The Application of Emergency Management Principles to Violent Crime Response and Urban Resilience

Violent crime is on the rise in many American cities and the annual cost to police and the community increases proportionally. Violent crime scenes are similar to the calamity experienced with natural or human-made disasters. Understanding how it could have been prevented, what services were needed, and what remaining gaps still exist in services and resources is critical. The narrative can be shifted by treating violent crime like naturally occurring disasters and applying comprehensive emergency management strategies to prepare, mitigate, respond, and recover from this whole community hazard. This dynamic emergency management-based approach outlines coordination across key agencies and stakeholders, and has the potential to mitigate the impact of violent crime in major urban cities in the United States (US). Using the District of Columbia (DC) as a sample study area, this policy proposal is supported by a qualitative analyses of available data, including from the limited existing literature and from related DC agencies. Findings demonstrate how the DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (DCHSEMA), can coordinate response and hold agencies accountable within its current capacity while supporting the interoperability of all related violent crime agencies involved. These findings have both national and international implications.