The public health problem I decided to address was gun violence, as it is prevalent in the younger population, especially men. According to the CDC. the 3‘“ leading cause of death for ages 15-34 is Homicide (2019). An intervention that has been proven to work in violent cities is a program called Group Violence Intervention; members of the GVI consists of local law enforcement officers, social serve providers, and community members. The Group Violence Intervention is an innovation that is dedicated to reducing gun violence and homicide by focusing on deterrence rather than enforcement and promoting stronger relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve (Group Violence Intervention).
I choose this innovation because it is community-based, and this program provides social services to group members who are responsible and/or subjected to gun violence instead of incarcerating them. Overall. this intervention aims to target gangs/groups by conducting “call-ins”, as gangs are responsible for the majority of the violent crimes in their respective cities (Papachristos and Kirk, 2015). A community-based innovation like the GVI is usually easier to disseminate than clinical implementations, which requires distilling statistical and scientific information. Likewise, the significant reduction of violence in cities that have adopted the GVI, such as Boston, Chicago, Detroit, and Oakland, shows the observability of the innovation.
For this reason, I would like for this innovation to be implemented more widely in the southern states of America. in cities like Atlanta, Nashville, and Birmingham. Potential implementers of this innovation could be mayors, governors, and local police departments looking for an effective method to reduce homicides and gun violence in their city, state, or county. Moreover, the adopters of this innovation are gang group members, the main audience. while members of the community living in these high-risk violent areas are the secondary audience. The key ingredients that make this innovation work are: the deterrence-focused approach to address homicides and gun violence, the promotion of relationships between the community and law enforcement to build trust.
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The intersectoral collaboration of law enforcement, social service workers, and the community to address a gun violence, and the personal nature of the program by meeting gang/group members face-to-face to address their actions and to discuss the consequences. However there are a few components of the GVI innovation that may need translation for both the implementers and the adopters as every jurisdiction violence situation is different. Similarly, if law enforcement were to become an implementer, the adopter may have reservations, especially during a time of civil unrest due to the lack of trust in police officers.
