Purpose/Objective
A partnership between Safe City Fort Worth and Fort Worth ISD was developed for the purpose of encouraging involvement of high school students in planning campus strategies for violence prevention as another way of making Fort Worth the safest city in America. The combination of high school students working collaboratively with Safe City's public and private city leaders would become a powerful alliance in the prevention of violence citywide.
(Safe City Fort Worth emerged in 1998 with the goal of creating a public/private partnership to make Fort Worth the safest city in America. The inaugural initiative was a public awareness campaign entitled, "Gun Crime Means Hard Crime" followed by "Lock It Up, It's Not Child's Play," educational materials for gun owners about proper storage of guns in the home.)
After the superintendent of Fort Worth ISD and Safe City enthusiastically agreed to partner on this initiative, focus groups were held with high school students. Over several months, the idea for a rally entitled, "Imagine: No Violence" was developed to be held in November 2001 at the Bass Performance Hall. Students helped developed the theme, the format, ideas for speakers and entertainment and artwork for the logo.
The event was followed by campus strategies for violence prevention, with the culminating activities at each campus held during Safe Schools Week in April 2002.
The objective was to engage students to be an integral part of violence prevention in Fort Worth that would result in a reduction in the violent crime rate.
Main Partners
- Safe City Fort Worth Steering Committee
- Mayor of Fort Wort
- US Attorne
- Chief of Polic
- Vice President, Bass Companie
- Executive Director, Crime Prevention Resource Cente
- Deputy Chief, City of Fort Worth Fire Departmen
- Superintendent of Fort Worth Independent School Distric
- Tarrant County Sherif
- District Attorne
- Fort Worth Independent School District
Main Beneficiaries
The citizens of Fort Worth would benefit from a safer, more secure environment in which to llive, learn and work.
Main Contributors
Foundations:
- The Burnett Foundation,
- Sid W. Richardson Foundation,
- Amon G. Carter Foundation
- Private donors
- Companies
- Essential Elements
- Support from Superintendent and Board of the school district
- Support from organization (Safe City), which includes public
and private leaders in its steering committee - Education of students to become aware of facts about crime
- Student ownership of the problem
- Budget supported by the sponsoring organization
- Student-created project/event that has peer group appeal
- Strong facilitators for planning meetings who have the ability to
extract the creative ideas of students and incorporate them into the event plan/big picture - Period of approximately six months to plan the event and follow-
though activities - Excitement created through use of facility that has high public
profile in a central location - Inclusion of ethnic diversity in students, with representation
from all peer groups in a high school, not just the schools' leaders - High-profile community leaders at the rally as speakers and
participants to endorse the efforts of the partnership - Letter from or actual visit by statewide and national leaders
- Follow-up luncheon after the event with speakers for a smaller
group including elected city officials, members of the Safe City steering committee, community business leaders and two students and one faculty member from each high school - Plan that educates the public about the problem/builds interest
- Publicity that explodes the day of the event
- Video presentation using students
- Follow-up to include violence-prevention strategies at each
campus
- Main Factors of Success
- Commitment of both partners to achieve results
- Commitment of financial resources, time and actual physical
involvement by the Safe City steering committee - Commitment from high school students with their creativity,
energy and vision to create change in our society - Event that blasts the message
- Campus strategies developed for violence prevention
- Follow-up activities for Safe Schools Week
- Forward thinking by students to continue the efforts launched in
this school year
-
- Assessment/Evaluation Process and Evidence of Strength
- Fort Worth's violent crime rate is evaluated on a monthly basis.
- Safe City has evaluated its efforts in one way by measuring the
number of gunshot wounds and gun-related homicides. - "Gun Crime Means Hard Time" resulted in state and national
recognition by then Governor George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore. - At the event, students from each school stated their vision for a
safe city and asked adults to help them imagine a city with no violence. The results of these testimonials will be ongoing as the video is shown in many different venues. - Fort Worth will be a safer place to live because the future leaders
of this city are involved now.
- Number of Years the Partnership Has Been In Existence
The partnership between Safe City Fort Worth and Fort Worth ISD started in 2001. Safe City was formed in 1998.
Impact
The impact of the current partnership between Safe City Fort Worth and the Fort Worth ISD has been positive in our community. This has been noted from the national to the local level. President George W. Bush in his letter on November 12, 2001, said, "By including students, business leaders, and public officeholders in your efforts, you have helped the community understand that reducing crime is everyone's responsibility."
One student announced at the Bass Hall event, "One town, one community, one goal. It starts here. It starts with us."
Potential Replication
A "how to" format will be distributed at the presentation. With enthusiastic leaders from the public and private sector, and a school superintendent and board that are committed to safety and violence prevention, this partnership could be replicated successfully.
Name of Person to Validate Application
Ms. Elizabeth Faeth
Executive Director
Crime Prevention Resource Center
1201 W. Lancaster
Fort Worth, TX 76102
Phone: 817/335-7800
Fax: 817/335-7801
Email: elizabethfaeth@tccrime.com
- Contact: Nancy Ricker
Executive Director
School and Community Relations
Fort Worth ISD
100 N. University Drive, Suite 260 NW
Fort Worth, TX 76107
Phone: USA 1/817/871-2445
Fax: USA 1/817/871-2461
Email: nrick@ftworthisd.tenet.edu
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