The strategies were based on the recommendations of participants in a murder summit convened in 1995 by the International Association of Chiefs of Police; they incorporated prevention, intervention, enforcement, and prosecution components, with police executives serving as leaders of the process. The cities of Richmond, Va., and Richmond, Calif., were selected as the first two demonstration sites. The initiative was designed to be conducted in two phases -- planning and implementation -- that could be fully documented and ultimately replicated in other jurisdictions. During the planning phase, the sites crafted a process to examine local homicide-related problems and then developed a multifaceted strategy to address them. To receive funding for the implementation phase, sites were required to submit to the Bureau of Justice Assistance (U.S. Department of Justice) for approval an implementation plan that reflected the spirit and substance of the recommendations of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. After discussing the changing nature of homicide in the United States, this monograph profiles the homicide pattern in Richmond, Calif., prior to the implementation of the demonstration strategy. A description of the development of the homicide strategy focuses on community-based, non-enforcement strategies and investigative and enforcement strategies. A chapter on the measurement of the impact of the Comprehensive Homicide Initiative in Richmond, Calif., focuses on the strategies 11 goals. Richmond's implementation plan has been effective because it incorporates a wide range of goals both within and outside conventional concepts of law enforcement; however, these goals, although diverse in substance, share a central theme: transforming the relationship between community and the police. In preparing its homicide- reduction plan, Richmond police officials saw an immediate need to improve police services and a longer term need to invest in youth who are most at risk of becoming both perpetrators and victims of violence. 2 figures, a 33-item bibliography, and 3 sources for further information