CINCINNATI — As shootings continue to claim more lives across Cincinnati, city council is taking action to add more money to the fight against gun violence.
“It’s a matter of rather than punishment but really changing lives,” Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Kearney said.
On Wednesday afternoon, city council passed a motion that would allocate $275,000 to the gun violence reduction program “Advance Peace.”
The program began in California but was first introduced in Cincinnati in April 2023. It is driven by the community but funded through the city.
“Advance Peace, as many of you know, is a program that targets active shooters,” Kearney said.
That is what makes it different than other programs — ending gun violence through street outreach, mentorship and relationships with those directly involved, including those who pull the trigger.
According to the program's website, by “working with and supporting a targeted group of individuals at the core of gun hostilities, Advance Peace bridges the gap between anti-violence programming and a hard-to-reach population at the center of violence in urban areas, thus breaking the cycle.”
“The gap we had was dealing with just a small population of people who were, are, really in the middle of a lot of the violence and so we really have to address that population,” Kearney said.
During Wednesday's meeting, council member Meeka Owens brought up the recent gun violence Cincinnati has seen in just this last week, including two teens shot in Kennedy Heights and a 5-year-old boy who lost his life after he was shot during a drive-by in Winton Hills.
Owens said the council has to ensure it is persistent in working towards solutions beyond just this program.
“We know that we can’t program our way out of this issue because it’s so complex and multi-layered and it’s truly about changing systems and laws at every level,” Owens said.
She said that while the city has seen success after investing in anti-gun violence programs, there is still work to be done.
“We continue to look for ways to be accountable to results and also to make sure that we stay aligned in our strategies,” Owens said.
The funding for the program will come from the remaining money in the city’s contingency operation fund, and Cincinnati Works will be responsible for overseeing and moving the program forward.
