Joseph Richardson begins evaluation project on gun violence intervention

Jenny Gathright, writing in the DCist, reports that the project "will be the most in-depth and rigorous evaluation of D.C.’s violence intervention programs to date. It’s funded by Arnold Ventures, a philanthropic foundation that funds criminal justice-focused studies."

In 2018, D.C. launched two violence intervention programs: Cure the Streets, under the D.C. Attorney General’s office, and a separate program under Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement. The programs contract with community-based organizations to employ workers called violence interrupters in D.C. neighborhoods with some of the highest rates of gun violence, Gathright noted.

Faculty Associate Joseph Richardson points out that measuring the success of non-police intervention can take many forms. "The way that we can measure success is by what communities determine to be metrics for success, but we also have to consider that the funding or lack thereof in [community violence intervention] programs has affected the coverage of these programs across the city,” he told Gathright.

See the complete story in the DCist