October 15, 2021

Sen. Warner joins Richmond, Henrico law enforcement leaders for gun violence prevention roundtable - WWBT NBC12 News

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Senator Mark Warner joined law enforcement and community leaders from Richmond and Henrico to talk about possible solutions to prevent gun violence.

This roundtable discussion comes as the Richmond Police Department reports 64 homicides this year, with 47 of those cases involving weapons.

“Richmond has one of the highest rates, the highest rate, of gun violence in Virginia,” said Mayor Levar Stoney.

During the conversation held at the Richmond Ambulance Authority, leaders talked about the ways state and federal funding could be used for prevention programs.

Earlier this year, gun violence was declared a health emergency in the city.

Prior to this, Mayor Stoney says the city started a gun violence prevention working group to help craft recommendations to address gun violence in the city.

The City of Richmond received a $500,000 Virginia Gun Violence Intervention Program grant, which is a new, community-rooted program focusing on middle school students who have either witnessed gun violence firsthand or have a sibling who has committed gun violence.

Some of the solutions these leaders discussed include a focus on prevention and intervention at an early age.

“When you’re starting at a young age and trying to impart to get them to see a different way, I think that’s the methodology we’re going to have to use in order to get to the grassroots of what’s happening in our communities,” said Henrico Police Chief Eric English.

Others suggested investing in programs to continue this prevention work within communities.

“We need to put more money into these neighborhoods and into our grassroots programs and be able to have an epicenter where people can go for these programs,” said Richmond Sheriff Antionette Irving.

Health officials also talked about the increase in the number of shooting victims they’re seeing come into VCU Medical Center over the last two years.

“This year, we’re going at every month, 121 percent increase,” said Dr. Michel Aboutanos from the department of surgery at VCU. “This is the reality of it. We’re seeing it every day.”

A spokesperson for VCU Health says several months of the pandemic experienced a more than 50% increase in gunshot wounds when compared to the same month of the prior year.

Rachelle Hunley with the VCU Violence and Prevention Center also discussed the framework and their current hospital-based intervention program, which provides intensive case management to survivors of gun violence.

Hunley says there’s more work to be done to address these cases.

“We’re working with RPD to put together a shooting and homicide review commission so that we’re able to analyze these situations, see why they’re happening, and look how we can work better together,” said Hunley.

“If that doesn’t scream epidemic, I don’t know what does,” said Warner in regards to the growing number of gunshot victims coming to VCU Medical Center.

In terms of solutions, Senator Mark Warner says it will take a village to come up with solutions to prevent gun violence.

“It’s going to take policing, it’s going to take schools, it’s going to take, housing, it’s going to take, getting young people involved in helping us to figure out the solution.”

Mayor Stoney is also proposing to use $1.5 million from federal funding of the American Rescue Plan towards gun violence prevention.

The city is planning to vote on how the funding will be used on Oct. 25.

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source: https://www.nbc12.com/2021/10/15/senator-warner-joins-richmond-henrico-law-enforcement-leaders-gun-violence-prevention-roundtable/

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