Keywords: reduce crime, service pool, dispute resolution, behavior change

– interviewee works with mostly black males (20-30s) in homicides
– many gang affiliations

How do you target your audience?
– people well-known to law enforcement
– offenders known by community members as trouble makers

Other key points:
– dispute resolution is approachable and solvable
– many problems related to guns start with broken family
– other people have to take the role of family such as community organizations, churches, service pool staff members, etc.
– gangsters don’t have family to teach them values and principles.
– many young black males who fall into these issues act irrationally with a gun and only realize that it was a “dumb mistake” after the fact
– along with connecting offenders to service pools for mentorship, jobs, drug treatment, and GED, the org is trying to pair the efforts with education of values
– short term solutions are leading the offenders to a job. Long term solutions need to be paired with education
– it’s hard for programs to take place of family and family values
– mental health issues are a big problem; there are not enough resources and manpower behind the support offenders need
– revenge is a common reason for gun incidents