RICHMOND, Va. -- In both Richmond and the surrounding communities, there has been a concerning increase in gun-related violence.
While the numbers are alarming, there is work being done to fix the problem.
In April, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney's administration presented the city's framework to address gun violence prevention and intervention. The plan uses a combination of law enforcement intervention and community prevention strategies to combat the problem.
It focuses on high crime areas, youth in the community, the root causes of crime and uses a holistic approach to addressing gun violence.
CBS 6's Candace Burns sat down with Mayor Stoney to learn more about his plan and how he will measure its success.
Candace Burns: Mayor, in 2021, you declared gun violence a public health crisis. How have things been since you made that declaration?
Levar Stoney: Well, you know, gun violence has been an epidemic here in the city but also nationwide for some years now. And ever since we've declared a health emergency here in the city of Richmond, we've kind of thrown the kitchen sink at the problem.
What we recognize is that 26% of the violent crimes that are happening in the City of Richmond are occurring in 2% of the 60 square miles of the City of Richmond. So, in a time in which we are seeing less police officers doing the job, because of the shortage, we are working smarter. We're directing our resources and we are putting community policing and data overlaying on top of it and then overlaying that with our prevention and intervention framework as well. And so it's been successful. We have hundreds of weapons from the street that could be used in gun violence and could have taken someone's life.
CB: Let's talk about your framework. How did you come up with this?
LS: We had a task force to focus on gun violence in the city. We actually assembled people from all walks of life, involved with whether it's the police department, those who worked with the police department, those who worked with nonprofits, focused on a human services approach to gun violence.
We needed something that was unique to Richmond and Richmonders and that's exactly what our Gun Violence Prevention and Intervention Framework is.
CB: What are the factors that you are watching to make sure that it is successful?
LS: Well, obviously we want to reduce the homicide rate here in the city. We want to reduce those aggravated assaults, people using weapons during assaults. And we're already seeing that this year, here in 2022, a 19% reduction in homicides in the City of Richmond compared to last year. Now, we want to end gun violence, period.
We will also measure ourselves on the successes we have. So, if an individual uses one of our programs to rise out of poverty and get a good job or a second chance is given to someone that could have been steered towards violence and instead, they've moved into something that allows them to contribute to our community, those are the sort of success stories we want to see out of our city. It's going to take trust and time to make this happen, to reduce crime in our community.
CB: Let's talk about what happened on July 4th, it's a fair question to ask when we are talking about trust. The police chief said a hero tipster stepped up and stopped what could have been a tragic situation, a possible mass shooting at Dogwood Dell. But after the news conference, there were lots of questions, there were questions about whether Dogwood Dell was the actual target, there were police officers who were there who weren't aware of a possible threat and then there were questions from the community.
If we are building trust, aren't those questions that need to be answered?
LS: Yes, obviously trust is a major component to strengthening the relationship between the police department and the city and its people. However, sometimes, we are unable to answer questions, particularly when investigations are ongoing. Sometimes, you have to do a more thorough investigation to get more answers to some of the questions. Like I said earlier and will continue to say, I support and am grateful for the great police work by others to remove that threat that could have harmed many people on the Fourth of July. The person who called in, I thank them as well. They didn't have to do that.
CB: Is there anything else you want the community to know about your framework?
LS: We have to throw the whole kitchen sink at it, I mean, everything. We need more investment in public education, more investment in parks and recreation, more job opportunities, more economic development. All of these things play a role in a person choosing a better life, not just themselves, but their families as well. But we need to give them those choices.
Now, will it happen overnight? I can never tell you that it's going to happen overnight but I can tell you we are going to work our damnedest in throwing this kitchen sink at this issue, to make sure it's one less life lost during this whole epidemic that we are experiencing.
If you would like to read Mayor Stoney's 38-page framework, click here.
