Welcome to the University of New Haven Gun Safety Database
About Us
Gun violence is a complex public health issue that negatively impacts individuals, families, and communities across the United States. Preventing gun violence requires collaboration, education, and community-driven approaches.
This initiative was developed to understand, track, and address gun violence from many levels to help those in community-facing positions, such as medical providers and first responders to prevent gun violence in our communities. We developed resources to educate community members on gun violence prevention, trained officers in trauma-informed strategies, and enhanced data analytic systems that are essential to strengthen our neighborhoods and promote safety in our community.
Our goal is to reduce gun violence in New Haven by increasing community policing resources and engaging the healthcare community in evidence-based violence prevention strategies.
The following are the program objectives:
Objective 1: Train police officers in trauma-informed policing practices so they can better respond to community needs.
Objective 2: Train healthcare providers on prevention strategies through public health education, community engagement and promotion of safe practices that reduce injury and save lives. These resources were disseminated to healthcare workers from a variety of community-based institutions and address ways that they can assist in gun violence prevention through their first-line interactions with the community.
Objective 3: Conduct focus groups with community healthcare workers to understand their perspectives and current strategies to prevent gun violence. Results of the focus groups will contribute to research.
Objective 4: Improve the New Haven Police Department’s (NHPD) ability to address gun crime through their development of a real-time crime center. The NHPD is establishing a real time crime data center, in which officers and analysts will have access to data collected from different sources, software, and systems in an organic and interactive way.
Students involved in this project contributed to research, data analytics, resource development and dissemination, and community outreach efforts. Through this interprofessional collaboration, students gained hands-on experience addressing one of today’s most pressing public health challenges.
Our Aim
By linking research, practice, and community leadership, the University of New Haven initiative aims to become a national model for data-informed, trauma-sensitive violence prevention.
Our Mission
The initiative seek to reduce gun violence in the New Haven area by uniting expertise in criminal justice and public health to create sustainable, data-informed solutions.
This project recognizes gun violence as both a public safety and public health challenge that requires collective, evidence-based action.
“Gun violence is truly a public health problem, something that needs to be addressed from the ground level,” said Dr. Karl Minges, Former Chair of the Department of Population Health and Leadership.
What We Do
The project is co-led by Dr. Lorenzo Boyd, Stewart Professor of Community Policing, and Dr. Karl Minges, Dean of the College of Health Professions for Sacred Heart University. It joins the efforts of the Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences and the School of Health Sciences to build a comprehensive, community-centered model for violence prevention.
Data and Research
The Center for Analytics at the University of New Haven plays a key role in gathering and analyzing local data to guide prevention strategies and support trauma-informed policing.
“We have plenty of rhetoric about stopping gun violence,” said Sen. Blumenthal. “We need facts and data.”
Trauma-Informed Policing
The Henry C. Lee College is partnering with the New Haven Police Department and neighboring law enforcement agencies to provide trauma-informed training for officers. Over two years, the goal is to train 200 officers to respond more effectively and compassionately to communities affected by violence.
“If we can get the police to go in and do trauma-informed interviewing, understand the trauma that happens in the community, and then go in with a little bit of a softer hand in order to get information,” said Dr. Boyd.
Health Systems Engagement
The School of Health Sciences conducted focus groups with healthcare professionals, including those in emergency departments, EMS, and community health centers to understand how gun violence is addressed within clinical and community settings.
Through these discussions, the initiative aims to identify strategies to “lower the temperature” after violent incidents and break cycles of retaliation and trauma.
Our Approach
This initiative builds bridges between the Henry C. Lee college, the School of Health Sciences, and health systems; anchored in data, prevention, and community trust.
“The unique part of this is to marry public health with public safety,” said Dr. Betsy Francis-Connolly, Dean of the School of Health Sciences. “This will be a great opportunity for us and we’ll have better opportunities to intervene.”
Dr. Boyd emphasized the importance of understanding the community context; “This is not about cops and robbers. This is not about good guys and bad guys. This is about understanding issues in the community.” He added, “One person being shot tends to lead to a series of chain of events. If we can get a handle on the chain of events that’s going to happen afterward, we can slow down a lot of gun violence.”