Violence, Interrupted

Meet the people who stop the shootings

Gun homicides in Pennsylvania fell 53% between 2021-2025.

What changed? For the first time ever, Pennsylvania invested significant public money to grow a powerful network of violence interrupters to work in the streets, hospitals, schools and neighborhoods to stop shootings before they happen.

It’s been the missing part of our public safety system. And it’s working.

These are the stories that you won’t read about in the news because they stopped a shooting before it happened.

Calm out of a stormy moment.

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Two men with reputations to protect and a history of violence confront each other over a sandwich order. It sounds small, but with a gun nearby, it took special skills and relationships to calm a potentially deadly situation.

That’s exactly what Jamall did after receiving a phone call.

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A neighborhood war diffused over a vape
A day trip, orchestrated by York GVI brought opposing leaders together and forced conversation, not confrontation.

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A moment of crisis averted – a life saved
Surrounded by gang members and being encouraged to act, Bobby turned to Mike, instead of choosing violence.

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A threat in a hospital avoided
When a threat of retaliation was overheard, Lehigh Valley Promise Neighborhoods sprang into action to avoid deadly repercussions.

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Help to choose a less deadly path
A group of young men were already on the police’s radar. Then one of their moms brought them to Eddie’s House. The first day became a full fledged fight, but eventually the violence interrupters helped them find a different path that didn’t involve the gang.

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What is CVI?

It is shorthand for Community Violence Intervention, which uses relationships inside a neighborhood to interrupt the cycle of shooting and retaliation.

How do you know a shooting is coming?

That’s the question most people ask. The answer is simpler than it sounds. Gun homicides are concentrated among people and places. Research shows 1% of a city’s population is responsible for 90% of gun homicides. And before a shooting happens, others often know there is conflict and danger.

The workers who do this job live in these communities. They know who is having conflict (‘a beef’). When an argument escalates, or someone gets shot, they hear about it fast. Or they are already working with the highest risk individuals in a community who are likely to be involved in violence in the next few years.

The programs have three key parts:

Focus on the people at highest risk: A small number of people are most likely to shoot someone or be shot. The work starts with them.
Prevent Conflict: Interrupters mediate current conflict, get ahead of the next one and work with people on conflict resolution and healing so the next argument doesn’t end the same way.
Change the conditions underneath: Connect people to housing, jobs, treatment and services, because the pressures that push someone toward a gun don’t resolve on their own.

The work takes different forms including:

Hospital base outreach to those injured in shootings, to prevent retaliation.
Street Outreach by trusted messengers in high-risk areas to intervene before a shooting
Reentry programs to provide alternatives to formerly incarcerated individuals
Mediation to prevent community conflicts from escalating to violence
Targeted workforce development that improves job prospects combined with conflict resolution skills

The people who do this work have the training and the lived experience to build trust quickly, in places and situations where trust is hard to come by.

Learn More about CVI

What is CVI?

Shorthand for Community Violence Intervention, this approach uses relationships inside a neighborhood to interrupt the cycle of shooting and retaliation.

How do you know a shooting is coming?

That’s the question most people ask. The answer is simpler than it sounds. Gun homicides are concentrated among people and places. Just 1% of a City is responsible for 90% of gun homicides. And before a shooting happens, others often know there is conflict and danger.

The workers who do this job live in these communities. They know who is having conflict (‘a beef’). When an argument escalates, or someone gets shot, they hear about it fast. Or they are already working with that 1% of a community that is most likely to be involved in violence.

The programs have three key parts:

Focus on the people at highest risk: A small number of people are most likely to shoot someone or be shot. The work starts with them.
Prevent Conflict: Interrupters mediate current conflict, get ahead of the next one and work with people on conflict resolution and healing so the next argument doesn’t end the same way.
Change the conditions underneath: Connect people to housing, jobs, treatment and services, because the pressures that push someone toward a gun don’t resolve on their own.

The work takes different forms including:

Hospital base outreach to those injured in shootings, to prevent retaliation.
Street Outreach by trusted messengers in high-risk areas to intervene before a shooting
Reentry programs to provide alternatives to formerly incarcerated individuals
Mediation to prevent community conflicts from escalating to violence
Targeted workforce development that improves job prospects combined with conflict resolution skills

The people who do this work have the training and the lived experience to build trust quickly, in places and situations where trust is hard to come by.

Learn More about CVI

Join The Fight

Receive critical actions you can easily take to make PA safer.

What is CVI?

It is shorthand for Community Violence Intervention, which uses relationships inside a neighborhood to interrupt the cycle of shooting and retaliation.

How do you know a shooting is coming?

The programs have three key parts:

Focus on the people at highest risk: A small number of people are most likely to shoot someone or be shot. The work starts with them.
Prevent Conflict: Interrupters mediate current conflict, get ahead of the next one and work with people on conflict resolution and healing so the next argument doesn’t end the same way.
Change the conditions underneath: Connect people to housing, jobs, treatment and services, because the pressures that push someone toward a gun don’t resolve on their own.

The work takes different forms including:

Hospital base outreach to those injured in shootings, to prevent retaliation.
Street Outreach by trusted messengers in high-risk areas to intervene before a shooting
Reentry programs to provide alternatives to formerly incarcerated individuals
Mediation to prevent community conflicts from escalating to violence
Targeted workforce development that improves job prospects combined with conflict resolution skills

The people who do this work have the training and the lived experience to build trust quickly, in places and situations where trust is hard to come by.

Learn More about CVI

What is CVI?

It is shorthand for Community Violence Intervention, which uses relationships inside a neighborhood to interrupt the cycle of shooting and retaliation.

How do you know a shooting is coming?

The programs have three key parts:

Focus on the people at highest risk: A small number of people are most likely to shoot someone or be shot. The work starts with them.
Prevent Conflict: Interrupters mediate current conflict, get ahead of the next one and work with people on conflict resolution and healing so the next argument doesn’t end the same way.
Change the conditions underneath: Connect people to housing, jobs, treatment and services, because the pressures that push someone toward a gun don’t resolve on their own.

The work takes different forms including:

Hospital base outreach to those injured in shootings, to prevent retaliation.
Street Outreach by trusted messengers in high-risk areas to intervene before a shooting
Reentry programs to provide alternatives to formerly incarcerated individuals
Mediation to prevent community conflicts from escalating to violence
Targeted workforce development that improves job prospects combined with conflict resolution skills

The people who do this work have the training and the lived experience to build trust quickly, in places and situations where trust is hard to come by.

Learn More about CVI

Violence, Interrupted

Meet the people who stop the shootings

Calm out of a stormy moment.

A neighborhood war diffused over a vape

A moment of crisis averted – a life saved

A threat in a hospital avoided

Help to choose a less deadly path

Join The Fight

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