Video up! See below ⬇️ or watch on Youtube 📺
Saturday, April 1 @ 9:45 am – 12:00 pm
Community Violence Intervention:
The Washtenaw County Approach to Making Communities Safer and Saving Young Lives
A mural of a black rose designed by Ypsilanti student DeShawn Chambers. Surrounding the flora are the names of 50 Washtenaw County citizens who have lost their lives to gun violence since 2008. The majority are Black boys and men under 22 years old. The mural is one of the many initiatives of the Ypsilanti Community Violence Intervention Team.
Many of the gun deaths plaguing our communities are not the result of the horrific, heart-breaking mass shootings that make headlines, but are because of suicide, domestic violence and gun violence in our cities driven by generational poverty, disinvestment in communities and young lives, structural racism and the hopelessness and despair they create. Gun violence has become the leading cause of death for children and teenagers in this country. The WCDP April 1st General Meeting Program will focus on Community Violence Intervention (CVI) and our approach in Washtenaw County to preventing gun violence in our cities and townships and saving young lives.
CVI can include hospital intervention after a young person has been shot or community-based intervention by CVI workers who interact with those likely to be involved with gun violence, either as perpetrators or as victims, in order to prevent gun violence from taking place. In Washtenaw County we are using a hybrid approach, incorporating both the hospital and community-based approaches while including efforts to address the conditions that foster gun violence.
The WCDP April 1st Program discussion was moderated by Washtenaw County Sheriff Jerry Clayton and included:
- Derrick Jackson, Director of Community Engagement, Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office
- Bryan Foley, CVI leader and Vice President of Supreme Felons
- Roger Roper, from WeLive (a hospital-based intervention)
- Justin Hodge, Chair, Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners
- Eli Savit, Washtenaw County Prosecutor
These subject matter experts who are doing the work explained local CVI efforts, why they are considered best practices and are supported nationally, on a state level and locally. Information on a state-wide CVI Summit hosted locally on May 1st was provided for those who would like to learn more.