As prison populations soar and attempts to revitalize downtown are met with crime concerns, new Birmingham initiatives seek to address the problem of the city’s violent crime in new ways. One such initiative is Birmingham’s participation in the Group Violence Intervention, working with the National Network for Safe Communities. The Group Violence Intervention is a collaborative effort between community groups and law enforcement agencies to reduce violent crime.
The group focuses on sending an anti-violence message directly to the individuals and street groups most likely to commitment violent crime in the community, a tactic that is modeled on other programs that have been taken up successfully in other U.S. cities. Many of these cities have seen at minimum a one-third reduction in homicides. A program in Nashville also saw a 55 percent decrease in drug offenses.
Birmingham homicides are already on a decline over the past 5 to 7 years, but Birmingham Police hope this program will help to reduce the numbers even further and empower communities. The strategy’s most important element is to reduce pro-violence peer dynamics and establish community norms and standards against violence that are self-perpetuating.
Most recently as part of this initiative, Birmingham police invited 29 young men believed to be most likely to commit gun violence in the community to a “call-in” where they were delivered a message: put down their weapons and receive community support for an “honorable exit,” or law enforcement will pursue perpetrators and their street groups alike. 22 of the 29 were there to hear the message and bring it back to their peers.
The National Network will be working to reduce violent crime in Birmingham over the next few years, though most cities choose to continue these initiatives after their initial 3-year period.