Violence Prevention and Reduction Activity (PREVI) Quarterly Progress Report – Q2 FY 21

The Activity's purpose is to shift the focus away from punitive justice to preventive and proactive civic justice and policing consistent with the Government of Mexico's Modelo Nacional de Policía y Justicia Civica (National Policing and Civic Justice Model). PREVI will be carried out at the municipal level, with a focus on 32 municipalities located in eleven states: Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, Jalisco, Michoacan, Nuevo Leon, Queretaro, Quintana Roo, and Sonora. The Activity has three objectives: (1) municipal authorities, in collaboration with civil society and the private sector, use evidence-based interventions to respond to low-level crimes and community violence that reduce imprisonment and build public confidence in institutions; (2) reduce the likelihood of at-risk youth being imprisoned or on probation for crime and violence; and (3) improve coordination between civic justice courts, municipal law enforcement, and criminal justice operators through shared information and intelligence cooperation. During the reporting period, PREVI obtained USAID's technical concurrence on its Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Plan and submitted a request to modify its contract. The Activity also had its official launch in February 2021 and has formally initiated contact and collaboration with local actors. Additionally, PREVI began setting the foundations for its four-year implementation strategy by updating and developing tools that will serve to inform its capacity building strategy, including the Youth Targeting Tool (YTT), YTT-Tertiary Prevention, the Good Practice Scale (EBP), and the Evaluation Tool for police and civic justice (HPJC). Changes in the implementing context have been identified around federal and local legislation, pre-electoral campaigns, and the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2021, the Senate endorsed a decree to amend the Constitution to incorporate civic justice as one of the main instruments for V&C prevention at the municipal level. The proposed amendment intends to formalize the use of community service as an administrative sanction and limit the use of arrests to penalize misdemeanors. Additionally, the Mexican Congress approved a bill that seeks to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, which may impact municipal regulations. At the local level, the municipality of Hermosillo reformed its Police and Good Government Edict to include aspects of the National Policing and Civic Justice Model. With this update in its local regulations, the municipality has mandated the establishment of public hearings, the use of community policing, and the prioritization of alternative measures to sanctions. Local elections are also taking place in June 2021, which may impact the Activity's work, as most mayors in the target municipalities have requested leave of absence to participate in political campaigns.