LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A special committee meeting was held by Metro Council to discuss the progress of Louisville's Group Violence Intervention (GVI) program.
GVI was a program adopted by Louisville back in 2020, in order to help lower violent crime with a collaborative approach with law enforcement, social service providers and community members.
Manager Dondre Jefferson and LMPD Deputy Chief Jackie Villaroel agreed that GVI is contributing to an encouraging trend in gun violence in the city. They said non-fatal shootings are down 32 percent over this time last year, homicides are down 10 percent and gun seizures are up a little more than one percent.
Jefferson stressed that GVI focuses solely on homicides and shootings involving members of groups or gangs in the city known to be drivers of gun violence, which she said covers about one third of the homicides in Louisville this year.
According to a news release, officials said GVI's main message is to stop the violence, don’t retaliate, but instead take advantage of wraparound services offered through GVI.
The release stated the team has responded to 35 families directly affected by group violence, offering services like help securing Section 8 housing, food, furniture and counseling and has held three call-in meetings with members of groups involved in gun violence.
“We, your families and your community, want you alive, safe, out of prison and contributing to the health and growth of our community. We think you can do it and we’re here to help you reach that goal," Mayor Greg Fischer said.
Councilman Mark Fox started the meeting saying he believes in the good GVI can do, but the city needs to step up and work together.
During a back and fourth with LMPD, Fox grilled officers about how many violent groups have actually been affected by the program.
"You said the word individual about 4 or 5 times during your answer, and my question was evaded. The point of this is group violence intervention," Fox said. "How many groups have we gone after, criminal solicitation to the commonwealth. How much is that going on."
LMPD answered the question saying their continuing to work on that aspect of the program, targeting a few different groups.
One speaker emphasized that it's important to maintain the core goal of the program, no matter if there's personnel or leadership changes, in order to see true progress.
“The Mayor has said that public safety requires a ‘whole of government, whole of city approach,’ and we are seeing that play out with GVI. The collaboration we've been able to foster among different groups that have been working on this challenge is critical," Jefferson said.
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