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

Elle Reeve, Samantha Guff

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.

Read More

Go to Original Story

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

Pascal Sabino

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.

Read More

Go to Original Story

Chicago's Gun Violence Interrupters Take on Coronavirus

Lakeidra Chavis

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.

Read More

Go to Original Story

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

Rachel Rippetoe

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.

Read More

Go to Original Story

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

Adhiti Bandlamudi

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.

Read More

Go to Original Story

Reporting for Work Where You Once Reported for Probation

Ted Alcorn

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.

Read More

Go to Original Story

Philly wants to bring back a version of an old strategy to fight gun violence. Specifics are pending.

Chris Palmer

December 06, 2019 |

The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia Media Network) |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Starting in 2013, Philadelphia's focused deterrence program was credited with 35% fewer shootings in its targeted neighborhoods. The program featured "call-ins" where law-enforcement agencies would threaten potentially violent people with prosecution. On the flip side, they could receive services that help them establish a different lifestyle. As the program shifted away from the services "carrots," and was left only with the "stick," the program foundered. In 2019, the city sought to revive it as a "group violence intervention" program with a greater emphasis on services over law enforcement.

Read More

Go to Original Story

After positive results, Minneapolis looks to expand anti-violence program

Jessica Lee

November 18, 2019 |

MinnPost |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

About 40% fewer people were shot in gang-related disputes in Minneapolis during one interval in the first year of the city's Group Violence Intervention initiative. The program uses "call-ins" where people at high risk of shootings meet with law enforcement and other agencies. There they are offered incentives, including needed services, to stop the shootings. It also puts former gang members on the streets, without police involvement, to mediate disputes and counsel young men prone to violence. Based on the initial results, officials planned to expand the program to more parts of the city.

Read More

Go to Original Story

Armed with trumpets, S. African men fight crime against women

Kim Harrisberg

September 30, 2019 |

Thomson Reuters Foundation |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: South Africa, Johannesburg

Volunteers patrol Soweto township streets, blowing vuvuzelas – the long, plastic trumpets of World Cup fame – to alert women that it is safe to commute to their train or bus stops. The male-led campaign is a response to high rates of street violence, much of it gender-based, and the failure of the police to respond effectively. Thousands of volunteers work in groups of up to 15 to provide the service, which police credit with lowering robberies and other street crime. The patrols often intervene when they witness violence.

Read More

Go to Original Story

If violence spreads like a disease, it can be interrupted. How a new team in Milwaukee is trying to stop one shooting leading to another.

Ashley Luthern, Sydney Czyzon

September 25, 2019 |

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee’s 414LIFE program is treating violence like a public health issue, seeking to interrupt and prevent its spread. The pilot program is a collaboration between the city’s Office of Violence Prevention, local nonprofits, and hospitals and healthcare networks. The initiative works closely with victims of violence to make sure they have the support and resources they need to prevent violent retaliation and employs people who are from the communities they’re responding to in an effort to take a hyper-local response.

Read More