SITE OVERVIEW ♦ SPRINGFIELD | MASSACHUSETTS
Target Area: South End • Population: 2,900
Fiscal Agent: City of Springfield
Research Partner: Windsor Woods Research Associates
Crime Concerns: Drug-related violence, gang activity, and violent crime
BCJI Funding Year: 2013 Planning & Implementation
Neighborhood Profile
Springfield’s South End neighborhood is located near the center of the city and is linked to it by Main Street. Data and police experience indicate that the neighborhood has a particularly concentrated violent crime rate that is nearly four times higher than the overall rate of Springfield. Both the police and neighborhood residents maintain that the primary source of crime in this area concerns open air drug trading, primarily of heroin among other drugs, to both wholesale and individual buyers. Additionally, high rates of burglary, robbery, and prostitution are thought to be connected to the drug trade near the South End Community.
Planning Process
The BCJI Springfield site partners are many and act as a force and resource multiplier in the sites goals and implementation strategies. Some of the partners include the Springfield Police Department, the Massachusetts Police Department, the Hampden County District Attorney’s Office, the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department, the South End Revitalization Coalition (SERC), After-Incarceration Support Services (AISS), HAPHousing, South End Middle School, Marble Street Tenants Association, the Caring Health Center, Square One, the Marble Street Tenants Association, the South End Community Center, First Resource Companies, Roca, Windsor Woods Research Associates, the Salvation Army, and faith-based organizations. These examined data and gathered community input to develop a full picture of problems related to drug markets and violent crime. They also assessed needs to build cross-sector community-based partnerships in order to provide a coordinated, quality, and consistent array of neighborhood and resident services. Key findings from the planning period identified a disconnect between crime concerns voiced by residents and police data, and a need to build efficacy in addressing neighborhood problems and reducing negative influences in the built environment.
Implementation Strategies
The Springfield team began implementation in spring 2015, initially focusing on expanding the Counter Criminal Continuum (C3) model into the South End neighborhood. Implemented in the North End community of Springfield since 2009, C3 is a police-led problem-solving approach that contributed to a 62% drop in the North End crime rate in its early years. The particular model focuses on building trust with residents, empowering neighborhood leaders, addressing neighborhood elements that lead to or support crime, and supporting strategic enforcement against drug-related criminal activity.
To support resident engagement and enhance community-police relations, the BCJI effort also launched an innovative “Promotores” program through which residents took on paid positions to conduct outreach with neighbors, connect people with services and liaise with police. The BCJI project also supports the revitalization efforts including restoration of historic buildings, as a follow up to the successful reclamation of the Emerson Wight Playground and the improvement of conditions on the Dwight Street and Main Street streetscapes. Meanwhile, SquareOne is also continuing its efforts in providing valuable resources and support to children and families of Springfield. Events have included a Father’s Day Barbecue in Emerson Wight Park as part of their Healthy Families Initiative, which delivers home visits and group services for first-time parents under 21 years of age.
Featuring this Site
- This Promising Practice Guide profiles how Springfield leaders integrated community revitalization efforts supported by the HUD Choice Neighborhoods Initiative and BCJI.
- Springfield’s project coordinator shared community engagement tips with BCJI leaders at a grantee meeting described in this Institute for Comprehensive Community Development article.
This web site is funded in part, through a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse, this web site (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided).