Lansing takes new approach to try and cut gun violence
LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - Lansing is taking a new approach to fighting gun violence.
Through August, there have been 55 shootings in 2022. Lansing police said 12 of those were deadly.
Three volunteers, called Neighborhood Change Agents, are now working through the Advance Peace program to identify people at the center of the violence.
The Neighborhood Change Agents are working in neighborhoods most affected by those shootings.
Advance Peace estimates 20 people at the core. The Neighborhood Change Agents will build relationships with people in the community to learn who those people are.
The goal is to de-escalate the situation before someone is shot.
“That is through conversations, through building relationships, through connecting them with alternative lifestyles getting them out of the community if necessary,” said Paul Elam, Advance Peace Lansing.
Once the people involved in the violence are identified, they’ll be invited to participate in Advance Peace’s “Peacemaker Fellowship.”
Advance Peace aims to reduce the number of shootings by 40% in three years.
Data shows the Advance Peace approach has cut violence in other cities by half.
You can help the Advance Peace project by providing information or signing up to be a Neighborhood Change Agent by contacting Advance Peace on its official website here.
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