Project Longevity is working

As an article published last December in the Register detailed, New Haven saw fewer homicides in 2017 — seven — than in any year since the mid-80s (official figures only go back to 1985). Former Assistant Police Chief Achilles “Archie” Generoso, who retired last month, believes that last year was the city’s safest in half a century. That progress is not an accident: it is, especially, the product of Project Longevity, an initiative to reduce gun violence in New Haven, Hartford and Bridgeport.

The organizing principle of the Project Longevity strategy is simple: Even in communities with high rates of violence, only a tiny fraction of the population is at any real risk of homicides and shootings. With this principle in mind, Project Longevity has assembled a partnership of law enforcement personnel, community representatives, and social service providers to directly engage the people at highest risk. Through face-to-face meetings known as “call-ins,” the partnership communicates why the violence has to stop; the potential legal consequences for continued violence; and the forms of help available to those willing to take it.

Along with call-ins, daily “intel” meetings that bring together representatives from local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies have been a central component of Project Longevity’s implementation. During these meetings, the group reviews recent violent incidents in the city and devises a plan for preventing future shootings. Possible courses of action include “custom notifications” to head off retaliation; offering victims and their families support, services, and protection; and increasing law enforcement attention on particularly violent people and groups.

The results of the intel meetings, community outreach, and other Project Longevity initiatives speak for themselves: Between 2012 and 2017, homicides in New Haven dropped by more than 70 percent. Shootings and arrests are also down significantly, according to NHPD data. Impressive on their own, these numbers cannot begin to account for the total sum of violence, trauma, and community instability that Project Longevity has helped prevent.

Project Longevity is continuing to develop community engagement in New Haven. In this spirit, Project Manager Stacy Spell is organizing a series of outreach events to take place later this year in the neighborhoods that are the focus of the initiative.

Last December, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, founded by former Congresswoman and gunshot survivor Gabrielle Giffords, proclaimed Project Longevity a national model for statewide violence prevention and “a shining example of a public safety program that is not only achieving tangible results, but also saving Connecticut taxpayers millions of dollars in healthcare, law enforcement, and other costs.” Even as the 2017 state budget crisis forced Project Longevity staff to work without pay during the latter half of the year, their dedication to their mission did not waver.

And it won’t anytime soon. The stakes are simply too high. As Generoso said, New Haven remains far from violence-free: “It’s still tragic for seven people who were killed. It’s still unacceptable that we had 60 shootings.”