Brownsville Civilians Handle Crises in a Model Mayor Mamdani May Expand

by Ben Feuerherd Gothamist May 12, 2026 … [Brownsville Safety Alliance] At least twice a year since 2020, nonprofit workers from the neighborhood spend a week calming disputes and responding to most 311 and 911 calls on certain blocks in the neighborhood. This year’s April installment took on a special significance, because organizers’ approach is similar to what Mayor Zohran Mamdani has vowed do across … Continue reading Brownsville Civilians Handle Crises in a Model Mayor Mamdani May Expand

The Untold Impact of Nonviolence Work: How Success Gets Measured in Chicago’s Hardest-Hit Neighborhoods

“When you answer questions about violence and point to individuals at high risk, that makes politicians happy because they can blame those other people,” Butts said. “There are politicians who live off of getting one group of people to vote against the other group, and this individual-level approach sustains that political energy.” Continue reading The Untold Impact of Nonviolence Work: How Success Gets Measured in Chicago’s Hardest-Hit Neighborhoods

Shots Fired: How Violence Intervention Groups are Part of the Solution

Jeffrey Butts, a research professor with John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a member of the Rockefeller Institute of Government Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium, said the two programs have based their approach to addressing gun violence on a “scientifically informed theory” about why young people sometimes act aggressively against others. Continue reading Shots Fired: How Violence Intervention Groups are Part of the Solution