DAYTON — Dayton city leaders discussed plans to secure permanent funding for programs combating violence on Wednesday night.
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During the meeting, the mayor and commissioners got advice from the Dayton Police Department on where they should focus their Cure Violence Global (CVG) model next.
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Dayton Police Chief Eric Henderson said some of those areas include the North Main Corridor, the Miami Chapel neighborhood, and the Summit Square Apartment complex.
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He added that his officers investigate a large number of crimes here.
As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, on the agenda, commissioners had a first reading for two grants totaling over $176,000 from the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
That money would go toward the city programs that work to stop violence.
“It’s not easy work, and it also can be perceived as dangerous work,” Dayton City Commissioner Darius Beckham said.
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Beckham said programs like CVG have proven to curb violence.
The “Felons with a Future” group is leading the charge in the pilot program.
For the last 90 days, they have worked to prevent violence in the North Riverdale area by providing resources and mentorship to the community.
Beckham wants the program to expand.
“It’s about a half a million dollar program a year, so of course, given the fact that the entire commission wants that to remain funded, we’ll have to understand how we best do that without having to cut anything,” he said.
Beckham said there are state and federal grants that the city will pursue.
“So as we approach the fourth quarter of this year, we’ll want to identify one, did the pilot work? Which we know it is working, but we’ll still have to evaluate and measure it. And then, of course, make sure that we are allocating the proper funding right to keep it going,” Beckham said.
City leaders are also looking for nonprofits in these neighborhoods to learn how to be violence interrupters.
“So right now, the only thing I would say is we have to start small, we have to focus on the pilot, make sure it works, and then obviously expand it to the neighborhoods that are also suffering from violence,” Beckham said.
The grant money discussed during the meeting is still in the early stages, and it’s unclear which neighborhood city leaders will turn their attention towards next.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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