New Haven, Connecticut, is one of several cities that saw more gun violence during the pandemic. Residents on parole or probation met on Wednesday with faith leaders, police and public officials to discuss ways to curb the uptick.
It’s the Project Safe Neighborhoods program, a prevention partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Mayor Justin Elicker said the face-to-face meetings stopped during the pandemic, and he is hopeful now that they resumed this week.
“We’re going to be better able to, in-person, have interactions with young people and individuals that are potentially involved in violence to make sure that we offer them the support they need,” Elicker said.
Elicker said service providers will share options for prevention, like education and job assistance. He said law enforcement will also highlight the penalties of getting caught with a gun while on supervised release.
“Our goal is to help people that are returning from prison to succeed, and there’s a lot of services and support that we can provide, and our goal is to offer those services to people that could potentially be involved in violence, so they don’t opt to make that choice,” he said.