A new JHCPYV study found that Safe Streets Baltimore - a public health initiative launched in four historically violent neighborhoods in Baltimore - effectively reduced gun violence in three of those neighborhoods. The study is slated for publication in a future edition of the Journal of Urban Health. The program was launched by the Baltimore City Health Department in 2007 as a replication of Chicago's CeaseFire program. It targets high-risk youth ages 14 to 25 and employs outreach professionals to deescalate and mediate disputes that might otherwise result in serious violence. Staff serve as positive role models and direct youth toward services and opportunities to live productive, violence-free lives. In addition, staff mobilize neighborhoods to promote nonviolence. Researchers found that the number of conflicts mediated by the program was associated with reductions in homicides in the communities where Safe Streets operates. To read our most recent interim evalution of Baltimore's Safe Streets program, click here. To read the Executive Summary of Safe Streets Evaluation (January 11, 2012), click here.
CeaseFire’s bold vision that violence can be stopped was splashed across television and computer screens throughout the world when Frontline aired “The Interrupters”. In case you missed it, you can watch it here (here). | 
