Reducing Violence News Archive

An anti-violence fair was held Friday in Harlem in the same city housing complex where a little boy was killed in March. The event had the feel of a block party but with crucial information about resources for the community.

Brooklyn organizations, including our Save Our Streets team, came together to flood their communities with resources and access to quality programming to help combat a recent uptick in violence in the neighborhood and surrounding area.

“Each of these safety interventions was created by residents for residents as innovative solutions to addressing community safety,” says Danielle Brutus of the Center for Court Innovation on The Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice virtual summit. Bringing together NYCHA resident leaders, local government officials, and policymakers to discuss how safety interventions can influence policy, 400 registered attendees heard panels and discussions on the legacy of the stop-and-frisk policy and “Physical Space as an Innovative Design and Policy Opportunity.” 

The Stapleton Houses' Resource Hub initiative consists of five pop-up mobile kiosks near the development’s tennis court area. A product of the Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety, the program is effectively operating a hub to connect the community to requested services, resources, and programming. Some key issues for Stapleton’s resident stakeholder team have included health and overall wellness, safety and justice, connection to resource information, as well as youth programming and development. 

WNYC takes a comprehensive look at the factors fueling the recent rise in New York City's jail population, citing our recent analysis of the impact of COVID-19 and of the two waves of state-wide bail reform.

Spurred by the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police, New York is just one city where protesters are calling for money to be diverted from police budgets to the community. Mayor Bill de Blasio added $10 million of funding for community groups running alternative-to-policing programs, including Save Our Streets.

"In New York City, one study found that gun violence rates declined significantly in two neighborhoods operating violence interruption programs." The Appeal cites our Save Our Streets program in the Bronx as one way to reduce the footprint of police and create safer communities. 

Gun violence has risen in cities across the U.S. this summer, compounding the issues of systemic racism, intergenerational trauma, and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Nonprofit Quarterly explores research-backed solutions to gun violence, including violence interruption programs like our Save Our Streets, which approaches gun violence as a public health issue.

After an uptick in shootings across Brooklyn, dozens of anti-gun violence advocates, including Save Our Streets, gathered the community to speak out against gun violence. “We look at violence, especially gun violence, as a public health issue and not a criminal issue,” said Shadoe Tarver, our associate director of community safety. 

Save Our Streets, our anti-violence program, gathered in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn to denounce gun violence after a shooting. The program brings the community together to change norms and behaviors around violence and push for more resources for youth in the area.