“We’ve had many different attempts at addressing violence in our community — this feels a lot different,” said Dayton City Commissioner Chris Shaw. “This is going to be something that’s generational and ongoing, and we know that’s the most appropriate way to address violence in our community.”
A disease
Dayton is working with an organization called Cure Violence Global to create a new “violence interruption” program.
The initiative will try to connect people at a high risk of violence with services and supports like education, job training and drug treatment.
A community-based organization will employ and train outreach workers and “violence interrupters” who will work with high-risk individuals. The city will help fund the program but police will not be directly involved, except probably to share data.
Cure Violence Global says interrupters try to prevent violence by “identifying and mediating potentially lethal conflicts in the community and following up to ensure conflict does not reignite.”
Violence interrupters are credible messengers whose life experiences are similar and relevant to the high-risk community members they engage and build relationships with, said Quinones Corniel, regional associate director for national programs with Cure Violence Global.
He said interrupters will try to get people to change their beliefs and behaviors so they do not perceive violence as normal.
“Violence Interrupters detect and interrupt conflicts to prevent them from becoming violent,” said Charlie Ransford, senior director of science and policy with Cure Violence Global. “They maintain communication to get information about conflicts in the community and meet up with the parties to resolve the conflict using techniques taught in the training that CVG provides.”
Research has found that exposure to violence increases the likelihood that someone will commit violence.
Risk factors for violence typically include people between the ages of 16 and 30 who have been shot or formerly incarcerated for violence, Ransford said.
Cure Violence Global, which was created in the 1990s, says its programs have led to dramatic declines in shootings, shooting victims, killings, retaliation killings and other kinds of violence in a variety of U.S. cities.
Corniel said violence is just like an epidemic disease in the way it spreads, transmits and clusters in the community.
He said the right public health interventions and strategies can interrupt the transmission, prevent future spread and change group norms.
“It’s not a metaphor — it is a fact that violence acts as a disease,” Corniel said.
Next month, Cure Violence is expected to begin working on a local assessment that will provide recommendations for implementing a new program.
The city will help find a community-based organization to run the program.
The violence interruption program is part of a new “peace campaign” to try to create safer spaces and neighborhoods and unite communities.
Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr. during his State of the City event this month said the peace campaign will seek to identify root causes of violence, invest in youth development and create safe spaces. The peace campaign may cost the city about $428,000 annually.
The mayor said the violence interruption program and peace campaign are not short-term initiatives.
“We want Dayton to be the most peaceful city in the world on a continuous basis,” he said.
About the Author
