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CRIME

First phase of Cure Violence set to launch

Program uses young people with criminal pasts to help be peacemakers in Northwest, Eastside Jacksonville

Beth Reese Cravey
beth.cravey@jacksonville.com
Sheriff Mike Williams, Mayor Lenny Curry and State Attorney Melissa Nelson listen to a presention about the Cure Violence iniatiative earlier this year. All three supported the concept, which takes a public-health approaches crime and launches Saturday. [Provided by city of Jacksonville]

The so-called peacemakers who are the heart and soul of Jacksonville's new Cure Violence initiative had no honeymoon period.

These specially trained young people with criminal pasts hit the streets this week in the city's Northwest and Eastside target areas, building relationships at the grassroots level to divert at-risk residents from lives of crime. But crime was in their faces from the start.

"This was a very busy first week for the team due to the number of shooting incidents last weekend," said Damian Cook, city grant administrator and Cure Violence program director. "They were on the streets till 9 or 10 o’clock each night this week working in the community to stop potential retaliation."

Jacksonville's version of the Chicago-based Cure Violence program, approved this year by the City Council, formally launches Saturday at the Northwest Jacksonville Community Development Corp.'s annual Health and Neighborhoods Day. The Community Development Corp. is implementing the program in its neighborhoods, while nonprofit Noah's Ark Project will lead the charge for the Eastside and will have a separate event at a later date.

"We’ve come to the realization that rehabilitating buildings and building new houses alone cannot change neighborhoods," said Paul Tutwiler, executive director of the Northwest Jacksonville CDC. "The crime, and particularly violent crime, is an impediment to sustainable change within our communities."

The peacemakers will be key.

"Young professionals who were once part of the problem can relate to individuals who may still choose to engage in certain dangerous activities," Tutwiler said. "They are uniquely positioned to be credible witnesses to testify that it really isn’t worth it. We hope to inspire community change through these role models."

Developed by a Chicago-based nonprofit, Cure Violence uses a public-health approach — as in controlling an infectious disease outbreak — to work alongside existing policing efforts. The nonprofit offers training and assistance to cities that want to implement a local version of their model.

The peacemakers will be quasi-caseworkers, some with an outreach function, others responding to violence by trying to stop potential retaliation. They will be familiar, non-threatening faces, unaffiliated with law enforcement.

Cure Violence had made a presentation to Mayor Lenny Curry, Sheriff Mike Williams and State Attorney Melissa Nelson, who supported the concept. Later a unanimous City Council gave the nonprofit about $750,000 for the program's first year and part of its second year.

"This initiative … has proven results in other cities similar to Jacksonville," Curry said. "Cure Violence targets violent crimes where they happen in a unique different way. It's guided by the understanding that violence is a health issue. That an epidemic of violence is preventable."

Northwest Jacksonville and the Eastside were selected as the first target areas because during a Cure Violence assessment visit they were identified as areas with elevated levels of violence compared to the rest of the city. Those areas included six of the top 10 ZIP codes for crime.

"Once these sites are established we’ll determine other areas that will benefit from the model," Cook said.

Also during the February visit, the Cure Violence team met with multiple "community-based organizations who potentially could serve as the implementing partners," according to the assessment report. The organizations had to be able to recruit, hire and work with people who had criminal histories; have a history of violence prevention or related work; experience managing grants and contracts and producing detailed reports on regular basis; and provide fiscal oversight, among other things.

Cure Violence recommended the Northwest Jacksonville CDC and the Noah's Ark Project, a nonprofit that works with at-risk young adults "in need of redirection … to make a drastic life change" through education and employment programs, according to the report. Representatives of Noah's Ark could not be reached.

"Both organizations have relationships with the community as well as credibility to recruit potential workers who have criminal histories," according to the report.

Each community will have eight to 10 peacemakers.

"The Cure Violence model uses a panel interview process with members of the community, the local site and others to interview the candidate and determine their credibility within the community and their suitability for violence interruption work," Cook said. "Some have never had careers before and this work provides them the opportunity to use their connections in the community and previous life experience in a positive way that benefits their community. Frequently, staff share that being recognized by their families, and their communities, as a professional serving the community is a major positive influence in their life that encourages them to making an impact."

Their training "involves teaching how to work one-on-one with those most likely to be violent, how to talk people out of being violent and how our teams can use their influence to talk people out of violence," he said.

The peacemakers will not identify themselves as such in public — "Their work requires a certain level of low profile," Tutwiler said — but their ties to the communities they work in will be key.

"They already live here," he said. "Many of the individuals who we work with recognize both victims and perpetrators of violent acts as peers or relatives. Outsiders are less likely to be accepted by the people who we are asking to put the guns down.

They and the program itself will need time to make an impact, Tutwiler said.

"This will be a lengthy process. We will measure success by violent crime reduction and progress in the lives of our credible witnesses," he said. "One day at a time, one crisis at a time."

Meanwhile, the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, a community advocacy group, will continue its own grassroots anti-crime initiative, said group leader Ben Frazier. The Boots on the Ground peace campaign, begun in September 2018, has canvassed about 3,000 households so far, he said.

"We’re happy to see the launch of the Cure Violence effort," he said. "For any plan to work, it’s going to take the input of all hands on deck … We still need all the help we can get."

Beth Reese Cravey: (904) 359-4109

The first phase of Jacksonville's Cure Violence initiative, targeting Northwest Jacksonville and the city's Eastside, will launch at the Northwest Jacksonville Community Development Corp.'s annual Health and Neighborhoods Day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at 3416 Moncrief Road. Mayor Lenny Curry will announce the launch at 9 a.m., while other activities include food, music, health screenings, city services information and employment opportunities.

For more information call (904) 598-9196.

To download the Cure Violence assessment report, go to bit.ly/2InnLQs.

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