Reducing Violence News Archive

Violence prevention groups like Save Our Streets will help lead the efforts toward ending gun violence in Brooklyn, with a goal to "saturate the community with the violence interrupters and outreach workers and all the members of the cure violence team,” said Ife Charles, our deputy director for S.O.S.

Anti-violence and community-based organizations in New York City present an alternative approach to public safety. Save Our Streets "helped reduce shootings in the South Bronx area where they work by sixty-three per cent," the New Yorker reports in a profile of our work.

The anti-violence work of Save Our Streets is continuing online during the coronavirus pandemic. By turning to social media, S.O.S. and RISE Project are offering virtual workshops on topics like abuse and intimate partner violence. 
 

From Blocks to Beats is a 6-month music program that teaches youth how to make and perform music, in partnership with the Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety and Tompkins Houses. The program's first graduation event included 10 graduates and a night filled with powerful performances before a cheering audience. 

After a mass shooting occurred in Brownsville, Brooklyn, Brian Cunningham, director of our Neighbors in Action, discusses the anti-gun violence and therapeutic care work we do in New York City with Brian Lehrer on WNYC. 

The Center's Dr. Elise White and Dr. Yasser Payne of University of Delaware recently received $1.6 million to study the social and cultural roots of gun violence in five U.S. cities. Dr. Payne speaks with Delaware Public Media about the goals and methodology of the three-year research project. 

We all know what's wrong with the criminal justice system (fairness and humanity are often in short supply). Drawing from our work, our director, Greg Berman, describes some community-based solutions—like violence interruption, trauma-informed care for the justice-involved, and social workers rather than bail or detention pretrial—that are already making a difference.

The New York City Police Department has announced a push to address high-crime rates in six precincts, a campaign to begin with community meetings. We work on-the-ground in all six precincts. WNYC spoke to our director of community development and crime prevention, James Brodick.

In The Hill, our director, Greg Berman, along with George Mason University professor David Weisburd, argue proactive policing can work to reduce crime and improve relationships between police and the community, but it must be narrowly targeted and paired with community engagement and fairness.

Residents of the Wagner House are proposing for the expansion of social programming at the development, as part of their work with the Mayor's Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety. The proposal is dedicated to issues such as mental health, peer support, conflict resolution, restorative justice, and youth development. This resident-run initiative will transform a dilapidated lawn into a community gathering and event space featuring new planters, lawn furniture, a removable stage, a mural, and more.