RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Over a year after the crime prevention effort known as the violence interrupters were introduced, Richmond has introduced a new way to tackle gun crime through community mediators.
In February of 2022, the City of Richmond introduced the idea of violence interrupters after Mayor Levar Stoney declared gun violence a public health crisis. Over a year later, Richmond introduced its new model to tackle crime with so-called community mediators.
8News spoke with Dr. Gwendolyn Andrews, the program’s supervisor, who said the initiative is based on the violence interrupter model but designed to meet the needs of Richmonders.
“We are not snitches, that street term. We’re not that we’re not agents of the police,” Dr. Andrews said. “We receive information of critical incidents. We go out, but we never ask for names or give information that we receive on the streets.”
According to Richmond police, the focus of a community mediator is to:
- Provide timely outreach support to families and individuals affected by violent crime
- Foster relationships with key community leaders and residents within neighborhoods
- Mediation= helping people resolve a dispute
- Support communities and the personal conflicts that arise within neighborhoods
- Provide support to resolve conflict before it escalates; includes emotional support to diffuse tensions, the possibility for misunderstanding, and an escalation of violence
- Attend community response and RESETs after violence has occurred
- Connect people to community resources
Three-person teams receive information about critical incidents when they happen in the city and then get clearance to respond. Andrews says they do not give out names or identifying information about the tips they receive while on the job.
After a lengthy hiring and training process, the program launched in October of last year, and the team was fully staffed by May.
Andrews said the community mediators are equipped with verbal and physical de-escalation skills and have been placed in the city’s major section 8 housing units, including Gilpin, Mosby and Creighton courts.
“I think you’re going to be surprised the next time we show up that we can give you some stats and some information regarding what we are doing and how we’re doing it,” said Andrews.
Andrews did not say who these individuals were but said that will be announced in the future.
Any resident can reach out to Dr. Andrews at any time: Gwendolyn.Andrews@rva.gov or call her cell phone at (804) 516-0451.
