Operation
Weed and Seed
A strategy within the U.S. Department of
Justice's Office of Justice Programs that incorporates community-based
initiatives. It is an innovative and comprehensive multi-agency
approach to law enforcement, crime prevention, and community revitalization.
Weed and Seed Strategy
Operation Weed and Seed is foremost a strategy--rather than
a grant program-- which aims to prevent, control, and reduce violent crime,
drug abuse, and gang activity in targeted high-crime neighborhoods across the
country. Weed and Seed sites range in size from several neighborhood blocks to
15 square miles.
The strategy involves a two-pronged approach: law
enforcement agencies and prosecutors cooperate in "weeding out"
criminals who participate in violent crime and drug abuse, attempting to
prevent their return to the targeted area; and "seeding" brings human
services to the area, encompassing prevention, intervention, treatment, and
neighborhood revitalization.
A community-orientated policing component bridges weeding
and seeding strategies. Officers obtain helpful information from area residents
for weeding efforts while they aid residents in obtaining information about
community revitalization and seeding resources.
Elements
of the Weed and Seed Strategy
"Weed"
= Law Enforcement
(Narcotics
traffickers and violent criminals, once arrested, are often immediately
returned to the streets to continue distributing drugs and terrorizing local
residents. This environment of violence makes potential witnesses fear for
their lives. Despite the best efforts of State and local prosecutors, often
there is a lengthy delay between arrest and disposition of narcotics cases
prosecuted at the local level. Moreover, even when such cases are resolved
through a guilty plea of conviction, the criminal may serve little, if any,
time in a county or State correctional facility. The Weed and Seed
initiative is designed to break this cycle of arrest, delay, and mild or no
punishment that breeds frustration and despair in the community.)
The law
enforcement element consists primarily of suppression activities. These
activities include enforcement, adjudication, prosecution, and supervision
efforts designed to target, apprehend, and incapacitate violent street
criminals who terrorize neighborhoods and account for a disproportionate
percentage of criminal activity. One example of an effective law enforcement
strategy is Operation Triggerlock, a Department of
Justice initiative that targets violent offenders for prosecution in Federal
court to take advantage of tough Federal firearms laws.
Some of the
suppression activities will focus on special enforcement operations such as
repeat or violent offender removal programs, intensified narcotics investigations,
targeted prosecutions, victim-witness protection, and elimination of narcotics
trafficking organizations operating in these areas.
Community
Policing
Community Policing serves as the bridge between the “weeding"
(law enforcement) and "seeding" (neighborhood restoration)
components. The community policing element operates in support of intensive law
enforcement suppression and containment activities and provides a bridge to the
prevention, intervention, and treatment component as well as the neighborhood
reclamation and restoration components. Local police departments should
implement community policing strategies in each of the targeted sites. Under
community policing, law enforcement works closely with community residents to
develop solutions to violent and drug-related crime. In addition, community
policing should help foster a sense of responsibility within the community and
serve as a stimulus for community mobilization.
Community Policing activities will focus on increasing police
visibility and developing cooperative relationships between the police and
citizenry in the target areas. Techniques such as foot patrols, problem
solving, victim referrals to support services, and
community relations activities will increase positive interaction between the
police and the community. Special emphasis should be placed on addressing the
needs of crime victims and minority communities that are disproportionately
victimized by crime.
The objective
is to raise the level of citizen and community involvement in crime prevention
and intervention activities to solve drug-related problems in neighborhoods to
enhance the level of community security. Community policing might include
police mini stations, foot patrols, and nuisance abatement.
Community
mobilization is also important to community policing in crime prevention.
Programs that encourage community participation and help prevent crime include
neighborhood watches, citizen marches and rallies, prayer services, drug-free
zones, and graffiti removal.
"Seed"
= Prevention, Intervention, and Treatment
The prevention,
intervention, and treatment element could begin with the near completion of the
intensive "Weed" activities. However, depending on the needs,
interests, and most importantly, the safety of the targeted neighborhood, this
aspect of the strategy could be initiated concurrently with the weeding effort.
This element should help prevent crime and violence from recurring in target
neighborhoods. The coordinated efforts of law enforcement and social service
agencies, the private sector, and the community will help prevent crime from
recurring. This can be accomplished by concentrating a broad array of human
services on the target areas to create an environment where crime cannot
thrive.
Prevention, intervention,
and treatment should include youth services, school programs, community and
social programs, and support groups designed to develop positive community
attitudes toward combating narcotics use and trafficking. The Safe Haven, for
example, is a mechanism to organize and deliver an array of youth-and
adult-oriented human services in a multiservice
center setting such as a school.
"Seed"
= Neighborhood Restoration
Neighborhood
restoration can be achieved only through the coordinated use of Federal, State,
local, and private sector resources. This element of the Weed and Seed program
is designed to revitalize distressed neighborhoods and improve the quality of
life in the target communities. The neighborhood restoration element will focus
on economic development activities designed to strengthen legitimate community
institutions. Resources should be dedicated to economic development activities
designed to strengthen legitimate community institutions. Resources should be
dedicated to economic development, provision of economic opportunities for
residents, improved public services in the target areas.
Programs will
be developed to improve living conditions; enhance home security; allow for
low-cost physical improvements; develop long-term efforts to renovate and
maintain housing; and to provide educational, economic, social, recreational,
and other virtual opportunities. A key feature of this element will be the
fostering of self-worth and individual responsibility among community members.
Steps
to Official Recognition
(Before planning, the US
Attorney's Office must be contacted in your district. Notify LEC contact
in that office
of your intent to coordinate a
Weed and Seed Strategy)
1) Organize and Convene a
Steering Committee - Once a Steering Committee commits to
meeting regularly in the interest of the strategy. For several months,
they work on Implementation steps:
- Selecting the Target Neighborhood
- Conduct
Needs Assessment for the Target Neighborhood
- Select
Existing Resources and Develop New Ones
-
Developing Implementation Activities
-
Developing the Implementation Schedule
The
Steering Committee can meet in any space convenient to all parties. Sites
have reported to EOWS
that meetings commenced in
the evenings within or near the target area are most productive and
well-attended.
2) Request from EOWS
- an Implementation Manual - the resource walks the Steering Committee through the Strategy
Implementation procedure.
3) Convene regular Steering Committee
meetings - include the
4) Request in late Spring
an Application for Official Recognition - be sure to take note of deadline!
5) Submit complete application by
late November
Communities that develop a
Weed and Seed strategy in coordination with their U.S. Attorneys Office may
submit an application for Official Recognition (OR) to EOWS (made available to
the public each year in early summer) for review and approval (application
dates for OR Applications are typically in late November).
If the site is designated
as Officially Recognized, it may receive preference in discretionary funding
from participating federal agencies; priority for participating in federally
sponsored training and technical assistance; use of the Weed and Seed logo;
eligibility to attend national EOWS training conferences, and eligibility to
apply for Department of Justice Weed and Seed funds, pending the availability
of funds. Funding Applications for OR sites are received and processed in
the late winter and into the early Spring.
In FY l999, 70 sites applied for Official Recognition and to date, 31 have been
granted. EOWS now manages some 230 Officially Recognized Weed and Seed
sites nationally.
Given the rapid growth of
interest in the program, the provision of DOJ funding to additional sites may
be limited based on a consideration of factors such as the seriousness of the
crime problem in a site, the site's capacity to implement the program,
coordination with related federal initiatives and other related factors.
Organizing a Steering Committee
|
Role of the
U.S. Attorney: |
|
Role of the
Steering Committee: |
The U.S. Attorney must work closely with city, State, and
Federal officials, as well as members of the community and the private sector,
to accomplish the program's goals. The responsibility for developing the
strategy rests with the steering committee. At its discretion, the steering
committee may designate a local or State agency or official such as a city
manager to be in charge of the program's daily operations.
The
U.S. Attorney should initially convene the core group of local officials - a
working committee of criminal justice and other local government officials and
service providers, as well as representatives of the private sector who will
agree to participate in a Weed and Seed program. The committee members should
be considered the founders of and future participants in the business of the
steering committee.
The steering committee may include, but is not limited to:
|
|
Private
Business Owners |
Union
Representatives |
|
City
Mayor |
Residents
(including youth and elderly) |
Corporations
operating in Target Area |
|
Chief of
Police |
Faith-based
Representatives |
School
Administrators, teachers, Superintendent |
|
Non-Profit
Leader |
District
Prosecutor |
Law
Enforcement Coordinator from USAO |
|
Regional
Leaders of Federal Departments and agencies (HUD, HHS, Small Business Admin,
etc.) |
Representative(s)
from city agencies (housing, code enforcement, Dept of Recreation, etc.) |
Military
community outreach staff |
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