From Intervention to Prevention: The Next Step is Building Detroit’s Office of Violence Prevention

Detroit is grieving.

Recently, a 17-year-old boy was gunned down on Detroit’s east side in the middle of the afternoon, the latest in a string of shootings that have claimed the lives of more than a dozen teens this summer. Families and neighbors are crying out for answers. What they’re getting from many in city government, however, is more of the same tired law-and-order playbook: more police patrols, costly curfews, and fines on already struggling families. These approaches criminalize poverty and ignore what actually keeps communities safe.

Detroiters know the truth: we can't arrest our way out of this crisis. They’ve tried for decades, and all it has produced is mass incarceration, broken families, and neighborhoods left no safer than before. The steps to real change began last year when the Biden Administration invested in Community Violence Intervention, and the next step has to be continued investment, starting with the establishment of an Office of Violence Prevention for the city of Detroit.

Recent polling puts numbers behind what we already know: Detroiters want community investment, not more police. A recent survey found that 56 percent of Detroit residents believe investments in after-school programs, youth job training, and housing redevelopment are the most effective way to reduce gun violence. That majority is even stronger among women and Black Michiganders. In short, Detroiters don’t want more policing in communities; they want investments and resources in neighborhoods beyond downtown.

We already know what works, $10 million into six community organizations gave them the resources to design and implement violence intervention strategies tailored to their neighborhood. Creation of programs like violence interrupters, returned historic results: by the end of 2024, they had the fewest homicides since 1965.

That is not a theory of change. That is proof that when Detroit invests in people, not punishment, we see real safety. Outreach workers mediated conflicts before they turned deadly. Nonprofits were presented with the opportunity to create job readiness programs and mentorship opportunities. Parents, faith leaders, and neighbors rebuilt trust and accountability. These strategies saved lives.

The path forward is clear: public safety begins and ends with economic security. Permanent investment in community violence intervention, and a dedicated Office of Violence Prevention to coordinate and expand it.

An Office of Violence Prevention, as modeled in cities across the country, would focus on the root causes of crime, not just its symptoms. That means tackling housing insecurity, expanding after-school and summer school programs, and creating job readiness programs that give Detroiters, especially young people, a chance at stable futures. It means building a civilian-led mental health crisis response team instead of relying on police to be the solution for all things, including non-violent calls. It means ensuring returning citizens have access to housing, family reunification services, and pathways back into the community.

This isn’t just about dollars and cents. It’s about the value we place on the lives of the most vulnerable within our communities. Every budget is a moral document, and right now our communities are crying out for solutions that reflect their needs and not continually inflating already bloated budgets. Detroiters need housing and jobs, not curfews and fines. Investment in, or lack of, investment in these communities tells us whose lives they value and whose futures they are willing to sacrifice. Too often, it’s young Black and brown Detroiters who pay the price.

Detroit has shown that community-based interventions save lives. Now it’s time to scale it up and make it permanent. That starts with the city council and mayor fully funding community violence intervention programs and establishing an Office of Violence Prevention to coordinate the work, address the root causes, and ensure our city invests in people, not punishment.

As summer curfews come to an end, so should these bloated police patrols. It’s time for our leadership to fight to secure the resources that Detroiters are demanding, resources that create opportunity, heal communities, and prevent violence before it starts.

Detroit has a choice: we can continue the cycle of over-policing and mourning, or we can break it by investing in our people. The path forward is clear. It’s time our elected leaders take it.

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James Johnson — Detroit Action
Lucius D. Miles — Progress Michigan