Paper Magazine profiles Ruby-Beth Buitekant and her work to reduce gun violence with Youth Organizing to Save Our Streets at the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center.
The Belmont Revitalization Project is one of many initiatives being led by the Brownsville Community Justice Center, which seeks to transform the justice system in Brownsville, reduce crime and incarceration, and strengthen public trust in justice by providing alternatives to incarceration and creating opportunities for diversion for youth and community members who come into contact with the law.
According to new research from the Center for Court Innovation, the average monthly shooting rates in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, where the anti-violence project Save Our Streets operates, decreased by six percent from early 2010 through 2011. In surrounding areas shooting rates increased by 18 to 28 percent.