LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After several shootings across Metro Louisville over the weekend, March 2022 is trending to be the deadliest month of homicides since Sept. 2021, according to Louisville Metro Police (LMPD) data.
LMPD's data shows as of March 21, 41 people have been killed so far this year -- the majority attributed to gun violence. February had the Metro's lowest monthly total in two years (9), only to be followed by 16 homicides already in March, with 10 days to go. That's tied with totals from Jan. 2022, and Oct. 2021.
On the weekend of March 18, LMPD reported five people were shot and killed from Friday night through Sunday. Others were wounded by bullets, including an infant early Sunday morning.
"There were more murders per capita in Louisville last year than even Chicago, so I'm upset about that. But we also have to try all the things we can do both to heal the community, to prevent it. And I think we have to admit what we've been doing is not working," said Senator Rand Paul (R-KY).
In order to combat violence around the city, Mayor Greg Fischer launched a program in Oct. 2020 to reduce violence called the Group Violence Intervention (GVI) program.
The program has largely been centered around "call-ins," face-to-face meetings where police meet with violent offenders.
"GVI looks at the dynamics of the group and says, 'If one of you gets out of line, the whole group is coming down because chances are you're violating your probation or your parole. No more second chances,'" said Josh Crawford, chairman for Game Changers, a non-profit that works to make communities safer and to help children with trauma resulting from gun violence. "The second message is one of resources and hope. [Telling them], 'here are resources available to you if you want to leave this lifestyle behind.'"
But as of March 2022 in Louisville, Crawford said there's been just one call-in meeting so far this year. He said it's been difficult to mandate people on parole and probation to be in the room for these meetings.
Crawford said he hopes new legislation currently making its way through Frankfort will make enforcement easier.
"I'm incredibly frustrated by it, I think we need to be doing these things more frequently, but we also need to fix some of the problems that we observed in the first call-in before we do the next one. Because if we just repeat sort of the first one with those same problems, we probably won't see much in terms of reduction," Crawford said.
Crawford doubled down saying GVI is a "major part of the solution," along with getting the program fully operational.
Meanwhile, the Mayor's Office sent the following statement, saying the GVI team has made 'significant progress' since its launch in 2020, while working with partners such as LMPD and the Victim Services Unit:
"They’ve completed 141 customs, which are in-person visits or a direct call to those who are drivers of violence in the community or victims who may be highly likely to retaliate. The main message is to stop the violence, don’t retaliate and instead, take advantage of wraparound services we offer.
They’ve also responded to 41 victims of violence, offering services like help securing Section 8 housing, food, furniture and counseling. The GVI team also made its first call-in meeting with members of groups in the city known to be driving an increase of violence here on Jan. 12, 2022, and expects to schedule future call-in meetings on a quarterly basis, which is an acceptable cadence per National Network for Safe Communities (NNSC)."
Christopher 2X, founder of Game Changers, said while the city and community effort fixes, wrapping their arms around the youth should be a priority as kids battle with secondary trauma due to gun violence.
Crawford said the next call-in is planned for April, and the hope is for those face-to-face meetings to ramp up monthly from that point on.
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