Reducing Violence

We seek to prevent disorder and violence by working directly in and with the communities that are most affected by crime.

In the South Bronx and central Brooklyn, we’re mobilizing local voices, including former gang members, and training them to end gun violence. Our community justice centers in Brownsville, Red Hook, and Harlem seek to ameliorate the causes of violence through employment and reentry programs. Our youth programs provide educational and leadership opportunities for at-risk young people. Our work on placemaking engages communities to revitalize public spaces, promoting neighborhood resilience and safety. We help coordinate the Minority Youth Violence Prevention initiative, a program of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and the Office of Minority Health, bringing together public health organizations, law enforcement agencies, and community-based groups to curb violence and reduce disparities in access to public health among at-risk minority youth across the U.S. And, we work to combat domestic violence, seeking to reduce harm, enhance victim safety, and hold offenders accountable.

Initiatives

Brownsville Community Justice Center

The Brownsville Community Justice Center works to reduce crime and incarceration, and strengthen community trust in justice in central Brooklyn.
Make It Happen

Make It Happen helps young men between the ages of 16 and 24 who have experienced violence acquire the tools necessary to overcome traumatic experiences.
Minority Youth Violence Prevention Initiative

With a focus on treating violence as a disease, this initiative links public health agencies, community groups, and law enforcement in an effort to curb violence.
Red Hook Community Justice Center

The nation's first multi-jurisdictional community court, the Red Hook Community Justice Center seeks to solve neighborhood problems in southwest Brooklyn.
Save Our Streets (S.O.S.)

Save Our Streets (S.O.S.) seeks to end gun violence at the neighborhood level by changing local norms.

Publications & Digital Media

Publication
Neighbors in Action: Creating Safer and Healthier Communities

by Amy Ellenbogen

On the occasion of its twentieth anniversary, an introduction to the origins, programming, and community impact of Neighbors in Action, formerly known as the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center. Neighbors in Action works to make the central Brooklyn neighborhoods of Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant safer and healthier for all.

Access to Justice, Addressing Racial Disparities, Reducing Trauma, Reducing Violence
Audio
Violence, Trauma, and Healing in Crown Heights, Brooklyn

by Matt Watkins

On our New Thinking podcast, an audio portrait of Make It Happen, our program working with young men of color in Crown Heights, Brooklyn affected by violence. Through interviews with participants and practitioners, the episode explores the intersections of trauma, involvement with the justice system, and the lived experience of race.

Addressing Racial Disparities, Reducing Trauma, Reducing Violence
Audio
Abusive Partner Interventions for the LGBTQIA+ Community

In this episode, our host Juan Carlos Areán is joined by Mary Case, Manager of the Legal Advocacy Project for Survivors at the Los Angeles LGBT Center and Cat Shugrue dos Santos, Deputy Executive Director for Programs at the NYC Anti-Violence Project. They discuss the importance of applying an intersectional lens when intervening on intimate partner violence within LGBTQIA+ communities.

Domestic Violence, Reducing Trauma, Reducing Violence

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News

Gun Control is a Local Issue

May 12, 2021
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee

Kellen Khelefu and Davonte Dudley joined a special episode of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee to talk about our anti-violence program Save our Streets. Viewing gun violence through the lens of a public health crisis, violence interrupters leverage their relationships in neighborhoods affected by gun violence to de-escalate and stop violence before it starts.
Exclusive 'Full Frontal With Samantha Bee' Clip Teases Tonight's Gun Control Special

May 12, 2021
Collider

A special edition of Full Frontal With Samantha Bee airs on TBS, and Collider has an exclusive clip that teases the show’s take on gun control in the USA. Titled Full Frontal Wants To Take Your Guns, the special will use all of Samantha Bee’s charisma to discuss the polemic proposals surrounding gun reform. Samantha Bee talks to some of the people fighting for gun reform in the USA, like Shannon Watts from Moms Demand Action, Kellen Khelefu from the Center for Court Innovation, and Davonte Dudley from Save Our Streets.
New York City Kicks Off Safe Summer NYC With Anti-gun Violence Fair

May 7, 2021
ABC7 NY

New York City kicked off its Safe Summer NYC program Friday with the first of a series of anti-gun violence resource fairs, this one at the Polo Grounds Towers in Washington Heights. To mitigate the recent uptick in gun violence, the Mayor's Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety is partnering with public housing developments to engage city residents and deter gun violence with increased safety awareness.

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Initiatives

Publications & Digital Media

News

We work with reformers around the world.

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