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They Found Peace During War. Can They Help Kalamazoo Do the Same?

Chris Killian Ben Lando

May 16, 2022 |

The Trace |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Through peer support, street mediation, and assistance with underlying needs like groceries and help with schoolwork, Peace During War works to help people in Kalamazoo, Mich. leave gun violence behind. The organization's efforts alongside other prevention initiatives are thought to have helped the city record zero gun deaths in the first five months of 2022 after two years of record gun deaths.

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Cognitive behavior therapy takes work, but can prevent gun violence

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

May 11, 2022 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Massachusetts

Roca uses cognitive behavior therapy with young people at risk of committing violence in order to interrupt the cycle of violence and change how the individuals react to different situations. Roca teaches people skills to slow down, think differently about a situation, and respond in a way that deescalates violence. The organization was successful in Massachusetts, with 84% of those staying in the program for two to four years not having any additional arrests and 98% having no new incarcerations, and has since expanded to Baltimore.

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To Stem Shootings, Poughkeepsie Is Bringing Therapy Directly to City Streets

Ann Givens

January 31, 2022 |

The Trace |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Poughkeepsie, New York

SNUG Street Outreach is a state-funded violence prevention program that brings mental health care out into the community to the places where people spend their time. Trained social workers go out into the street, people’s homes and local businesses where they establish relationships and slowly build up to providing counseling through more casual conversations, even over text messages. A community-based approach allows them to connect with people who are at high-risk of committing gun violence, as well as people who have been victims of gun violence themselves or in their social networks or communities.

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How can schools detect potentially violent students? Researchers have an answer.

Laura Meckler Hannah Natanson

December 09, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Virginia

Using tactics developed by the U.S. Secret Service to protect the life of the president, Virginia pioneered an approach to assessing threats of possible mass shootings in schools that has been adopted by an estimated half of all secondary schools in the U.S., and mandated by 11 states. Studies have shown its effectiveness, though it's difficult to know when something didn't occur because of a particular intervention. Multidisciplinary teams of school administrators, police, and mental health professionals follow a protocol for determining which troubling signs are evidence of a real threat.

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After Michigan Killings, Students Praised Shooter Drills. But Do They Really Work?

Dana Goldstein

December 02, 2021 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Oxford, Michigan

Students at Oxford High School in Michigan, the scene of a mass shooting on Nov. 30, credit their active-shooter training with saving lives. But experts on school safety say some of the lessons taught in the training given to the OHS students, from a program called ALICE (alert, lockdown, inform, counter, evacuate), could endanger more people than they protect. The evidence that this and similar training is effective is quite thin, and critics fear it detracts from higher priorities: preventing, not just surviving, such shootings, and focusing on much more common forms of gun violence.

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Police Have a Tool to Take Guns From Potential Shooters, but Many Aren't Using It

Zusha Elinson Dan Frosch

November 15, 2021 |

Wall Street Journal |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Diego, California

Nineteen states and Washington, D.C., have added red-flag laws in recent years. Also called extreme risk protection orders, or temporary risk protection orders, the laws give police and the public a way to seek a court order to confiscate the guns of a person deemed dangerous. San Diego County used available grant money from California to train police and prosecutors, and it now has used its state law more than any other county there. But many places in the U.S. use their laws rarely if ever, thanks to lack of interest or training among police and lack of awareness in the public.

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Communities explore out-of-the-box mentorship programs to reduce gun violence

Patty Santos

November 10, 2021 |

KSAT-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Richmond, California

Richmond's Operation Peacemaker Fellowship pairs mentors with young people at risk of violence, paying the youth a stipend if they meet particular goals toward a more stable and safe life. The mentors are former gang members and others with criminal records who earn the trust of their clients through their experiences and independence from the police. Other cities have adopted this model or similar approaches to preventing gun violence. One study said the Richmond program may have contributed to a significant decline in violence in that city.

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This anti-violence strategy has shown results. But Kansas City hasn't invested in it

Hurubie Meko

November 10, 2021 |

The Kansas City Star |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Missouri

Aim4Peace is the city of Kansas City's violence prevention program using the Cure Violence model of "violence interrupters" to mediate disputes before they turn deadly. Founded 12 years ago, the program's fairly robust startup funding gave it 18 outreach workers in a neighborhood that enjoyed relatively few homicides at the time. After grants ran out, the city failed to increase its own spending on the program, and so it remains a small pilot program, reduced in size and blamed for its inability to do more. Other cities spend far more, and have much more success to show for it.

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Lessons from a 'violence interrupter' as shootings continue to ravage Chicago

Deena Zaru

November 09, 2021 |

ABC News (American Broadcasting Company) |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Programs like UCAN Chicago use "violence interrupters" to mediate disputes before they turn violent and to connect people at risk of violence to the services that will give them a chance at a more stable, peaceful life. Decades after CeaseFire Chicago established this street-outreach approach to violence prevention, the work has been conducted mainly by former gang members and formerly incarcerated people with the credibility to reach the right people. Research on its effectiveness is mixed but promising, though the resources don't come close to meeting the need. This story profiles one Chicago worker.

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These Philadelphians Created an App to Prevent Gun Violence

Maytal Eyal

November 04, 2021 |

Wired |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philly Truce is a mobile app that lets people in crisis ask for help from volunteer conflict mediators without involving the police. The app connects people to social services and to volunteers who can help ensure that a personal conflict does not turn violent. Two Philadelphia men with a modest investment launched the app in May 2021. Hundreds already have used it to de-escalate disputes or to volunteer to join the effort to reduce violence. The founders hope to expand the project to other cities.

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