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  • Can Pools Help to Deter Crime?

    September 04, 2020 |

    The New York Times |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, New York, New York

    One response to the violent unrest of the late 1960s was New York's installation of a network of swimming pools. The idea: give people a refreshing escape, and a way to cool – literally – the emotions that can lead to violence. No solid evidence proves a causal effect, but serious crime in the city dropped significantly and immediately. In 2020, after the pandemic closed all city pools until late July and then only some reopened, the city experienced a surge in gun violence. Says one sociologist: "There will be problems" when people are cooped up without recreation options.

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  • Ex-gang members draw on their past to stop Fort Worth shootings before they happen

    August 28, 2020 |

    Fort Worth Star-Telegram |

    Multi-Media |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Fort Worth, Texas

    Inspired by a news story about a successful violence-intervention program in Richmond, California, and alarmed by a surge in gun violence in 2019, city officials in Fort Worth created VIP FW to deploy formerly incarcerated men and former gang members as mentors and mediators. In the program's startup phase, its mediations interrupted 18 potential shootings. Led by a man who pleaded for solutions at city council meetings, VIP FW intervenes in the lives of young men deemed at risk of committing violence who aren't reached by other community programs or by police enforcement.

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  • The surprising way to stop shootings that doesn't involve more cops and arrests

    July 31, 2020 |

    Mother Jones |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

    After two failed attempts, Oakland Ceasefire retooled its approach and since 2013 has been a significant factor in lowering homicides and nonfatal shootings. The program, used in various ways in many cities, identifies young men at high risk of getting shot or shooting others and then offers them life coaching and social services to keep them out of trouble. By de-emphasizing the role of police, pinpointing those most in need of help, boosting community involvement, and forming deeper personal relationships, the program is credited with a 32% reduction in gun homicides over a six-year study.

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  • As Murders Rise, New York City Turns to a Police Alternative

    July 30, 2020 |

    Bloomberg CityLab |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, New York, New York

    In New York City, 14 organizations have more than 200 people performing street outreach to intervene in potentially deadly gun crimes in at least 20 of the city's most violent "hot spots." These "violence interrupters" mediate disputes and offer social services in a process that relies on former gang members and others with street experience rather than police. While studies have shown mixed evidence of success, New York's programs have been credited with significant crime decreases. With violence on the rise after a long decline, the city is upping its budget for these programs to $39 million.

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  • They envisioned a world without police. Inside Seattle's CHOP zone, protesters struggled to make it real

    July 06, 2020 |

    CNN |

    Broadcast TV News |

    3-5 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

    The police-free zone that emerged during Seattle's protests in June 2020 was meant to demonstrate how safety could be provided by the community itself. But the six-square-block area, called the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) and then Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP), devolved into chaos and deadly violence thanks in part to the inability of organizers and their security team to keep armed people from committing violence. When fistfights turned into multiple shootings, and an ambulance crew could not reach a shooting victim, who died, police finally moved in and cleared the area.

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  • How Violence Interrupters Brokered An End To Anti-Black Attacks In A Latino Neighborhood Audio icon

    June 16, 2020 |

    Block Club Chicago |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

    When protests against police violence turned into looting and anti-Black violence in some Latinx neighborhoods, violence interrupters from groups such as UCAN, EnLace, and Chicago CRED brokered a peace agreement that almost immediately ended that violence. The outreach workers’ years-long relationships and training in dispute mediation gave them credibility to address historic racial tensions among gangs in Lawndale and Little Village. The violence could have escalated, but three days of negotiation – and a sense of common cause against racism in policing – united the neighborhoods.

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  • Chicago's Gun Violence Interrupters Take on Coronavirus

    March 17, 2020 |

    The Trace |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

    Street outreach workers who work to reduce gun violence in Chicago are using the relationships they've built to now spread the word about the dangers of the coronavirus. “To the extent that we are the sort of conduits to vulnerable neighborhoods, it makes sense for us to sort of disseminate that information because it’s an important public service,” one outreach worker explains.

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  • Meet ‘Firefighter' in Middle of New York Hospital's War Against Gun Violence

    January 21, 2020 |

    Juvenile Justice Information Exchange |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, New York, New York

    Guns Down Life Up intervenes immediately after incidents of gun violence to prevent retaliation, but then goes further to counsel at-risk youth and to provide victim counseling to help families in the wake of violence. Part of a growing movement of hospital-based violence intervention, the group’s “credible messengers” work in Harlem and South Bronx hospitals to interrupt the cycles of violence that often result in repeat victimization, which anecdotally at least it can show has worked. Then its counseling gives youth safe activities off the streets and teaches better conflict mediation tactics.

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  • The Cycle Of Chronic Gun Violence: How One Community Looks To Save Lives In A New Year

    January 15, 2020 |

    WUNC |

    Radio |

    3-5 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Durham, North Carolina

    Gun homicides in Durham increased an alarming 20% in 2019, but one bright spot was the county public health department's Bull City United program. Since 2016, BCU is credited with reducing shootings by 28% in two areas where it was deployed. BCU follows the Cure Violence model, a violence interruption strategy using mediators, sometimes former gang members, to intervene face to face when disputes seem headed for gunfire, offering services to help young people. This public-health model of stopping the spread of violence can fail if used in a transient neighborhood lacking community organizers.

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  • Reporting for Work Where You Once Reported for Probation

    December 13, 2019 |

    The Atlantic |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, New York, New York

    Since 2012, the New York City Department of Probation’s Arches program has integrated “credible messengers” into its mission, diverting some energies toward helping instead of punishing. The term refers to people, often formerly incarcerated or on probation themselves, who apply their street knowledge to mentoring youth caught up in the criminal justice system. The movement has spread to a variety of government agencies, but usually is used in street-outreach crime prevention work by community organizations. A large body of research shows the effectiveness of the approach in lowered crime and recidivism.

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