202forPeace is a citywide gun violence awareness campaign designed to:
- Raise awareness about the services and supports available to District residents who are vulnerable to violence or violent activity
- Increase community buy-in with messaging and activities targeted to keeping our youth safe
- Share survivor stories and experiences to humanize violence and challenge our community values toward a shared and common vision of peace.
The Public Safety and Justice ecosystem includes strategies to prevent crime whenever possible, provide enforcement when laws are broken and offer effective rehabilitative services for incarcerated residents.
Residents are encouraged to get involved with the movement through volunteerism, and community service.
DC Gun Violence Reduction Plan
Mayor Bowser’s plan to make our city safer and stronger was launched in 2016 following the implementation of the Neighborhood Engagement Achieves Results (NEAR) Act, providing federal resources to use public health approaches to prevent violence and reduce incarceration.
A summary of the strategies in the plan include:
- Establishment of a neighborhood safety and engagement office
- Community crime prevention teams
- Establishment of a victims’ services agency
- Implementation of a private security camera incentive program
- Establishment of a homicide reduction task force within MPD
- Stop and frisk and crime data collection, and
- Officer retention and recruitment
The Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE): ONSE was created in 2017 to foster community-based strategies to help prevent violence and increase public safety. ONSE’s mission is rooted in a public health approach to violence prevention, recognizing that reducing crime will not be accomplished through law enforcement alone. Some of their services include:
- Pathways Program—providing employment services to vulnerable 20-35-year-old District residents.
- Violence Interrupter Program—ONSE builds trust through resident and community-based engagement to reduce violence by establishing a strong presence within communities with a high prevalence of violence. Through increased investments in prevention services last year, this summer ONSE will significantly expand the number of Violence Interrupters and other frontline level violence intervention workers from 30 to 80.
- School Based Initiative—The ONSE Leadership Academy (OLA) is a school-based initiative launched as a pilot in the fall of 2019 in partnership with Anacostia High School and the Department of Employment Services. The program now operates in Anacostia Sr. High, HD Woodson Sr. High and Paul Public Charter schools to provide support to students with attendance, behavior, and academic challenges. Next year the program will expand to provide service-delivery to Kelly Miller and Kramer Middle Schools as well.
- People of Promise—The People of Promise initiative targets approximately 200 residents who have been identified by the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR) as being at highest risk of involvement in gun violence in the District. Each person has been assigned a multidisciplinary team to include a Credible Contact, a Pathfinder, and a member of Mayor Bowser’s cabinet to build trusting relationships with them to learn more about risk level, stage of readiness, and service needs.
The Office of Gun Violence Prevention coordinates the District-wide public health strategy for gun violence prevention ensuring collaboration and accountability for gun violence prevention and reduction work. OGVP accomplishes this by:
- Collaborating with residents, community partners and DC government agencies on prevention and intervention efforts
- Empowering the community to implement their own solutions to gun violence through grants and development support, in partnership with Progressive Life Center
- Increasing awareness of gun violence prevention efforts in DC
OGVP has awarded over $2.9 million since 2021 through 250+ grants to 150+ grantees.
Learn more about gun violence in the District: https://www.buildingblocks.dc.gov/data