Today, a conversation about Safe Streets, a program that uses the street wisdom of former felons and reformed gang members to fight the epidemic of gun violence in some of Baltimore’s most dangerous neighborhoods. The concept was inspired by a similar program in Chicago called Ceasefire. Community outreach workers known as "violence interrupters" patrol neighborhoods, interacting with residents and stepping in to mediate tense conflicts before they escalate to violence. Many of the violence interrupters have criminal records and gang ties, and all of them have credible reputations on the streets, an aspect that proves important when stepping into potentially violent situations.
Advocates of Safe Streets say the program has dramatically reduced violent crime in the four community sites it’s operating in, McElderry Park, Cherry Hill, Mondawmin, and Park Heights. In 2015, Safe Streets outreach workers mediated nearly 700 conflicts, 80 percent of which were deemed “likely” or “very likely” to have resulted in gun violence.
Daniel Webster is a Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he serves as the director of both the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy & Research and the Johns Hopkins-Baltimore Collaborative for Violence Reduction. He is the co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence, which partners with Safe Streets. Professor Webster is also the co-chair of the Safe Streets advisory board.
James “JT” Timpson is a community liaison officer for the Safe Streets program. Prior to taking that role he was the Park Heights Renaissance Site Director.
Dante Barksdale is a community outreach coordinator who's worked with Safe Streets since the program launched in 2007.
They join Tom in the studio to discuss the work Safe Streets is doing and the future of the program.
The American Enterprise Institute and University of Baltimore's School of Criminal Justice in the College of Public Affairs will host "Opportunity and Reentry: Creating Pathways for Returning Citizens in Maryland and Beyond," a one-day conference on increasing opportunity and reducing recidivism for returned citizens, on Thursday, Dec. 8 beginning at 8:45 a.m. in the Town Hall in UB's H. Mebane Turner Learning Commons, 1415 Maryland Ave. The event is free and open to the public; an online R.S.V.P. is required.
