Two Detroit nonprofits hired by the city to reduce shootings in high-impact neighborhoods are showing early signs of success.
The city invested $10 million in federal pandemic relief funds to support small organizations that were pushing for community-oriented strategies. Deputy Mayor Todd Bettison said preliminary data shows the strategy is working.
“These groups are doing something police can’t do,” Bettison said.
FORCE Detroit received a $175,000 performance bonus and Detroit Friends and Family received $87,500 for recording larger decreases in the 4-square-mile areas they are responsible for.
Homicides and non-fatal shootings dropped 37% across the city from November 2023 to January.
Homicides and non-fatal shootings dropped 72% in a west side area where FORCE Detroit is active. Incidents dropped 48% in an east side area where Detroit Friends and Family is active.
Areas served by New Era Community Connection and Detroit Peoples Community saw incidents drop by 35% and 27%.
Bettison said he will ask the City Council to extend contracts with those four organizations for another year. Contracts with all six organizations expire this summer.
Two other organizations that did not keep pace with the citywide drop in shootings will be recommended for three-month contract extension.
Neighborhoods where Detroit 300 are active had a 9% reduction in shootings and homicides.
Another area served by a partnership between Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency, the Denby Neighborhood Alliance and Camp Restore experienced an increase in non-fatal shootings.
Organizers said they’ve interrupted violence by deescalating conflicts and providing resources to people involved in dangerous lifestyles.
FORCE Detroit Founder Founder Alia Harvey-Quinn said relocating families who are targets of violence has made a “radical difference” in preventing retaliation.
“I think love is working, caring for people who are at the center of violence,” Harvey-Quinn said. “What solves this problem is having empathy, recognizing that trauma is the reason behind acts of violence.”
Dujuan “Zoe” Kennedy, an organizer with FORCE Detroit, said it’s important to provide long-term funding.
“If we see something working, invest in it,” he said.
The initial grants provide funding for two years. Bettison said the program could keep running through state legislation that would distribute public safety funds to cities proportionally based on violent crime rates.
Bettison said Detroit could receive $8 million in annual funding to support the program if Michigan lawmakers pass the bill.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated which organizations will be recommended for contract extensions.
