Working together to reduce gun violence

Georgia College & State University recently received a grant that involves students and faculty in part of a nation wide program that will attempt to reduce gun violence in Central Georgia.

Project Safe Neighborhoods is a federal program designed to give communities assistance in fighting gun related crimes, according to Dr. Eugene Bouley, associate professor of government and sociology and co-investigator of the project along with Dr. Terry Wells.

The university received $150,000 to conduct the study over a three year period that will begin with the fiscal year on Oct. 1.

Bouley said the university received the grant by submitting a proposal to the U.S. Attorney’s Office describing what would be done with the research.

Department chair of government and sociology Dr. Michael Digby is proud of the school’s recent accomplishment.

“It shows that our faculty and our students are held in high regard by the highest level of U.S. government,” Digby said.

He said the program will “potentially have great benefits for everyone in Central Georgia.” Digby noted one of the strongest points in the school receiving the grant was the fact that students will be involved in the actual research.

According to Bouley, both graduate and undergraduate students will take part in the study. Graduates studying in the fields of criminal justice and public administration will take part, as well as undergraduates studying in all other parts of the department.

Bouley said the first order of business will be to establish the level of gun violence in Middle Georgia. He said the research will focus on Bibb and Houston counties in the areas of Macon, Warner Robins and Perry.

The group will find a current base line in gun violence and then work
with the PSN task force to come up with programs to reduce the levels. They will then measure the effectiveness of the programs.

Students involved in the research will be working right along with the investigators in the analysis, according to Bouley. He said students will be conducting literature reviews, as well as entering and collecting data.

He said research will also be done through internships and graduate assistantships.

Bouley said though the final results will not be known until the three-year mark, immediate results will be known throughout that time based on police interviews, among other determining factors. He said the project will consist of “on-going research with results.”

Bouley is excited about the possibilities of the program.

“The major benefit is that we will hopefully be improving the quality of life in Middle Georgia,” he said, noting that the project is designed to make safer communities.

“We’re very, very pleased about it,” Digby said.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 27 2002. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry