A new peace campaign in Dayton aims to curb violence by treating it like a contagious disease.
The city of Dayton has seen an increase in violence. That includes 41 homicides in 2024 — almost a 40% increase from 2023 and the highest level since 2020.
City leaders are now implementing a new strategy, hoping to curb that trend. Mayor Jeffrey Mims has been leading the launch of the city’s Peace Campaign.
“All of them were tragic when you have someone losing their life, but to have a young 12 year old young lady lose her life while she's at home in a safe space, sleeping,” Mims said. “That, again, just continues to cause us to think more about what we would want if every child in the city of Dayton were our own.”
The campaign will work out of the health department, independent from the city and the work of law enforcement. It’ll add a violence interruption team and partner with existing community organizations.
He said the ultimate goal of the campaign is to root out violence from the source.
“Making sure that the pool of our young people that are growing and graduating and moving to the space of an adult, that they have been armed with conflict resolution skills that allow them to identify and resolve conflict at its lowest level,” Mims said. “And, to have adults in a position where they can model the type of behavior that we want our young people to follow.”
He recently took part in two sessions, inviting community members to share their hopes for the city.
“What it would be like to have peace by their own definition,” Mims said. “And how comfortable it would be if they can get up out of their house in the morning, go to work, go to school, interact in those spaces, and then be able to return home safely.”
A violence epidemic
That input will mold how the city implements the national campaign, Cure Violence. It was founded in 1995 by an epidemiologist.
Over 20 U.S. cities have used its approach since. It looks at violence like a contagious disease, rooting it from the source by identifying conflicts as they start and challenging violent norms.
“In other words, the people who are exhibiting violence or caught up in violence, that they themselves have been exposed to violence or exposed to trauma and that this is what drives their behavior,” said Charles Ransford, a senior director at Cure Violence.
The campaign enlists well-connected community members as violence interrupters and mentors.
“Their job then is to go out on the streets and make their rounds and talk to people who are involved, who know what's going on, and whether or not there's something that they need to intervene in,” Ransford said.
He said interrupters also work to identify people at high risk of violent behavior for mentorship, helping to find jobs, further their education, connect them with social services or mental health support.
At the community level, it partners with existing community and neighborhood organizations working against factors that increase susceptibility to violent behaviors, or social determinants of health. And, the approach works to challenge ideas that violence is accepted, or encouraged.
Its model encourages the community to speak out publicly to detest violent acts, planning demonstrations within 72 hours after a shooting or homicide
“All of these are tragedies, and they all need to have a response from the community saying that this is not acceptable,” Ransford said.
The Cure Violence campaign offers its model and guidance to municipalities. It assesses existing resources, provides guidelines, and helps with things like hiring staff.
“It really takes a certain kind of individual who, through whatever their life experience, has a credibility with the people that are at the highest risk of violence,” Ransford said. “Who can not only talk to people that are at high risk, but can start to influence their behavior and talk them out of doing something.”
Local leaders to drive movement
Ransford said violence interruptors are often local figures, like organization leaders, coaches, or mothers. Hiring panels, made up of community members like clergy or local leaders, offer multiple viewpoints on candidates viability.
“We'll actually go out in a community with people sometimes to see whether the people who are being considered for this position have the credibility that they need,” Ransford said. “In other words, if they're on a corner, how are people reacting to them? Are they respecting them? Are they listening to them?”
The city is waiting on the Cure Violence campaign’s evaluation of Dayton’s current resources. Then, it’ll start a proposal and grant application process, looking for community partners to help implement the approach.