The Village of Hempstead experiences high crime levels, low employment, high rates of vacant and distressed properties, and escalating poverty levels. Almost 20 percent of the population in the Village of Hempstead lives below the poverty line. Furthermore, 14.5 percent of families in the Village have an annual income of less than $15,000. The 2017 Opportunity Index states that 33.3 percent of residents are low-income, and many social problems plaguing the Village of Hempstead are generational and can be traced back decades.  

Among the many societal challenges is the Village of Hempstead’s high crime rates involving guns, drugs, and gangs. Active gangs in the Village include Bloods, Crips, MS-13, Salvadorans with Pride (SWP), and 18th Street. Violence and social distress converge in the Village of Hempstead in ways that greatly exacerbate societal problems. Hempstead’s reputation has stymied revitalization in the Village. A larger tax base is needed, but investment in the community is rare due to its reputation for violence. In the meantime, gangs will continue to recruit from what they see as a large pool of recruits, while drug and gun violence persists. 

The Village of Hempstead Police Department (HPD), through prior policing action and planning, has developed four areas of criminal activity labeled as focus areas. These focus areas make up 13 various blocks, approximately one mile, of the Village and will act as the target areas for the Village’s Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation (BCJI) project.

The goal of HPD’s BCJI project is to tailor individual solutions to each of the Village’s focus areas by leveraging research and data into a comprehensive strategy. The HPD’s ultimate goal is to negate gun violence completely, but a more realistic goal is to decrease gun-related violence yearly. One primary goal in support of this is to make strategic arrests of top offenders perpetuating violent crimes in focus areas. Proposed project activities include:

• Hiring of three new officers to perform proactive measures in focus areas such as foot patrols, business checks, and “knock and talks” with known gun offenders on active parole or probation.  
• Traffic safety vehicle stops by the HPD Traffic Bureau in focus areas coupled with the use of license plate readers to gather data, impound vehicles when justified, and arrest offenders with outstanding warrants.
• Continued research and data analysis to combat gun crime in Village focus areas.
• Installation of additional cameras throughout the Village to assist in solving crimes.
• Aggressive investigation by the HPD Juvenile Aid Bureau (JAB) concerning juveniles associated with gun-related crimes when necessary.
• Continued community engagement with community and civic partners. 

During the Planning Phase, site practitioners refined their plan for the Implementation Phase, and developed a response and assessment plan to address acute violence in focus areas, including:

• Officer Overtime: Hempstead Police Department (HPD) initially planned to hire new officers, but due to local challenges related to hiring and retention, they refocused on supporting additional officer overtime. Officers will be strategically deployed to focus areas, especially during the evening and overnight shifts. Further, funding officer overtime will provide officers with additional resources to address violent crime incidents and promote safety for community members. 
• Ongoing Research and Data Collection: Data will be compiled and shared with the HPD Investigation Division, Gang Unit, Community Policing Unit, Juvenile Aide Bureau, Patrol Unit, and Traffic Unit on a monthly basis to identify patterns, trends, focus areas, and repeat offenders. Partner law enforcement agencies will be included in regularly scheduled meetings with HPD to develop sustainable enforcement goals and strategies to combat gun violence. 
• Community Survey: During the Implementation Phase, the site will deploy a new community survey to obtain input and establish trust with the communities most impacted by violent crime. The survey will include questions on respondents' experiences and perceptions related to crime and public safety concerns, neighborhood conditions, community assets, areas in need of improvement, victimization, witnessing crime, and perception of and satisfaction with law enforcement. 
• Real-Time Hempstead: Utilizing programmatic police data, the Village of Hempstead will develop Real-Time Hempstead, an online platform to track data relating to major crimes in the community, including wanted subjects, focus areas, vehicles in connection with shootings, release dates of violent felons, ShotSpotter data, and other information deemed necessary to combat crime. 

Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, neighborhood associations, Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, Nassau County Probation Department, Nassau County Sheriff’s Department, New York State Police, Department Of Corrections and Community Supervision, New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas, federal task forces, Counseling Services of Eastern District New York, Suffolk County Police Department