MANCHESTER, N.H. — The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has chosen Manchester as the first city in New England to implement a new strategy to address prescription opioid misuse, heroin abuse and violent crime.

The 360 Degree Strategy project started last year in Pittsburgh and has since been expanded to several other cities. It focuses on dismantling drug trafficking organizations and violent gangs, pushing for responsible prescribing of opioid drugs and empowering communities through partnerships with government and social service organizations.

Michael Ferguson, the special agent in charge of the DEA’s New England field division, was among those who spoke at a news conference Tuesday. He said the project recognizes law enforcement is not enough to bring about sustained community change and turn the tide on the drug crisis.

“We are in this for the long run,” he said.

Work already has begun on several of the pilot project’s main components, he said. For example, DEA officials last week met with members of the Seacoast Dental Association to discuss ways the agency can partner with health care providers and the pharmaceutical community to prevent drug diversion. And a DEA youth dance program meant to provide children an alternative to drugs started this month at two Manchester elementary schools.

“We can’t afford to lose a whole generation to crime and addiction and hopelessness,” said Emily Gray Rice, the U.S. attorney for New Hampshire.

Drug overdoses began to spike in New Hampshire in 2014, and more than 400 people died from overdoses last year. Heroin, fentanyl and prescription painkillers are the primary drivers of addiction in recent years.