In the Mayor’s budget proposal, violence interruption programs in Ward 1 are cut in half, the Ward 1 Cure the Streets program is entirely cut, and the proposed plan for next fiscal year adopts a “ward-wide model” that will not help us prevent the crew-based, neighborhood-based violence taking place.
In yesterday’s budget oversight hearing in the Judiciary and Public Safety, I asked the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement why they aren’t taking an evidence-based approach to staffing and identifying neighborhoods in need of violence interruption services. I was flabbergasted to hear ONSE using data from 2017, when recent data show clearly that some neighborhoods in the ward are in desperate need and were not included in their recent plan for the ward, while others were included that do not have crew-based violence.
We have to fight for funding in this budget to prevent violence in our communities and we’ve seen that when violence interruption programs and MPD work together, more crime is stopped before it happens.
The program works when you have the right team deployed in the community in the right places. I will work with my Council colleagues to try and make sure that is the case in our ward.
