Focused deterrence leans on the idea that most crime is committed by a
few, highly criminal individuals. Thus, a focused deterrence strategy
used by the police is a program that targets individuals with extensive
criminal records for an intervention in an effort to reduce their
criminal behavior.
One example of a focused deterrence strategy is Project Safe
Neighborhoods (PSN) in Chicago, where former gun felons were asked to
attend “offender notification forums” when released from prison. At
these forums, individuals from Chicago Police Department, ATF, the
States Attorney’s Office reminded participants what would happen if they
used a gun and were caught (extra severe punishment) but also provided
participants with resources to stay off the streets (i.e., job leads,
training, mental health and educational services) (see Wallace et al,
2016). Results showed that attending an offender notification forum
drastically reduced a participant’s likelihood of going back to prison,
specifically for new gun crimes. Scholars have shown that focused
deterrence strategies reduced crime in neighborhoods where forums
occurred, as well as in the surrounding neighborhoods (Braga, Weisburd,
and Turchan, 2019).
In short, focused deterrence strategies are a promising way of
reducing crime that is tough to stop (i.e., like gun, gang, and drug
violence).
References (Not counted as part of your 3 required sources)
Braga, A. A., Weisburd, D., & Turchan, B. (2019). Focused deterrence strategies effects on crime: A systematic review. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 15(3), e1051.
Wallace, D., Papachristos, A. V., Meares, T., & Fagan, J.
(2016). Desistance and legitimacy: The impact of offender notification
meetings on recidivism among high risk offenders. Justice Quarterly, 33(7), 1237-1264.