'Cure the Streets:' DC violence interruption program to reach 4 new sites in Spring '22
WASHINGTON (7News) — “Cure the Streets,” a violence interruption program, is expanding with four additional sites set to come online in the spring, bringing the total number of program areas to 10, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine announced Monday.
“We looked at gun violence, homicides both in terms of short term data – last 12 months, 24 months, 36 months and even beyond that. We also looked at the kind of violence that is occurring and what precipitates it,” said Racine.
That led to the selection of the following four sites:
- Historic Anacostia/Fairlawn where since 2018, the AG’s office has tracked 15 deadly shootings.
- Sursum Corda/Ivy City, where the AG’s office has tracked 12 in the last three years
- Congress Heights which it says saw the highest number of incidents of violent gun crime in 2020 and 2021.
- Brightwood Park/Petworth where the AG’s office says ongoing conflicts have resulted in retaliation for years.
It’s something with which Ward 4 Councilwoman Janeese Lewis George is all too familiar.
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She says growing up in D.C. she could remember some of the neighborhood conflicts that would take place with others only expanding from generation to generation.
“We’re not just talking about taking guns out of people’s hands. We’re talking about changing the trajectory of families in our community,” she said. “We view gun violence as a disease and we know that we gotta stop the spread, so that prevention, public health work is what we’re ready and what we’ve been needing and wanting in our community.”
While four more sites are added, thanks to additional funding from members of the D.C. Council, Racine recognizes that there are more communities looking to implement the program.
“More community members wanted more sites than we were able to provide, so I know that the decision highlighting the four that we have is also being met with some sadness and disappointment in that we can’t expand to other sites.”
What’s also difficult to pinpoint, how successful the program has been.
It is still in the pilot phase and the first sites came online in 2018.
“We know that in order for there to be a true assessment of this pilot program, I’ve always been talking about 3-5 years of more than just two or three sites. Now we’ve got 10 sites and I’m looking forward to there being a deep, evidence-based study, data focused on what the benefits of the sites are.”
His office, however, points to a number of successes including 82 mediations for FY 2021, with a lot of them taking place over Zoom because of the pandemic.
7News On Your Side reported over the summer, those mediations helped two neighborhoods reach a ceasefire.
Still Racine, has always maintained “Cure the Streets” by itself will not solve the gun violence problem in the District.
It is simply one way to tackle the issue.
Before the new four sites come online, the Office of the Attorney General is looking for several non-profits to implement the program at the new sites.
Applications are available now with a submission deadline set for January 12. Each site has about 10 frontline staff workers.
In addition to the program supervisor and program manager, four people conduct outreach work while four others work as violence interrupters.
“My hope is that in this city that we have that is so flush with money that we’ll allocate the money smartly to the people we should care about the most and that’s every kid in the District of Columbia,” said Racine.