CINCINNATI — Community activists want City Council to fund a program they say can reduce gun violence in Cincinnati. It’s called Advance Peace, a community-driven program that is financially supported by the city.
“Advance Peace works with cities to help them reduce gunfire by providing transformative opportunities for those at the center of gun violence,” said Advance Peace CEO/Founder DeVone Boggan.
Boggan stopped in Cincinnati on his way to New York to speak with council members in the budget and finance committee about the program he started in Richmond, California, more than a decade ago.
“I’m not here to sell Advance Peace,” Boggan said. “I’m here to provide as an informed practitioner considerations that must be taken into account when building a Cincinnati ecosystem to reduce gunfire.”
Gun violence prevention activists like Ennis Tait, Mitch Morris, Rodney Christian, Te’Airea Powell and Peterson Mingo all believe this program can work in the Queen City because of it’s holistic approach.
“If we are working together to only to reduce gun violence, we’re missing an important point. We have to do more than reduce gun violence. We have to elevate the work we’re doing from ground level and the grass level to now what I believe to be a kingdom level assignment and that means it has to become a movement,” Tait said.
The vice mayor said she agrees with them.
“This program really can work in Cincinnati and it needs to work in Cincinnati,” Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney said.
Advance Peace provides mentoring and supportive relationships using street outreach workers seven days a week. They also anonymously work with people involved in shootings.
“The big piece that’s missing is working with the actual perpetrators because the perpetrators, those pulling the trigger, become the new victim and that cycle continues, so how do we stop that cycle,” Lemon Kearney.
Boggan has implemented his program in several cities across the country. He noted one of the biggest challenges is getting people to work with active shooters.
He added engaging this population is crucial to the program’s success. They work with these individuals through their “Operation Peace Fellowship.”
Between 2012 and 2022, Richmond saw an 85% reduction in firearm assaults and a 65% reduction in firearm homicides compared to the 11 years prior to the fellowship launch.
Of the 149 people enrolled in this fellowship in seven cohorts, 97% remained alive, 83% had no gun-related injuries or hospitalization since becoming a fellow and 71% had no new gun charges since becoming a fellow.
“Within a 24-month period after launch of the peacemaker fellowship 20% plus reductions in gun violence in those AP Zones,” Boggan said.
Boggan added the two components a city needs to have in order for his program to be successful are commitment and funding. He said the city has the commitment piece from its community activists. All they need is the funding.
Richmond invested $611,000 in Advance Peace during the first year, $828,000 the following year, and $1 million the next year.
“In addition to that, I think we need to see some private funders. We need to see some of the hospitals come. I think we need to see some of these major businesses, Cincinnati is a hub of major businesses,” Powell said.
Boggan said he would like to see a 10-year commitment from Cincinnati, but would accept a 5-8 year commitment. Before he agrees to bring his program here his team will do an assessment to see if Advance Peace could work in Cincinnati. He noted he doesn’t see any red flags that would prevent him from bringing his program here.
One thing that was made clear during the council meeting, is that tackling gun violence will be a group effort.
“It’s going to take a collaborative effort. We’re not going to legislate our way out of this. We’re not going to arrest our way out of this, but collectively as a community as a city that is committed to seeing the needle go backwards versus forward I believe there’s hope, getting to the point where everyone in the city feels safe,” council member Scotty Johnson said.
Boggan added for this to work the city will need to hire a full-time staff.
“I don’t hire part-time neighborhood change agents because I understand that this attention-intensive engagement is critically important,” he said.
