Don't Shoot
One Man, a Street Fellowship, and the End of Violence in Inner-City America
By David M. Kennedy
October 2011
$28.00
320 pp
6.125 x 9.25 in
Hardcover
By David M. Kennedy
Profiled in the New Yorker and featured on 60 Minutes, the story of David Kennedy's crusade to combat America's plague of gang- and drug-related violence-with methods that have been astonishingly effective across the country.
Gang- and drug-related inner-city violence, with its attendant epidemic of incarceration, is the defining crime problem in our country. In some neighborhoods in America, one out of every two hundred young black men is shot to death every year, and few initiatives of government and law enforcement have made much difference. But when David Kennedy, a self-taught and then-unknown criminologist, engineered the "Boston Miracle" in the mid-1990s, he pointed the way toward what few had imagined: a solution.
Don't Shoot tells the story of Kennedy's long journey. Riding with beat cops, hanging with gang members, and stoop-sitting with grandmothers, Kennedy found that all parties misunderstood each other, caught in a spiral of racialized anger and distrust. He envisioned an approach in which everyone-gang members, cops, and community members-comes together in what is essentially a huge intervention. Offenders are told that the violence must stop, that even the cops want them to stay alive and out of prison, and that even their families support swift law enforcement if the violence continues. In city after city, the same miracle has followed: violence plummets, drug markets dry up, and the relationship between the police and the community is reset.
This is a landmark book, chronicling a paradigm shift in how we address one of America's most shameful social problems. A riveting, page-turning read, it combines the street vérité of The Wire, the social science of Gang Leader for a Day, and the moral urgency and personal journey of Fist Stick Knife Gun. But unlike anybody else, Kennedy shows that there could be an end in sight.
Advance Praise for Don't Shoot:
“Don’t Shoot will do for the fight against violence what Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring did for the environmental movement a generation ago.” —Malcolm Gladwell
“The good news about the drug- and gang-related violence epidemic is that it can be controlled and substantially reduced. As proof, you only have to read David Kennedy’s wonderful new book Don’t Shoot. It chronicles his ideas and crusade to bring police and communities together in partnerships to successfully deal with the cancer of drug-related crime and violence that has ravaged those communities and demoralized the police. Now being tried in over 70 communities, David’s campaign is expanding to have the national and international impact it deserves.”—Bill Bratton, chairman of Kroll, former chief of police of the Los Angeles Police Department
“Don't Shoot is a work of moral philosophy that reads like a crime novel—Immanuel Kant meets Joseph Wambaugh. It’s a fascinating, inspiring, and wonderfully well written story of one man's quest to solve a problem no one thought could be solved: the scourge of inner city gang violence. We had tried arresting these young men, incarcerating them, and outgunning them, always without lasting success, but what had never been tried before David Kennedy and his colleagues began piecing together their methodology was the simplest and yet most radical approach imaginable: listening to them, and harnessing the greatest force of all—the moral authority of their peers. This is a vitally important work that has the potential to usher in a new era in policing.” —John Seabrook, author of Flash of Genius
“Don’t Shoot, based on David Kennedy’s fresh re-reading of criminology, his time on the ground with police, gangs, and families, and his indignation with the slaughter of young black men, brings together what is truly one of a small number of ‘big ideas’ revolutionizing crime control, especially policing and prosecution. Shame on any city, police department, or prosecutor’s office that isn’t learning from his experience. What Don’t Shoot documents really matters.”—George Kelling, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, professor of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University, and fellow in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
“David M. Kennedy’s latest work is an invitation to the future of urban policing. In these pages is a dynamic exploration of racial reconciliation, stakeholder partnerships, and mass incarceration alternatives as key components of crime reduction. Kennedy’s ideas extend beyond community policing and serve to revolutionize the entire criminal justice system.” —Garry F. McCarthy, superintendant of Chicago police
“Despite the recent and welcome decline in United States crime, gun crime remains a persistent concern in this country. Solutions to the ‘gun problem,’ fueled by ideological, constitutional, and moral debates, diverge considerably. In Don’t Shoot, David Kennedy elegantly and forcefully describes an approach to stopping gun violence that does not depend on policing gun crime with guns or solving crime’s root causes. Instead, his approach leans on the power of community trust in the law and officials – legitimacy. Offenders can and do voluntarily comply with the law. When they do, neighborhoods are safer, fewer people go to prison, and policing is turned on its head.” —Tracey L. Meares, deputy dean and Walton Hale Hamilton Professor, Yale Law School
“David Kennedy’s work helped Cincinnati revolutionize the way that we think about policing our community. His passion for solving the never-ending cycle of violence is evident in every conversation with him. We have found that by engaging offenders with a strong, unified, community message telling them that the violence must stop and offering them an alternative life, we can have a meaningful and lasting impact in our community. David’s work is a must read for Mayors around the country confronted with the scourge of gun violence in their cities.” —Mark Mallory, mayor, Cincinnati, Ohio
“The author brings more than two decades of practical, administrative, managerial, supervisory and academic experience to this work of art. A unique and comprehensive view of the toxic impact of mass incarceration on our most vulnerable neighborhoods as seen through the eyes of this criminal justice professional. A must read.” —Patrick R. Melvin, national president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE)
“The book provides a raw and unadulterated look at gang violence as well as Mr. Kennedy’s approach to combating it on a national level… His commitment over the years has helped to save and change the lives of many youth… This is a must read for all!” —Tyrone C. Parker, executive director, Alliance of Concerned Men
“The subheading for this book, ‘The End of Violence in Inner-City America’ would be pretentious if were it not for the indisputable evidence, compelling true stories, and common sense solutions detailed therein. Bottom line: this works.” —Reverend Kenneth Edward Copeland, New Zion Baptist Church, Rockford, Illinois
Reviews for Don't Shoot:
“In a matter-of-fact, street-smart style, Kennedy explains his remarkably effective strategies for combating violent crime…this heartfelt book shows what can happen when police, gangs, and communities come together to address some of America's most intractable social problems.”—Publishers Weekly
“An unlikely criminal-justice pioneer revisits his innovative, immensely successful crusade against youth homicide in America's worst neighborhoods… A valuable text—not just for the solution, but also for the refreshing philosophy behind it.” —Kirkus Reviews (prepub)
