Mayor Neeley partners with Peacekeepers to help youth de-escalate violence

At a press conference yesterday, Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley and the Peacekeepers announced a new initiative to help Flint youth de-escalate violence.

The program will train 12 to 14 year-olds as Peer Mediators to resolve conflicts before they escalate to violence. Participants will learn communication skills, non-violent intervention, and how to deal with negative emotions.

The City of Flint will fund the program through its Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative, which mobilizes federal Department of Justice dollars to help community partners to address violent crime, particularly gun violence. Youth will receive a stipend for participating in the program.

New Standard Academy and Flint Community Schools have confirmed that they will participate in the program, which aims to train 10 youth in each school, 5 girls and 5 boys in each.

Jayshawn Allen, age 14, is helping lead the way as the first student to join the Peer Mediator program at New Standard Academy. He expressed gratitude for the showing of support for Flint youth, and said people his age don't often get the encouragement they need.

"I've lost a lot of family and friends to the senseless gunfire and gun violence, and I think we need a change in the City of Flint, and not just here, but everywhere," Allen said.

Four New Standard Academy students have lost their lives to gun violence, including a 15-year-old and a 12-year-old within the last three weeks. Correy Black, the Principal at New Standard Academy, said his school is committed to partnering with "all those who seek to do what's best for kids."

"When [kids] have problems to solve, we should talk them through it and find a sensible solution, not one that is founded in violence," Black said. "We are working hard to do our part, but I need parents to be nosy again. As kids say 'you're doing too much,' but we need you to start doing too much again. Get involved and get intimately involved in the lives of your children."

Flint Police Chief Terence Green emphasized the Flint Police Department's efforts to build relationships and trust among community members. Flint Police have partnered with the Peacekeepers for the past two years and 40 officers have received de-escalation training.

"We're pretty good at solving crimes and arresting people, but that can't be the only cure," Chief Green said. "We can't arrest our way out of this. The only way we can prevent gun violence is a partnership with the community. We have to have a strong community relationship because that relationship builds trust. If they don't trust the Police Department, they're not going to provide us with the crucial information that we need to prevent violent crime."

When Flint's homicide rate spiked in 2021, Mayor Neeley declared a gun violence emergency and followed it up with a set of public safety initiatives. Through grant funding, the Flint Police Department has implemented a cold case unit, a witness protection program, a gun bounty program, and 24/7 operation of its intelligence center.

Mayor Neeley started the Safe & Clean Summer initiative in March of this year in anticipation of an uptick in violence this summer. Youth Summer Job programs were designed to help kids build confidence, learn job skills, and get them out of harm's way. Now, Mayor Neeley says, we need to do more as a community.

"This is a call to action for everybody inside the City of Flint," Mayor Neeley said. "We need to work together to make sure our kids have a future in this community. We need to do more."

The Flint Police Department has implemented key strategies to prevent violent crime:

1. Established a real-time crime center with full-time staff members to enhance coordination and response to criminal activities promptly.

2. Implemented innovative technology for crime-solving to improve efficiency and accuracy in investigations.

3. Formed a task force comprising City of Flint police detectives and Michigan State Police detectives to collaborate on investigating violent crimes within the city.

4. Assigned task force officers from the City of Flint Police Department to work with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) to address gun-related crimes effectively.

5. Involved the FBI to investigate gang-affiliated criminal activities, enhancing efforts to combat organized crime.

6. Utilized the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to address drug crimes within the City of Flint, targeting drug-related offenses.

7. Enhanced the City of Flint Police Department's special investigative unit to focus intensively on violent crime prevention and prosecution.

8. Implemented specialized overtime initiatives to monitor and address traffic violations near party establishments, ensuring public safety and crime prevention.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.