For generations, the dominant public response to violence was punishment and enforcement. But another approach has continued to grow alongside that model: Community Violence Intervention. CVI suggests that the people best positioned to interrupt gun violence are often those with lived experience, deep relationships, and hard-earned credibility in the communities most affected. Sometimes, they're people who were previously in a gang, or been in prison, or lost their family to a shooting. Those folks have more credibility with their community, and more influence to help young men facing elevated risk because of concentrated disinvestment, exclusion, trauma, and limited opportunity. Our guest today is Cedric Hawkins, Safety Manager with the CVI organization, Chicago CRED.

Find Chicago CRED at https://www.chicagocred.org/