9. Unfamiliar Waters: Expectations Versus Reality for a Newly Minted Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Grant Research Partner in the City of St. Louis

The City of St. Louis, Missouri, received a Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Planning and Implementation Grant in 2015 to support place-based and person-focused strategies intended to enhance safety in two neighborhoods, Carr Square and Columbus Square. This chapter focuses on our work as the research partner in this grant. We begin by providing an overview of the site and grant activities, describing its progression from planning through implementation. We then outline our understanding of the role of research partner and how this evolved over the duration of the grant. As part of this discussion, the ways in which the reality of our work sometimes diverged from expectations are highlighted. Next, we describe some of the challenges we faced while serving in an unfamiliar, nontraditional research role and working in a deindustrialized city struggling to transform itself. While lengthy bureaucratic processes, issues with resident engagement, and problems sustaining a relationship with the police made implementation difficult, our position as researchers, external to city government, positioned us to assist our partners with addressing some of these issues. At the same time, the assistance of our partners was critical for carrying out our activities. It is our hope that the ideas presented here can help future research partners navigate, what may be for them, unfamiliar waters.