Reducing Violence News Archive

From Blocks to Beats is a 6-month music program that teaches youth how to make and perform music, in partnership with the Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety and Tompkins Houses. The program's first graduation event included 10 graduates and a night filled with powerful performances before a cheering audience. 

After a mass shooting occurred in Brownsville, Brooklyn, Brian Cunningham, director of our Neighbors in Action, discusses the anti-gun violence and therapeutic care work we do in New York City with Brian Lehrer on WNYC. 

The Center's Dr. Elise White and Dr. Yasser Payne of University of Delaware recently received $1.6 million to study the social and cultural roots of gun violence in five U.S. cities. Dr. Payne speaks with Delaware Public Media about the goals and methodology of the three-year research project. 

We all know what's wrong with the criminal justice system (fairness and humanity are often in short supply). Drawing from our work, our director, Greg Berman, describes some community-based solutions—like violence interruption, trauma-informed care for the justice-involved, and social workers rather than bail or detention pretrial—that are already making a difference.

The New York City Police Department has announced a push to address high-crime rates in six precincts, a campaign to begin with community meetings. We work on-the-ground in all six precincts. WNYC spoke to our director of community development and crime prevention, James Brodick.

In The Hill, our director, Greg Berman, along with George Mason University professor David Weisburd, argue proactive policing can work to reduce crime and improve relationships between police and the community, but it must be narrowly targeted and paired with community engagement and fairness.

Residents of the Wagner House are proposing for the expansion of social programming at the development, as part of their work with the Mayor's Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety. The proposal is dedicated to issues such as mental health, peer support, conflict resolution, restorative justice, and youth development. This resident-run initiative will transform a dilapidated lawn into a community gathering and event space featuring new planters, lawn furniture, a removable stage, a mural, and more.

Praising its "vivid" narrative and "balanced prescriptions throughout," the Los Angeles Review of Books looks at Start Here by our Greg Berman and Julian Adler.

Our director, Greg Berman, reviews two new books he says offer "a healthy corrective to the pessimistic narratives about criminal justice."

This article features the Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety and the Patterson Housing tenants—known as the NeighborhoodStat team— who have decided to invest in local gardens with the goal of increasing community engagement and collective efficacy. The article highlights James Reddick of the Center for Court Innovation, along with images of tenant and stakeholder, Eric Murray, taken in the Patterson garden.