LAW ENFORCEMENT GUIDANCE

1

WHAT IS THE CARDIFF VIOLENCE

PREVENTION MODEL? 

More than half of violent crime in the United States is 

not reported to law enforcement, according to the U.S. 

Department of Justice. That means cities and communities 

lack a complete understanding of where violence occurs, 

which limits the ability to develop successful solutions.

The Cardiff Violence Prevention Model provides a way for 

communities to gain a clearer picture about where violence 

is occurring by combining and mapping both hospital and 

police data on violence. But more than just an approach to 

map and understand violence, the Cardiff Model provides a 

straightforward framework for hospitals, law enforcement 

agencies, public health agencies, community groups, and 

others interested in violence prevention to work together 

and develop collaborative violence prevention strategies.
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WHY IS HOSPITAL INJURY INFORMATION IMPORTANT FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT?

According to a 2016 U.S. Department of Justice report, many crimes go unreported to law 

enforcement, including:

• 53% of violent crime in 2015.

• 58% of simple assaults in 2015.

• 43% of violent crime involving an injury in 2015.

Hospitals treat individuals who are injured in violence incidents. If the time, date, and location 

of violent incidents are captured through the Cardiff Model, a community can develop a greater 

understanding of how and when violence is occurring. Mapping areas of where violence occurs 

from hospital and police information (known as hotspot mapping) is critical to understanding 

and developing violence prevention programs and strategies within the community. The 

Cardiff Model is not intended to be used to investigate individual cases but rather improve 

understanding of geographic patterns of violence in the community.

HOW DOES LAW ENFORCEMENT PARTICIPATE IN THE CARDIFF MODEL?

Law enforcement and area hospitals form a local community safety partnership where data are 

shared. This information includes:

• When the injuries occurred (date and time)

• Where the injuries took place (business name and/or street address)

• How the injuries happened and/or weapons used (e.g. hit, stabbed with a knife)

No other personal information (i.e., name, date of birth, social security number) is collected, 

shared, or used. 

WHAT IS LAW ENFORCEMENT’S ROLE IN THE COMMUNITY SAFETY PARTNERSHIP?

Through the community safety partnership (CSP), law enforcement works hand-in-hand with the 

hospital and public health agency partner (at a minimum) to identify potentially new and existing 

violent injury hotspots. After identifying injury hotspots, the CSP develops innovative ways to 

address the specific hotspot needs.

In addition, law enforcement has historical knowledge of what type of prevention programming and 

current efforts have been directed in these areas. These critical elements will help guide CSP efforts 

and complement (not duplicate or interfere with) previous or ongoing work. The new maps may also 

be used to guide ongoing law enforcement violence prevention activities and patrol patterns.
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HOW OFTEN DOES VIOLENCE INFORMATION GET SHARED?

Violence information can be shared on any mutually agreeable timeframe within the CSP.

Past partnerships have found monthly sharing to be useful, although more frequent 

sharing could occur.

IN ACTION

THE CARDIFF MODEL For example, in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom, the Violence Prevention 

Board (local name of the CSP) identified many violent assaults occurring 

in particular streets in the city’s main entertainment district. After 

investigating this area, the Board realized that these assaults were largely 

due to alcohol-intoxicated individuals bumping into each other on the 

sidewalks after a night of drinking, resulting in fights breaking out. This 

risk was made worse by such people rapidly becoming frustrated while 

waiting to be served at fast food outlets and for taxis. The Board worked 

with the city to make the streets more pedestrian friendly, move taxi 

stands, and appoint taxi marshals (capable guardians), which helped 

decrease violent assaults in the area.
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KEY STEPS TO STARTING THE CARDIFF MODEL IN MY LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY:

1. RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

a. Establish a violence prevention partnership with the local hospital and public 

health agency

b. In collaboration with hospital partner, determine most useful injury information 

to collect and map

2. LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY BUY-IN AND SUPPORT

a. Obtain law enforcement leadership buy-in and support

b. Obtain permissions for sharing crime incident data with partners

c. Provide support as need to assist public health agency or relevant partner in 

producing hotspot maps

3. TRAINING AND TECHNICAL PROCESSES

a. Identify a lead point of contact for collecting law enforcement data

b. Establish procedures for sharing data and maps

4. INJURY INFORMATION AND MAP SHARING

a. Establish procedures for sharing injury information and maps

b. If necessary, develop and sign a shared data use agreement with the partners

5. COMMUNITY SAFETY PARTNERSHIP ACTIVITIES*

a. Work with hospital and other partners to establish a broader community board to 

review the maps on violent injury

b. Help to develop a culture of decision-making based on real-time data

c. Assist in implementing multi-agency prevention programs and initiatives at 

locations identified in the mapping of the data

Please see the "Building Partnerships" document for more information on how injury information is used within the 

partnership, relationships are expanded, and violence prevention programs are implemented.

*

LEARN MORE about the Cardiff Model and how to start using it in your community’s violence 

prevention efforts at www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/fundedprograms/cardiffmodel

This material was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The pilot 

of the Cardiff Violence Prevention Model was a collaboration between the CDC, DeKalb County 

Police Department, Grady Health System, the University of Pennsylvania, and the CDC Foundation. 

Support for this pilot was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.