Cities mix and match solutions to violence

Two summers ago the streets of America’s cities swelled with protest over police violence against minorities. Demonstrators demanded that police budgets be slashed, with the money diverted to social programs. Then came a backlash. With murder rates rising – 30% in 2020 alone – voters favored mayoral candidates promising law and order.

Since then, these two national narratives have led to a possible healing moment. Cities across the country have become laboratories for fresh approaches to both public safety and community outreach.

Their work has attracted federal attention. A good example was the Feb. 3 visit to New York City by President Joe Biden to back the reforms of a new mayor, Eric Adams, a former police officer and the second African American to lead the city. The mayor had just unveiled a plan for ending gun violence through a new collaboration between police and community stakeholders, including former gang members.

It is one of several blueprints redefining law enforcement in underserved communities following the heightened exposure of police killings in recent years. “We see evidence of a shift occurring,” said the Rev. Jeff Brown, who has spent decades addressing violence from within minority communities in Boston. “Love is an essential ingredient if we are going to be able to restore cities. We need love but also need justice. People are beginning to understand what that is, how difficult it is to achieve it, and they are anxious to get on with it and build it.”

Cities are combining hard and soft approaches. Some have increased police presence in the most violent neighborhoods while offering alternative activities to young people, such as summer camp. Former gang members are being deployed as “violence interrupters” to prevent disputes from escalating. Boston has focused on community renewal, such as boosting minority homeownership.

The Biden administration has pledged millions of dollars to city police departments to hire new officers, provide overtime pay, and stem the flow of illegal guns across state borders and on to urban streets. But as cities find a balance between law enforcement and civilian-based strategies, one model shows the value of tackling gun violence from the receiving end of it.

In recent years, hospitals in cities like Chicago and Boston have developed violence recovery programs that focus on helping victims of gun violence and their families heal. These initiatives combine physical and psychological care with access to other supportive resources like job-placement assistance and even relocation to avoid exposure to further violence. The idea behind those initiatives – that restoring individuals is a key element of violence reduction – has resonance for cities seeking to reduce violence by restoring communities.

“If you don’t understand the ‘why,’ we are never going to get to a real solution,” Christine Goggins, a violence recovery specialist at the University of Chicago Medical Center, told the Chicago Tribune. “The key to any type of change, reform, is understanding that culture. We have to get to those people, what leads them to committing violence?”

As cities grapple with gun violence and police reform in the wake of intense social justice protests, a new take on an enduring idea is finding practical expression: that justice, empathy, and compassion are cornerstones of stability and bulwarks of peace.