Gilpin Court is located in the City’s Northside.  It is the oldest and largest public housing neighborhood in Richmond, completed in 1943.  It is situated near the heart of downtown but is physically isolated from the rest of the city’s resurgence by Interstates 95 and 64, which creates a border running the entire west and south sides of the community. The community is located less than three miles from other high crime and public housing communities (Highland Park, Mosby Court, and Creighton). It has become a central location for outside criminal activity, drug sales, gun violence, and neighborhood rivalries. Richmond Police Department (RPD) considers Gilpin to be located in one of the most violent areas of the city with a long history of distrust and violence between residents, police, and other public housing communities. In 2017, Sector 411 had 15% of the city’s violent crime, and Gilpin Court had the highest number of violent crime incidents of any neighborhood in the city. Community feedback and police data suggest that concentrated poverty, high unemployment, substance abuse, and illegal drug sales are some of the primary drivers of crime here.   

Gilpin meets the definition of a distressed community. However, it does have a rich history with several community assets.  These assets include the Gilpin Court Tenants Council which meets monthly to plan community events and activities;  the  Calhoun  Family  Investment  Center; Richmond City Health District Clinic, located in the Calhoun Center; Strategies to Elevate People (STEP) afterschool and jobs program; Parks and Recreation; Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RRHA) located in Gilpin; and Richmond Police Department (RPD).

The goals of this BCJI project are to reduce crime, increase mutual trust, and improve community safety as part of a comprehensive plan to rebuild the Gilpin Community and spur revitalization. Guiding the project will be the BCJI Steering Committee, which is made up of key partners that have been meeting for over a year. They have held focus groups, conducted surveys, and met weekly to solicit feedback, identify priorities, and build the necessary infrastructure for effective community and resident partnerships. The Committee has grown to include many non-profit organizations, government entities, and community leaders previously operating independently to address many longstanding challenges and community issues but have agreed to collaborate to tackle problem properties, unsafe streets, unemployment, transit barriers, and service gaps related to crime.  

Committee members and the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) will work with BJA and the IACP to develop a comprehensive implementation blueprint to reduce crime. This will include data analysis, research findings, and a plan that articulates the range of strategies that the BCJI partners will use to reduce crime and create opportunities for the Gilpin Community. Objectives developed in the Planning Phase include:

• Objective 1: Decrease homicides in Gilpin Court by 50% by September of 2021.

• Objective 2: Reduce the combined number of homicides, aggravated assaults, and robberies with a firearm in Gilpin Court by 25% by September 2021.

• Objective 3: Improve/increase community trust of law enforcement by the first full year of implementation in Gilpin Court by 20% by September 2021.

• Objective 4: Increase employment by 10% for youth and adults in Gilpin Court by September 2021.

To accomplish the project’s goals, the grantee site and its project partners plan to implement the following:

• Focus Area Policing: Richmond Police Department (RPD) will institute focus area policing using the Koper Curve, which suggests that random 10–15-minute patrols at least every two hours in focus areas optimize deterrence. 
• Disrupting Crime Patterns: RPD will identify and remove criminogenic elements of the physical environment through surveillance, community walks, meeting with property owners and managers, arresting wanted persons, and performing directed patrols. 
• Blue Light Special: RPD patrol vehicles will turn on their blue lights for higher visibility in compliance with RPD’s officer safety requirements. 
• Community Pop-Up Events: RPD will collaborate with local stakeholders, including businesses and civic associations, to host Community Pop-Up Events for each neighborhood in the geographic focus areas. 
• License Plate Readers (LPR): The grantee site will install LPRs in the geographic focus area. 
• Investigations: RPD will partner with federal and local prosecutors and probation and parole agents to enhance investigations of habitual offenders. 
• Directed Patrols: RPD will perform directed patrols in the geographic focus areas. 
• Special Investigations: RPD’s Operation Red Ball Team and Narcotics Team will be asked to share crime intelligence related to violent offenders with BCJI team members. 
• Precinct Detectives: Precinct detectives will assist with surveillance operations, search warrants, and controlled buys. 
• Major Crimes: RPD’s Major Crimes Unit will share intelligence regarding targeted violent offenders. 
• Community Survey: The grantee site will survey community members to gauge their perceptions of public safety, and the survey findings will be made public. 
• Job Training Programming: The grantee site will support work readiness and job training programs to create and improve employment opportunities for youth and adults. 
• Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED): The grantee site will collaborate with RPD and other project partners to implement and improve existing neighborhood structures through CPTED tactics. 

Richmond Managing Eastern District Assistant, United States Attorney in charge of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the Attorney General of Virginia, the Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney, the Richmond Police Department Chief of Police, Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, the Richmond Mayor’s Office, Gilpin Courts Tenants Council, Calhoun Investment Center, Parks and Recreation.