Dr. Paul David Smith, High School Principal (Ret.), Directory of Reconciliation, National Network for Safe Communities: “While facilitating a meeting of the local chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity in the library of the school where I was principal, I received a text that one of my students had been shot and was being rushed
Some 50 current members of the Baltimore police force have applied to join a new Group Violence Reduction Unit, formed at Mayor Brandon Scott’s direction. Here’s what I take from that: A good number of sworn officers believe a new approach to law enforcement can reduce crime, change lives and build public confidence in their
In this RANE Insights podcast, RANE founder David Lawrence speaks with criminologist, professor, action researcher and author David Kennedy, who’s currently the director of the National Network for Safe Communities at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. According to the Pew Research Center, crime in the United States has fallen since the 1990s. But many
Many evidence-based community violence intervention programs have had proven results, but they’re not a cure-all. Here’s how they work.
President Biden is unveiling a new initiative aimed at tackling what he calls the nation’s “gun violence epidemic.” The administration’s initiatives include stemming the flow of illegal guns, supporting local law enforcement and investing in community violence intervention methods. The administration will also expand summer programming and employment opportunities for teenagers and young adults and
“What we don’t say is that these groups are in and around Columbus and they’re the ones who are getting killed, they’re the ones who are getting hurt,” Kennedy explains. “They are the victims here,” he adds. “We’re so focused on the criminal side of this and thinking about people as offenders and perpetrators that
For decades, anti-violence crusaders have preached new approaches to curb shootings. Now, the White House is listening. Deep inside President Joe Biden’s 11,700-word plan to revamp the nation’s infrastructure is one sentence that could transform the way America deals with gun violence. It pledges $5 billion over eight years for “evidence based” community violence-prevention programs — or
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — A recent initiative to reduce homicides and other violent crime through a partnership with the National Network for Safe Communities is in its early stages here. The Evansville City Council voted unanimously on March 8 to commit $385,000 over three years to a partnership with the NNSC. Although it is a two-year contract, the NNSC agreed to take payments over
The US criminologist behind the anti-gang strategy designed to reduce the number of shootings and explosions in Malmö has credited the city and its police for the “utterly pragmatic, very professional, very focused” way they have put his ideas into practice. In an online seminar with Malmö mayor Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh, David Kennedy, a professor
Shortly after the city of Columbus announced a partnership with criminologist David Kennedy to dig deep into the rising tide of homicidal violence in Columbus, I spoke with him about his decades of work in violence prevention. Kennedy is a proponent of an approach to violence-reduction that first identifies precisely who is driving the violence.