HOPEWELL, Va. — The City of Hopewell is introducing a plan that they hope will have a major impact on rising crime.
Del. Carrie Coyner (R-Chesterfield) was invited to speak to Hopewell City Council on Thursday night about Operation Ceasefire.
The project, first implemented in Boston two decades ago, is now commonly known as Group Violence Intervention (GVI).
GVI focuses on deterring crime rather than enforcement at a time when Coyner said families are scared.
“My little city is a great place to live and work and raise a family. But unfortunately, we have some small groups that are making life really difficult and making it where folks can't feel safe outside in the streets, and our children can't ride bikes and play,” Corner explained. “Really seeing where [GVI] worked in other places and knowing that our city is in a crisis mode, and really needs help from all resources that it can get.”
One of the city’s recent murder victims was an 8-year-old girl who police said was shot and killed while playing in her front yard.
Police statistics showed there were nine homicides in Hopewell in 2022 compared to two murders in 2021.
Violent crime in general was also up 71%, according to the data.
Coyner said they must look at group violence from all angles rather than just from a policing and prosecution standpoint.
“We have amazing groups, we have nonprofits, we have churches, we have our school community. We have all sorts of different singular folks working to improve safety. But it's not a common unified voice,” she stated. “We don't have any coordination of all those efforts in our city.”
The Operation Ceasefire meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. in Hopewell Council Chambers on North Main Street. The meeting will also be broadcast live on the city’s website.
