Stopping violence like it was a virus

Gang violence in Minneapolis has caused many gun-related deaths and the destruction of families. One community organizer, a former gang-member and drug dealer, builds trust with at-risk youth that are on the edge. He visits kids, helps them get to job interviews, reviews homework, and listens to their individual struggles.

Teens exposed to gang violence in Chicago have gained guidance from veterans. The mentorship program, operated through the YMCA, has helped young people connect with adults who can relate to their experiences.

The city of San Bernardino adopted a strategy in 2017 from Stockton and Oakland that helped reduce homicides and violence in those communities. The Ceasefire model eschews blanket approaches like curfews and gang injunctions to focus on the places and people mostly likely to experience violence and then target them with outreach by leaders in the community, churches and criminal justice arenas. The idea is to build relationships and use data strategically to prevent crime.

Multnomah County, Oregon, experienced a surge of gang activity between 2013 and 2014. To curtail crime and violence, a group of pastors intervened with the 11:45 program. The program provides services and mentorship to gang-involved youth in the criminal justice system through outreach programs.

The Victim of Violence Program uses hospital social workers to connect with youth in the hospital for cases of interpersonal violence by helping them cope with trauma, and any other psychosocial concerns that may arise as a result within the year that youth and their families are required to participate in the program. An individualized, holistic treatment plan is developed for each patient, whether that be helping them graduate high school, learn how to communicate better with family or manage the symptoms of their trauma. In 2021, the program had 11 patients and a 100% completion rate.

A group in Chicago called Good Kids, Mad City is made up of youth who have been affected by gun violence. They offer support and accountability to each other and use the group as a way to cope with the daily violence they face every day. In addition to the therapeutic benefits of the group, the youth have even lobbied and passed legislation that expunges non-violent marijuana offenses as part of the state’s marijuana legalization proposal.

Chattanooga’s Violence Reduction Initiatives used a focused deterrence strategy to reduce crime. The initiative has led to a decrease in gang-involved homicides and shootings, working with individuals on probation to provide them with the social services they need to stop them from re-entering a life of crime. A core part of this method is to show communities that they’re not forgotten and that they’re cared for, and yet securing funding and consistent support for such programming has been challenging.

In Tennessee, reducing gun violence means intercepting it at the earliest level possible. By creating prevention programs for the state’s young population, they’re able to not only decrease rates of violence, but decrease prison populations and thus state costs as well. Programs like Youth ChalleNGe and various Family and Development Centers work with at-risk youth to provide them with the guidance, support, and empowerment they need.

Certain cities in the United States are facing startlingly high rates of homicide and violence that haven't been seen since the height of gang activity in the 1990s. But certain cities, including Los Angeles, have continued to see declines in or stable crime rates, thanks to a community-based policing approach that uses tactics such as working with former drug dealers, hosting neighborhood events, cleaning litter from the streets, and mediating sit-downs between formal gang rivals.

CeaseFire Illinois have worked for years on the streets of Chicago intervening as “violence interrupters” to stop problems escalating into tragedy. Some volunteers are former gang members and they use community connections and personal relationships to stop shootings and retaliations before they happen. The group was the focus of a documentary called “The Interrupters.”