Violence prevention program launches in Warren

It's a story that's all too familiar in the lives of many Warren city residents, a cycle of violence resulting in loss, devastation and extracting a heavy toll on the victim's families.

"In an instant, gunfire shattered not only the windows of my daughter house but the very foundation of our family. My 11 year old son lost his life that night, and with him a part of all of us was lost," said a Warren resident.

So now, people are fighting back against violent crime, beginning with identifying the issue.

"Once an act of violence happens, the family or friends of that person is going to come back and see how can I get revenge," Joseph Walker, Pastor of Restoration Christian Fellowship Church said.

Then the group works to break the cycle, with the Warren Community Violence Injury Prevention Program.

"We began working on this program after we started to see a rise in violent injuries come into the trauma center at Trumbull Regional Medical Center," Peggy Higgins, Trauma Coordinator at TRMC said. "I started to look at the numbers and see an alarming rise," she said.

Walker tells 21 News far too often retaliatory actions are the cause of deaths.

"When victims of violence come to the hospital, it's the most, we believe, the most impactful moment of this process," Walker said. "Our goal is to be able to get to these people at that moment of impact when things are still fresh and offer them an alternative route," he said.

This is when the violence interrupters will also step in and try to mediate.

"We'll dispatch our violence interrupters who are community leaders," Higgins said. "We want them to meet with the patients once they've been stabilized and then offer them community resources, offer them support," she said.

An expert tells 21 News, programs like these have proven to be a good tool in cracking down on violent crime in some communities.

"The evidence is very strong that it does actually reduce shootings and homicides so it's a very important program to have in your city," Irvin Waller, Professor of Criminology at University of Ottawa said.

Waller said it's also important though to make sure these people are specially trained to handle victims and that they're targeted to make a difference.