David Kennedy

A self-taught criminologist, David Kennedy’s work has focused on reducing serious violence for more than 35 years. As Director of the National Network for Safe Communities, David helps to support cities implementing strategic interventions to reduce violence, minimize arrest and incarceration, enhance police legitimacy, and strengthen communities. These interventions have been proven effective in a variety of settings, have amassed a robust evaluation record, and are widely employed nationally. He helped develop the “Operation Ceasefire” homicide prevention strategy, and the broader “focused deterrence” prevention approach; the High Point Drug Market Intervention strategy; the Justice Department’s Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiative; the Treasury Department’s Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative; the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Drug Market Intervention Program; the High Point Domestic Violence Intervention Program, and the Justice Department’s National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice.

David’s work has won two Ford Foundation Innovations in Government awards, two Webber Seavey Awards from the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and two Herman Goldstein Awards for problem-oriented Policing. He was awarded the 2011 Hatfield Scholar Award for scholarship in the public interest.