PROBLEM-ORIENTED POLICING IN VIOLENT CRIME PLACES: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT* ANTHONY A. BRAGA Harvard University DAVID L. WEISBURD Hebrew University Law School and The Police Foundation ELIN J. WARING Lehman College, City University of New York LORRAINE! GREEN MAZEROLLE University of Cincinnati WILLIAM SPELMAN University of Texas, Austin FRANCIS GAJEWSKI Jersey City Police Department zyxw Over the past decade, problem-oriented policing has become a cen- tral strategy for policing. In a number of studies, problem-oriented policing has been found to be effective in reducing crime and disorder. However, very little is known about the value of problem-oriented interventions in controlling violent street crime. The National Acad- emy of Sciences’ Panel on the Understanding and Control of Violent Behavior suggests that sustained research on problem-oriented policing initiatives that modify places, routine activities, and situations that pro- mote violence could contribute much to the understanding and control * A n earlier version of this article was presented at the 1997 meetings of the American Society of Criminology, November, San Diego, California. This research was supported by grant number 93-IJ-CX-KO15 from the National Institute of Justice. Points of view or opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent the official position of the U.S. Department of Justice. The authors would like to thank David Kennedy, Mark Moore, Ronald Clarke, Todd Clear, George Kelling, Stewart Wakeling, Bob Bursik, and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments in the preparation of this article. We also would like to thank Lt. Charles Bellucci, Lt. Willie Costigan, Lt. Robert Kilduff, and the officers of the Jersey City Police Department’s Violent Crimes Unit. CRIMINOLOGY VOLUME 37 NUMBER 3 1999 541