Podcast — Are violence interrupters more effective than police?

Gun violence is a massive problem in American communities. And after decades of failed policies, some community members are taking matters in their own hands and working as violence interrupters. In this episode of Beyond Black History Month, we meet members of Save Our Streets, or SOS. We find out how some of the same people who once caused neighborhood violence are dedicating their lives to stopping it. Continue reading Podcast — Are violence interrupters more effective than police?

NYC Will Spend $9 Million on ‘Violence Interrupters’ to Curb Violence in City Schools

“If we don’t do this type of a program… the only thing we have is police and formal policies and protocols, and that’s no way to run a society,” said Jeffrey Butts, a professor at John Jay College who has studied the Cure Violence programs. Continue reading NYC Will Spend $9 Million on ‘Violence Interrupters’ to Curb Violence in City Schools

CURBING CHICAGO CRIME, ONE JIGSAW CUT AT A TIME

“There’s a whole garden of approaches, with different styles and modalities and theories of change,” says Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. “What’s new, or seems new, is that we’ve reached the point that relying on law enforcement for all of our public safety problems became too obviously problematic.” Continue reading CURBING CHICAGO CRIME, ONE JIGSAW CUT AT A TIME