Community Comes Together to Change Lives

Community Comes Together to Change Lives

“Be leaders. Stop being followers. I’m begging you – please, please stop the gun violence,” pleaded Mrs. Natalie Brown, an advocate and mother who lost her son to gun violence.

Mrs. Brown was one of more than 50 community members who attended the first “call-in” of the York City Group Violence Intervention (GVI) initiative. Government officials, law enforcement, community groups and local leaders spent more than a year working collaboratively to prepare for the event, with support from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Seven young men and one woman were identified by law enforcement in a labor-intensive process that looked at all of the homicides and shootings in the City of York over the last several years. The GVI selected people on probation who were most connected to these shootings. The individuals were required to attend the call-in as a condition of their probation, ensuring their attendance.

What they found when they arrived was a community that ultimately wants to see them safe, alive, and out of prison. However, the message included an ultimatum – if one of the eight, or a member of their group, is involved in a shooting, the police and prosecutors will come down hard and they will pursue the maximum sentence.

Since that first call-in, the GVI has honored its commitment to helping these individuals change their lives. From training for their GEDs to supplies they need to secure a job, the GVI isn’t just talk. They are offering a chance at a better life.

Following a shooting incident there will be a heightened police presence, more traffic stops, and more community-based officer patrols. The GVI’s work isn’t done after just one call-in. It is preparing for more in the coming year.

“As your mayor, I’m tired of the violence,” said York City Mayor Kim Bracey. “Today marks a new day in the way we’re going to respond.”

YCCF IS A LEAD FUNDER
OF THE YORK CITY GROUP
VIOLENCE INITIATIVE, WHICH
IS MODELED ON A NATIONALLY
RENOWNED APPROACH
OFFERED THROUGH THE
JOHN JAY COLLEGE OF
CRIMINAL JUSTICE.