BALTIMORE, Md. — Baltimore City is making a commitment to reducing gun violence after the city had less than 300 murders in 2023 for the first time in nearly a decade.
GVRS started its program in the Western District back in January 2022. Nearly 150 people stepped away from a life of crime.
The city has put a plan in place to expand to the Eastern District to help change the lives of those once living a life of crime.
"I [have] just been working on bettering my life. So far I've just been trying. It's not a microwave process. I mean it's hard work but it's what I gotta do," said Andy who is a member of the GVRS program.
Andy, who didn't want to share his last name, says at age 12 he chose a life of drugs and violence.
A year ago he went to a drug rehab program with the help of the GVRS. After being taught how to write a resume and getting a job with Baltimore City, his life has transformed for the better.
"For a long time, my mother [has] been going through things. Me living the life that I was living. So she [is] happy for me now. My daughter is happy for me. She don't call me mean no more. It's still a work in progress with my son. I text him every morning," said Andy.
Examples like Andy is what Mayor Brandon Scott says the program is all about.
GVRS is the encapsulation of how we are re-imagining the approach to public safety in our city by doing it the right way. Not the old broken ways of the past," said Scott.
Mayor Scott says this is a program that gives individuals an opportunity to step away from a life of crime or they'll face full consequences.
Early data suggests GVRS reduced violence by about a quarter in the Western district. Hope remains this is a sign the trend can continue as they move to the Eastern District.
"This is the power that doesn't solely rely on law enforcement or interrupting cycles of violence and proving that when people, their families, and communities are given support that's responsive to their needs from housing to mental health to behavioral health services case management life coaching, they will often make the choice to step away from the life," said Stefanie Mavronis, Director of the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement.
This is all part of a strong effort to better make Baltimore a safer city.
