.jpg){kind=link}
In 2022, Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott launched a violence intervention program that was said to produce a 19% reduction in homicides and 18% reduction in non-fatal shootings. But now, there’s a specific plan to target youth where they gather the most: in schools.
Three staff members at each of the pilot schools will identify conflict in youth before it becomes violent, and the root causes for why the violence is so prevalent in the first place.
“We know that this is not something that we can police our way out of,” Scott said. “Approaching violence reduction through a lens of public health means strengthening our strategy that simultaneously unearthed the root causes of violence.”
From 2016 to 2020, Black Americans across the country comprised 59% of gun homicides despite being only 13% of the U.S. population. But new waves of criminalization don’t address individual needs and risk factors that continue the violence.
Evidence of violence intervention programs distinct from police departments being effective is a gateway to the public supporting more initiatives, like defunding police to reallocate more resources, or identifying alternative ways to reduce other issues, like theft or sexual assault.
We don't have to settle for police surveillance and brutality. There are options to reduce violence within our communities without them. And we have the power to create even more.