Project BRAVE begins push to reduce crime in 70805

Now that East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III has received $1.5 million in grant money for Project BRAVE—the funds officially arrived Oct. 1—he is beginning to implement the operation ceasefire–style program, which targets violent offenders in the city’s high-crime, 70805 ZIP code. Last week, he met with social service providers, and Thursday he gathers with local ministers to explain exactly what their role will be. Social service agencies and faith-based groups are key to making BRAVE a success, as they will offer help and support—no questions asked—to targeted offenders who choose to walk away from a life of crime. Next week, experts from the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission will be in Baton Rouge for two days, explaining how their similar program was effective in reducing that city’s homicide rate by 40% between 2005 and 2009. Meanwhile, LSU researchers are compiling reams of data from arrest records throughout East Baton Rouge Parish, which will be used to design a massive web that identifies and links those who have been connected to violent incidents. “We’re still dumping information in the computer,” says Moore. “The whole idea behind this group reduction strategy is that you can affect group behavior by identifying the bad actors in the bunch.” Those “bad actors” will be rounded up in the first “call in” of Project BRAVE in early or mid-December. “It’s a little later than I would have liked,” says Moore. “But all the experts have told us the important thing is to do this right. That’s more important than doing it quickly.” —Stephanie Riegel