Violence interruption is a community-based strategy to reduce gun violence and improve public safety in neighborhoods. Our anti-violence program Save Our Streets is profiled and named as a highly successful example of curbing gun violence in the South Bronx, reducing gun victimization by 63 percent in its initial years of implementation.
President of the Times Square Alliance, Tom Harris, talks about the area’s recovery and shares more about the partnership with our Midtown Town Community Court, Breaking Ground, and Fountain House to create theCommunity First program, which connects the unhoused populations of Times Square to local resources, including housing and mental health services.
Detailing some of the joys and challenges of violence interruption work, NBC News highlights Save Our Streets and interviews James Brodick, the Center for Court Innovation’s director of community development and crime prevention. He stresses the need for workforce development in communities, including violence interrupters, so they face less burn out or have ceilings on their professional trajectories.
Josiah Bates of TIME Magazine gives a window into the day-in-the-life of a violence interrupter while spending time with the Center for Court Innovation's Save Our Streets (S.O.S.) teams. Noting the complicated dynamics that are at play in their interactions with both the police and the communities they serve, Rahson Johnson, associate director of community safety at S.O.S. Crown Heights, and Joshua Simon, a violence interrupter with S.O.S. Bed-Stuy, are interviewed and reflect on how to bring resources to help heal the community.
How can designers and advocates reckon with the uneasy history of safety in environmental design? This article explores how our Neighborhood Safety Initiatives, in partnership with the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice are working in public housing communities to build stronger, healthier public spaces.
An anti-violence fair was held Friday in Harlem in the same city housing complex where a little boy was killed in March. The event had the feel of a block party but with crucial information about resources for the community.
Community courts are a way to holistically address underlying issues— like substance use disorders, mental illness, or unemployment— to improve public safety and reduce reoffending. “In these challenging times, Albany’s award reaffirms the important work being done by community courts,” said Aaron Arnold, our director of technical assistance. “It’s a huge accomplishment to win this highly-selective national competition, and we look forward to working with them.”
“Each of these safety interventions was created by residents for residents as innovative solutions to addressing community safety,” says Danielle Brutus of the Center for Court Innovation on The Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice virtual summit. Bringing together NYCHA resident leaders, local government officials, and policymakers to discuss how safety interventions can influence policy, 400 registered attendees heard panels and discussions on the legacy of the stop-and-frisk policy and “Physical Space as an Innovative Design and Policy Opportunity.”
The Stapleton Houses' Resource Hub initiative consists of five pop-up mobile kiosks near the development’s tennis court area. A product of the Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety, the program is effectively operating a hub to connect the community to requested services, resources, and programming. Some key issues for Stapleton’s resident stakeholder team have included health and overall wellness, safety and justice, connection to resource information, as well as youth programming and development.
