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of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

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    Reducing Gun Violence

    Gun Violence Data & Research

    Leveraging data and research effectively leads to more impactful policies and funding strategies aimed at reducing gun violence.

    VIP Gran​​ts Evaluation Initiative

    On May 31, 2023, the School Safety and Security Committee approved an award to the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center (NORC), in partnership with Temple University, to examine the effectiveness of programs funded through PCCD to prevent and reduce gun violence including the VIP Grant Program and Coordinated Community Violence Intervention (CCVI) Strategies Pilot Sites. 

    The NORC and Temple research team will conduct this study by completing the following activities:

    • Stage 1: Learn about funded programs via a program survey,
    • Stage 2: Select 40 VIP programs and 5 CCVI programs for a more detailed exploration,
    • Stage 3: Meet with the 45 selected programs to conduct staff interviews and focus groups, meet with community members served by the programs, and review de-identified program and other administrative data,
    • Stage 4: Analyze and summarize the information learned from the programs and administrative data,
    • Stage 5: Draft and publish the findings.

    VIP Grants Evaluation Reports

    ​VIP Program Survey Executive Summary (August 2024)
    ​VIP Program Survey Report (August 2024)

    VIP Grants Evaluation Initiative

    Stay up-to-date on the latest evaluation under this project.

    Evaluation of VIP Grantees

    Gun Violence Investigation and Prosecution Dashboard

    Act 54 of 2022 established the Gun Violence Investigation and Prosecution Program (GVIP) within PCCD. Per Act 54, funding awarded to District Attorneys, local law enforcement agencies, campus or university police, railroad or street railway police, airport authority police, and county park police could be used for the following purposes:​

    1.  To improve and enhance coordination of Federal, State and local law enforcement investigations and prosecutions of violations of 18 Pa.C.S. Ch. 61 and crimes of violence involving firearms.
    2. To support personnel costs, including salaries and overtime, relating to investigations and prosecutions of violations of 18 Pa.C.S. Ch. 61 and crimes of violence involving firearms, with priority given to applications focusing on straw purchasers and firearms trafficking.
    3. To purchase technology systems, including related hardware and software, to improve investigations and prosecutions or increase clearance rates, including the purchase of gunshot detection technology and other technologies that support firearm violence reduction initiatives.
    4. Initiatives that support the tracing of firearms used to commit crimes or delinquent acts and the identification of illegal firearms traffickers.
    5. Any other efforts that aid in the investigation, arrest and prosecution of a crime involving firearms.

    On December 14, 2022 PCCD approved funding for 29 applicants to support law enforcement agencies in investigating and prosecuting gun violence as described above. The dashboard ​includes criminal cases filed annually that had one or more Violation of Pennsylvania’s Uniform Firearms Act (VUFA) offenses charged, the percentage of all criminal cases filed that included one or more VUFA offense and criminal cases that had a violent offense charged along with a VUFA offense. Click the following links to find a listing of VUFA offenses and/or find a listing of violent offenses.

    You may view the data by court system (magisterial district courts, courts of common pleas or Philadelphia Municipal Court) and segment by county or year. In addition, by using the “Recipient Agencies” drop down, you may segment the data by the specific agencies that were awarded GVIP funding. The “Recipient Agency” data is limited to law enforcement agencies that received funding under the GVIP grant program either directly, or as part of a larger regional grant application.​