Boston`s homicide rate peaked in the awful year of 1990, fell in 1991, went back up in 1992, and stayed high until the summer of 1996. It then plummeted, light-switch style. The driver for the changes was Operation Ceasefire. A partnership of the Boston Police Dept., state and federal prosecutors, probation and parole, the Dept. of Youth Services, federal enforcement agencies, gang-outreach streetworkers, and Harvard researchers--and later numerous community groups and service providers--Ceasefire was simple and direct. Identify the most likely violent offenders; tell them face-to-face that violence would not be tolerated and would meet with immediate and strong sanctions; back that promise up with action; tell them again, and offer services and other help to those who`d take it. For More Information See: Crime And Punishment In America:1999
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