................................................. 6 II. RECONSIDERING THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM: DEVELOPING A COMPREHENSIVE HOMICIDE INITIATIVE 9 III. RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA AND THE COMPREHENSIVE HOMICIDE INITIATIVE 15 THE DEMONSTRATION SITE: THE CITY OF RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA ....................................... 15 PLANNING A COMPREHENSIVE HOMICIDE INITIATIVE: STRATEGIES FROM AN INFORMATION BASE ......................................................................................................................................... 17 IV. THE RICHMOND COMPREHENSIVE HOMICIDE INITIATIVE STRATEGY 23 RICHMOND'S COMMUNITY BASED NON-ENFORCEMENT STRATEGIES ...................................... 24 INVESTIGATIVE AND ENFORCEMENT STRATEGIES ..................................................................... 25 RPD Collaboration with the Richmond Public Works Department, the Richmond Housing Authority, and the Community (Goal 1) ................................................................ 26 Violence Summits ............................................................................................................ 26 Gun Programs .................................................................................................................. 27 Collaboration with the Richmond Housing Authority ..................................................... 28 Crime Prevention Course ................................................................................................. 32 The Police Activities League (PAL) as a Community Crime Preventative Resource (Goal 2) ................................................................................................................................ 33 The PAL Computer Center .............................................................................................. 34 Youth Academy ............................................................................................................... 37 Crime and Justice Research Institute ii Collaboration Between the Richmond Police Department and the Richmond Public Schools (Goal 3) ....................................................................................................... 38 Adopt-a-School Program ................................................................................................. 38 Richmond's Truant Recovery Program ........................................................................... 41 Assessing the Truant Recovery Program ......................................................................... 47 Collaboration with the Contra Costa County Probation Department (Goal 4) .................. 63 Collaboration with Juvenile Court in the Development of a Youth Court Program (Goal 5) ................................................................................................................................ 66 Cooperation in a Domestic Violence Initiative (Goal 6) ..................................................... 67 Implementation of an Intensified Team Approach to High-profile Homicides (Goal 7) ..... 73 Targeting Violence-Prone Members of the Drug Culture (Goal 8) ..................................... 75 The Multi-Agency Violent Offender Task Force ............................................................ 75 Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team ................................................................................ 76 Assessing the Impact of Richmond's Violent Offender Targeting Strategies ................. 76 The Impact of the Violent Offender Task Force and the Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team Initiatives ............................................................................................................... 83 Tow Nights ....................................................................................................................... 85 Improving Information Sharing and Technology and Assigning an Evidence Specialist to the Richmond Police Department's Detective Bureau (Goals 10 and 11) .......................... 86 V. CONCLUSION: ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF RICHMOND'S COMPREHENSIVE HOMICIDE INITIATIVE 91 RICHMOND HOMICIDE TRENDS IN CONTEXT ............................................................................. 93 Richmond Violence Rates in the California Context ........................................................... 93 Changes in the Nature of Richmond's Homicides...~ ............................................................ 96 Victim/Offender Relationships ........................................................................................ 96 Location ........................................................................................................................... 97 Guns and Drugs ................................................................................................................ 99 Victim and Offender Characteristics ................................................................................ 99 Defining Gangs and Gang Members .............................................................................. 100 VI. IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICE POLICY AND PRACTICE 105 SOURCES 109 APPENDICES 113 Crime and Justice Research Institute 111 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Richmond Police Department's Comprehensive Homicide Initiative has its roots in the belief that interagency and community cooperation is needed to successfully address the violence problem. As such, it was no surprise that our efforts to assess the impact of the Comprehensive Homicide Initiative received continuous support and cooperation from all agencies involved, most notably the Richmond Police Department. We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the Richmond Police Department for their assistance, cooperation and hospitality throughout the duration of the project. The Comprehensive Homicide Initiative itself would not have been possible without the pioneering efforts of Chief Bill Lansdowne, currently the Chief of the San Jose Police Department, who laid the groundwork by fundamentally changing the RPD's policing philosophy and their relationship with the community. Chief Lansdowne's endeavors were continued by Chief Ed Duncan and current chief, Joseph Samuels, Jr. Captain Doug Seiberling of the Patrol Division greatly facilitated our data collection by serving as our primary contact and liaison between all other agencies involved. On numerous occasions, Captain Seiberling helped address our questions, concerns, and problems and we deeply appreciate his efforts. Many other RPD officers deserve our thanks including Captain Ray Howard, Lieutenant Tony Zanotelli, Sergeant Larry Lewis, Sergeant Cleveland Brown, Sergeant Marty Burch, Detective John Bruce, Detective Terry Miles, Detective Dave Harries, Officer Steven Zeppa, and Crime Analyst Sergeant Perry Austin. Each officer contributed valuable insight and helped to shape our understanding of the various strategies that comprise the Comprehensive Homicide Initiative. We extend our sincere gratitude to Detective Loft Curran who proved to be an essential resource both by actively participating in homicide data collection and by providing critical feedback. Last but certainly not least, we thank the secretarial and administrative staff, who accommodated our data collection team, assisted with logistical concerns, and answered countless questions. We owe thanks to officials and representatives of numerous other city and