A grassroots group in Nashville wants more people to get on board to treat senseless acts of violence like a health problem.
Gideon's Army held the educational forum at the Napier Recreation Center on Wednesday night.
Parents, community activists, police detectives and city leaders discussed how one unique violence prevention method can help reduce youth crime in certain Metro neighborhoods.
The 'Cure Violence' method is a teaching, training, research and assessment focused on a health approach to violence prevention.
The method was founded by Gary Slutkin --- a former head of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Intervention Development Unit and Professor of Epidemiology and International Health at the University of Illinois/Chicago School of Public Health.
The goal is to appoint trusted adults to anticipate where violence may occur in the community and intervene before it turns into a shooting, car-jacking or burglary.
"We've seen tremendous reductions and it's not just pulling it out the air. We've been evaluated and we've seen communities go 1,000 days without a shooting or homicide because of the relationship the teen may have with that community where they can diffuse a lot of events," Cure Violence coordinator Marcus McAllister said.
The method has been implemented in cities like Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago and in countries like Nigeria and South Africa.
Gideon's Army has raised the funding in hopes of starting a Cure Violence chapter here in Nashville.
To learn more about Cure Violence, visit their website.
