|
APRI Highlights - Spring 2002
Eastern District of Virginia Serves as Project Safe Neighborhoods Model
|
|
|
|
|
Chief Administrator, American Prosecutors Research Institute
|
In January 2002, U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty convened the nation’s first federal-state-local summit on gun violence at the police training academy in Richmond, Virginia. Participants included federal, state and local law enforcement officials and prosecutors from throughout the Eastern District of Virginia, as well as national professional associations. McNulty and invited guests designed the summit as a Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) partnership dedicated to building upon past successes of Richmond’s Project Exile and Virginia Exile.
The summit included presentations by McNulty, Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore and Richmond’s Commonwealth Attorney David Hicks. Other speakers included officials of the Richmond Police Department; Project Exile; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF); and Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP). Professional groups participating included the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI) and the Police Foundation. Discussion groups were convened for all participants who reported back with ideas and proposals to promote the success of the PSN initiative.
By pulling together several hundred federal, state, and local criminal justice leaders in his judicial district, McNulty has provided a model for PSN partnerships nationally. He has assigned an experienced coordinator from his office to serve as liaison with criminal justice officials and community groups throughout the judicial district in implementing five key elements of PSN: partnerships, strategic planning, training, outreach and accountability. McNulty’s office, while extremely busy as the nation’s primary forum for prosecuting suspected terrorists, is to be commended for exercising leadership in PSN and recognizing that effective partnerships are essential to success.
APRI recently published Combating Gun Violence: An In-Depth Look at Richmond’s Project Exile. It was used in the January training at the National Advocacy Center dedicated to gun violence training, with special addresses from U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and NDAA President Kevin Meenan. APRI is preparing another publication on gun violence initiatives in other jurisdictions that should be available soon. NDAA, APRI and the National College of District Attorneys are planning future NAC trainings on the Fundamentals of Firearms Prosecution to commence as early as late May. For more information, contact APRI at (703) 518-4386.
|
