In 1999, South Carolina ranked second only to Florida in per capita violent crime rate. In May 2001, the Office of Justice Programs in the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, acting on behalf of the South Carolina Public Safety Coordinating Council, solicited proposals to substantially reduce violent crime in a targeted county during a two-year planning, implementation, and evaluation period. The project was to have three phases: a six-month planning phase, a twelve-month implementation phase, and up to a six-month evaluation phase. The Executive Summary, and the detailed report which follows, document the planning phase of the project.