City of Vineland
Weed and Seed Application

Triad Associates assisted the City of Vineland to become a designated "Weed and Seed" Community. The application detailed a comprehensive approach in order to reduce crime in a targeted area of the City. In creating this approach we garnered ideas from the police department as well as several local non-profit entities to determine the best course of action. The application listed various program initiatives for the City with goals and objectives, a timeline, and measurable outcomes.

The program, initiated in 1991, attempts to weed out violent crime, gang activity, and drug use and trafficking in target areas, and then seed the target area by restoring the neighborhood through social and economic revitalization. Weed and Seed has three objectives: (1) develop a comprehensive, multi-agency strategy to control and prevent violent crime, drug trafficking, and drug-related crime in target neighborhoods; (2) coordinate and integrate existing and new initiatives to concentrate resources and maximize their impact on reducing and preventing violent crime, drug tariffing, and gang activity; and (3) mobilize community residents in the target areas to assist law enforcement in identifying and removing violent offenders and drug traffickers from the community and to assist other human service agencies in identifying and responding to service needs of the target area. To achieve these goals, Weed and Seed integrates law enforcement, community policing, prevention, intervention, treatment, and neighborhood restoration efforts. The Weed and Seed program is being implemented in more than 150 communities across the country.