Peer conflict 72 43 Gang-related 3 0 Isolated Incident 12 16 Intimate partner or Domestic Violence 14 17 Child abuse 4 2 Non-criminal or unintentional 2 2 Law Enforcement 1 3 Unknown 0 33 In 2014 and 2015, Peer conflict, a “purposeful” and “self-motivated” conflict between peers, or “individuals that have something in common” (e.g., job, residence, age, crowd), was identified as a key determinant or factor. The second leading conflict was IPV and Domestic Violence. Law Enforcement involved homicides are increasing not just in Allegheny County but all over the United States and are becoming a national issue. In the past, we labeled law enforcement shootings as Non-criminal or unintentional, under personal protection. In 2015 we had three law enforcement shootings and labeled it as such.
would promote earlier intervention with individuals with an increased risk of victimization, as well as foster a larger network of individually tailored violence prevention efforts. Community Action Combat attitudes of violence as normative behavior and an appropriate form of conflict resolution. The normalization of violence exists within Pittsburgh families and communities, and overall, supports a cycle of violence. Increase initiatives that combat such attitudes; promote positive behavior modeling for children, youth, and young adults; and teach and encourage appropriate conflict resolution strategies. Improve and strengthen community-police relations. Poor community-police relations negatively impact and undermine violence prevention efforts. Increased trust, respect, and accountability between both groups is essential in order to work toward creating safe communities. Distribute anti-violence and homicide awareness, education, and prevention materials throughout Pittsburgh. Homicide and community violence information should be distributed throughout communities, local government and county agencies, and local media. Through increasing awareness and knowledge of homicide prevalence, greater attention and discussion can take place around the urgency for more effective prevention efforts. Increase community participation and investment in violence prevention efforts. Numerous community organizations, groups, and coalitions are already providing anti-violence awareness, education, and prevention throughout Allegheny County. Local governmental agencies, academic institutions, and community assets (e.g., barbershops and beauty salons, religious institutions, funeral homes) should support these existing efforts, so that a broad coalition to confront the violence problem impacting our communities can be created. Community Recommendations Enhance data collection efforts. Toxicology reports conducted by the medical examiner’s office, victim’s social media presence, and prior residence information, as well as information on surviving children and other family members, would allow for an improved review of homicides. Additionally, data collection efforts should be expanded to better account for the unique factors involved in intimate partner homicides, such as history of abuse, including Protection from Abuse (PFA) filings and prior police-involved incidents; history of substance abuse; weapons in the home; use of community resources; and
One Hood Media info@1hood.org (412) 404-2347 The Pittsburgh Project 2801 North Charles Street Pittsburgh, PA 15214 (412) 321-1678 The Corner Pittsburgh 200 Robinson St Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (412) 683-1400 Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh 610 Wood Street Pittsburgh, PA 15222 YMCA Homewood 7140 Bennett Street Pittsburgh, PA 15208 (412) 243-2900 Kingsley Association 6435 Frankstown Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15206 (412) 661-8751 kingsleyassociation.org Appendices 1. Hemingway D, Miller M. Public Health Approach to the Prevention of Gun Violence. The New England Journal of Medicine. 2013;368(21):2033-2035. 2. O'Malley T, Documét P, Garland R, Burke J, Albert S. PITT Public Health Community Violence Prevention Project: Findings Report (2012). University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Center for Health Equity;2013. 3. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System. . Accessed November 26, 2013. 4. Jones-Webb R, Wall M. Neighborhood racial/ethnic concentration, social disadvantage, and homicide risk: an ecological analysis of 10 U.S. cities. J Urban Health. 2008;85(5):662-676. 5. Peterson R, Krivo L. Macrostructural analyses of race, ethnicity, and violent crime: recent lessons and new directions from research. Annu Rev Sociol. 2005;31(1):331-356. 6. Collins K, Dalton E, Odah C. Homicides in Allegheny County, 1997 through 2012. Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS);2013. 7. Leshner A, Altevogt B, Lee A, McCoy M, Kelley P. Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence. Institute of Medicine and National Research Council;2013. 8. Stoddard S, Whiteside L, Zimmerman M, Cunningham R, Chermack S, Walton M. The relationship between cumulative risk and promotive factors and violent behavior among urban adolescents. Am J Community Psychol. 2013;51:57-65. 9. Zimmerman G, Messner S. Individual, family background, and contextual explanations of racial and ethnic disparities in youths' exposure to violence. Am J Public Health. 2013;103(3):435-442.