CINCINNATI (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER) – The Cincinnati City Council is poised to invest $275,000 in a gun violence reduction program that seeks to get “active firearms offenders” off the streets, with pay, travel, vocational training, therapy and more, according to our media partners at the Cincinnati Enquirer.

The money for the program is part of a $65 million spending plan for money that was not spent as part of last year’s budget. The council is scheduled to vote on the final part of the spending bill on Wednesday.

The anti-violence program was included in the spending bill at a meeting of the Budget and Finance Committee on Monday, but few details were announced.

“You all understand how tough the last few weeks have been,” said Deputy Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney, who supports the launch of the program in Cincinnati. “We just lost a 5-year-old child to a shooting. He was sleeping in his bed in Winton Hills. We know that not too long ago my staff member’s family was affected when their grandson was shot four to six times in the back. He was 18 years old…we have to do something about it.”

The success of a city

Advance Peace was first brought to the city council last spring as a way to deal with gun violence. The founder of the program in Richmond, California, DaVone Boggansaid that between 2010 and 2014 his city had a 54 percent reduction in fatal shootings and a 50 percent reduction in nonfatal shootings.

Richmond, California is a city about one-third the size of Cincinnati. He received $600,000 in his first year in 2010 and $1 million in his third year.

Cincinnati’s $275,000 contribution is a fraction of that, but comes with the caveat that outside money would be raised. But no one could say how much.

It’s also unclear how many people Cincinnati’s program could afford to help. It will be overseen by Cincinnati Works, a local non-profit organization focused on giving people a second chance.

The US Department of Justice is intrigued by the program, which operates in 11 cities.

Last fall The Department of Justice gave Advance Peace $2 million to work with UC Berkeley to evaluate data from participating cities to determine how successful the model is.

Lansing, Michigan has seen a 65% reduction in gun violence since adopting Advance Peace in 2022. The Trace, a non-profit newsroom dedicated to gun violence, reported that cities nationwide saw a 12.3 percent decrease in homicides from 2022 to 2023.

Kearney pitched the idea and traveled to other cities to see how the program worked. She declined to comment, but has said publicly that the program has been successful elsewhere.

Scotty Johnson, chairman of the city’s governance and public safety committee, said the program will give various groups and advocates in the city a chance to work together.

Advance Peace provides firearm offenders with direct life goal payments as part of the scholarship program and operates separately from law enforcement. Participants can remain anonymous.

Boggan said this anonymity provides safety for people who have violent enemies and also builds trust with participants, making them more likely to choose fellowship over their current street life.

How Advance Peace works

Like other programs the city has offered in the past, Advance Peace offers those involved full services: therapy, connections to social services, job training and mentoring. Boggan said fellows have at least seven daily contacts with staff during the 18-month fellowship.

But it differs by offering cash payments to peers for meeting the life goals they’ve defined in the program.

Another key point of the program is the “transformational journey,” Boggan said. He said traveling outside the city gives fellows a chance to escape the danger they face and understand that there is life outside their neighborhood and city.

Advance Peace also differs from other programs in its independence. Boggan said his workers are able to attract potential criminals to their program because they separate themselves from law enforcement.

Previous programs relied on “call-ins” to give criminals an ultimatum: Get help or be targeted by law enforcement. There is no such ultimatum with Advance Peace.

Boggan said the cost per scholarship per year is at least $37,000.

What the police say

Cincinnati Police Union President Ken Kober is skeptical.

“Just because it works in Richmond doesn’t mean it’s going to work here, but maybe it will,” Kober said.

He criticized the program’s lack of cooperation with law enforcement. He said the department has spent years building trust in the community and this could be a step backwards.

“Instead of paying people to stay out of trouble, why don’t we focus on job placement?” Kober said, adding that paid vocational training, trade apprenticeships and other types of education could also be helpful.

Councilor Anna Albi, who has campaigned for anti-violence initiatives, said Advance Peace is just one part of a bigger solution the city is investing in.

Among other programs, she highlighted a new hospital violence intervention program.

“It’s very important to me that our residents understand the holistic approach the city is taking to gun violence prevention,” Albi said. “You’ve heard me say many times that it’s a yes approach—it’s not just one thing, it’s the culmination of multiple, data-driven approaches. I see Advance Peace as another tool in the toolbox when it comes to reducing violence.”

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