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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-05-2021_Open Session_General Comments_H O P E Culture_links sanitizedr RQRE CU LTU R E May 5, 2021 The Honorable Councilmembers City Council of San Bernardino 290 N. D Street. San Bernardino, CA 92401 Re: Budget Request for Increased, Targeted Investment in the City of San Bernardino Violence Intervention Program (VIP) Dear Councilmembey The organizations jointly submitting this budget request represent a broad coalition of advocacy groups, violence prevention experts, city leaders, researchers, and service providers dedicated to making our communities safer. We are motivated by a strong body of public health research, which has shown that targeted, sustained investments in evidence -based violence intervention strategies are effective at interrupting cycles of violence, promoting community safety, and saving lives. Some of the most innovative and effective approaches to violence prevention in the nation have been implemented here in California. But other states have achieved more significant reductions in violence by making much mom substantial, sustained Investments in community -based violence reduction programs. San Bernardino City can learn from this success. We strongly urge the City Council of San Bernardino act boldly for community safety by bolstering our City's investment in the Violence Intervention Program. Specifically, we request that the FY 2021-2022 Budget: (1) Allocated $4 million dollars annually for VIP supportive service contracts, and (2) Continue to strategically target VIP resources on: (a) communities with the highest rates and numbers of homicides; and (b) evidence -based programs that primarily serve individuals at highest risk of being victims or perpetrators of community violence. We believe this increased investment in VIP is critical to sustain and expand the City's effective efforts to prevent the loss of human life, and to achieve the sort of transformative reductions in violence that states like New York and Massachusetts have experienced within the last decade. The Need for Additional VIP Funding California has comprehensively strengthened its gun safety laws over the past 25 years and is now generally considered to have the strongest gun safety laws in the nation.' This legislative activity has been associated with impressive reductions in gun violence that have transformed California within a generation from the state with the 3rd highest rate of gun homicides and 16th highest rate of gun deaths, into the state with the 23rd lowest rate of gun homicides and 7th lowest rate of gun deaths overall." But significant challenges remain. More than 5,000 Californians are still killed or seriously injured in shootings each year.' And the devastating impact of this violence falls heavily on communities of color, especially young men, for whom murder is the leading cause of death in California." Eighty percent of people murdered with a gun before the age of 30 in our state are African American or Latino boys or men° In neighborhoods with concentrated poverty and disadvantage, shootings often take place as part of a self - reinforcing cycle of violence, injury, trauma, and retaliation. While relatively small numbers of people are at high risk of perpetrating this violence, whole communities are affected by the threat of gunfire, the trauma of witnessed violence, the loss of public spaces, and the loss of life. This violence also imposes enormous economic costs statewide —costing California's economy billions every year" Learning from Other Cities' Success The City of San Bernardino annual general fund investment in the Violence Intervention Program is $135,000 and has leveraged state dollars and local funding matches to support highly effective violence reduction initiatives utilized in Los Angeles, Oakland, Richmond, Stockton and Sacramento. For instance: • Los Angeles $25 Million Annual Investment: The Mayor's Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD), which is part of a coordinated, citywide strategy to address serious violence. Los Angeles has seen a more than 34 % reduction in homicides and a more than 44% reduction in nonfatal shootings since launching GRYD in 2007." A 2015 report by the Urban Institute found that recipients of GRYD violence prevention services reported significant reductions in violent behaviors,"" and a March 2017 assessment by researchers at Cal State University, Los Angeles found that GRYD incident response teams —just one of many GRYD programs —had prevented anestimated 185 gang retaliations citywide from 2014-15, resulting in estimated savings of $110.2 million over two years." In 2018, Los Angeles had its second -lowest number of homicides in more than 50 years.` Oakland $15 Million Annual Investment: Oakland Ceasefim, the city's primary strategy for addressing serious violence by intervening with the small population of individuals at highest risk of engaging in violent behavior. Since launching the strategy in 20129 Oakland has seen a nearly 50% decline in homicides and a more than 50% drop in non -fatal shootings." Last year, Oakland experienced its lowest number of homicides in almost two decades."' Independent evaluators from Northeastern University credited Oakland Ceasefire with reducing homicides by 31.5%.'°' • Richmond $5 Million Annual Investment: VIP helps fund the Office of Neighborhood Safety (ONS), an innovative city agency dedicated exclusively to the prevention of violence. Richmond has seen an almost 75% reduction in fatal and nonfatal shootings since launching ONS in 2007.o' One of its primary strategies, an intensive, long-term menmring program for high -risk individuals known as the Peacemaker Fellowship, is now being replicated in both Stockton and Sacramento, with support from VIP dollars. • Stockton and Sacramento $3 Million Annual Investment: Stockton and Sacramento are two of the newest recipients of grants from the revamped VIP program and are using funding to pursue strategies similar to those in place in Richmond, Oakland, and Los Angeles. Stockton experienced a 40 % reduction in homicides and a 31% decline in nonfatal shootings from 2017 to 2018.- In Sacramento, homicides are down 7% from 2017 to 2018, and last year, no one under the age of 18 was murdered in the city for the first time in 35 years.'"' These cities have demonstrated that targeted investments in programs focused on interrupting cycles of community violence can achieve large and sustained reductions in violence in a short period of time. With stronger investment in these programs, San Bernardino City could sustain and expand these programs to more communities. Making San Bernardino Citv a Leader in Supporting Effective Violence Reduction Strategies Like most U.S. cities, multiple jurisdictions in California have been grappling with increases in violence in recent years. As cities across the state look to implement violence reduction initiatives to protect their communities, VIP needs additional, stable funding to propel, sustain, and evaluate these efforts. To address this need, we request that City of San Bernardino appropriate $4 million annually for VIP. In total dollars, this would represent the largest investment the City has made in local violence intervention initiatives to date and would make a strong statement about San Bernardino leading role in treating gun violence as a preventable public health and safety issue in the region. A $4 million annual appropriation would allow the City of San Bernardino to make more sustained and meaningful investments in violence intervention initiative. Given the huge costs imposed by gun violence in San Bernardino each year, this is a lifesaving investment that is likely to pay for itself many times over. The Enormous Cost of Gun Violence This budget request is miniscule in comparison to the enormous costs associated with gun violence in our state. Based on the expenses we can directly measure including healthcare costs ($348 million per year), law enforcement and criminaljustice expenses ($625 million per year), costs to employers ($39 million per year), and lost income ($5.5 billion per year) —the initial price tag of gun violence in California is over $6.5 billion per year."" Many of these costs are borne by the public and taxpayers. Up to 85% of gunshot victims, for example, are either uninsured or covered by publicly funded insurance programs (mostly Medi-Cal). Additionally, law enforcement efforts are funded entirely by taxpayer dollars. As a result, the direct cost of gun violence to City and State taxpayers is approximately $1.4 billion per year. — This staggering number actually understates the true cost of gun violence in California because it doesn't include significant, yet difficult -to -measure costs, including lost business opportunities, lowered property values, and reductions in the tax base. Nor does it include other costly forms of serious violence such as stabbings. And, of course, these figures also cannot capture violence's enormous personal and moral toll: the lives and loves lost the generational, cyclical trauma, or the communities torn apart. In a February 2019 report on addressing community violence, the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health recommended that legislators make it a priority to "provide funding to support community and evidence - based strategies to reduce gun violence such as focused deterrence and interventions with high -risk individuals that involve outreach, conflict mediation, and behavioral interventions proven to reduce violence.— This is exactly what VIP has been designed to achieve. What is required now is for City of San Bernardino legislators to make a meaningful ongoing commitment to invest in these effective approaches to violence. Our VIP Budget Request For the reasons stated above, we strongly urge you to increase VIP's capacity to fund lifesaving, community -based violence reduction initiatives by: (1) Appropriating $4 million dollars for the VIP program; and (2) Continuing to strategically target VIP resources on: (a) communities with the highest rates and numbers of homicides; and (b) evidence -based programs that primarily serve individuals at highest risk of being victims or perpetrators of community violence in the near future. A strong, sustained, and targeted investment in effective violence intervention programs through VIP will save lives and pay for itself many times over. We urge you to adequately fund this important program. Sincerely, �(�' Rick Alanis Jr. (Chief Executive Officer) ' Sea, e.g., Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence Annual Gun Law Scorecard, at htty//aunlawscorecard.ore. ' Based on CDC Fatal Injury Reports data for 1993 to 2017, available at https://webappacdc.gov/smweb/ncipc/mortrate.html. w Fatal firearm injury data came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's WISQARS Fatal Injury Reports (http://www.odc.gov/injury/wisgws/fatal.html). Nonfatal firearm injuries came from California Deparunent of Public Health's Epicenter (http://epicenwr.cdph.ca.gov/ReportMenus/CwtomTables.aspx). "National Council on Crime and Delinquency, "Process Evaluation for the Office of Neighborhood Safety" (Jul. 2015), at hops://..noo4obal.org/sites/default/files/publication_pdf/ons-proceos valugion.pdf. "Based on CDC Fatal Injury Reports, available at httpO/webappa,odc.gov/smweb/neipe/moThuW.html. " Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, "Me Economic Cost of Gan Violence in California," hm,iiiawcenmr.giffoWs.orz(vuploane2ot a/43/Bc i -C - f-G -yt t - -C rr Wf. - Los Angeles Police Department, "Crimes & Initiatives, 2018," g, accessed, Much 25, 2019; Los Angeles Police Department, "Crimes & Initiatives, 2017," 4ttp://assets.lapdonline.org/wsets/pdf2017-homi-report-fnal.pdf. w' Meaghan Cahill, et al, "Evaluation of the Los Angeles Gang Reduction and Youth Development Program: Year 4 Evaluation Report," Urban Institute, 35-37 (Sept. 2015), at http:/Iww .urban.org/sites/defaulVfiles/publication/779562000622-Evaluation-of-the-Los-Angeles-Gaug- Reduction-and-Youth-Development-Program-Year-4-Evaluation-Report.pdf. "P. Jeffrey Brantingham, et al, "GRYD Intervention Incident Response & Gang Crime," GRYD Research and Evaluation Team, 23 (Mar. 30, 2017), at http://www.jj- ' Kamen Wynter, "Crime Is Down in Los Angeles Across Every Major Category, Latest Statistics Show," KTLAS, January28, 2019, httu ,//ktl m2019/0128/ -0 - -1 - - to -for-2018-one-of-the safest-times-to-live-in-los-anaeles-police-chief-says. A Calculated from OPD Annual Crime Reports. Oakland Police Department. City of Oakland, Crime Incident Dam Reports: Annual and Quarterly Crime Reports, 2012-2018, httm://www.oaklmdm.gov/resomes/oaklmd-crime- smtlstics. 'City of Oakland, "Oakland Records Lowest Homicide Total Since 1999," January 3, 2019, https,//www.oaklwdc&gov/nmOO I 9/oaklmd-rewrds-lowest-homicide-tomi-since- 1999. n" Anthony A. Braga at al., "Oakland Ceasefire Impact Evaluation: Key Findings," Northwcatem August 10, 2018, http Y/p tha xoms tom/modia/vdUoakland ceasefire impact evaluation 1 Darwin BondGraham, "Study Finds Significant Reduction in Gun Homicides in Oakland Via Cos East Bay Express, August 22, 2018, htto •// tbav /S D vs/ h' s/2018/t " Data from Richmond Police Department. See also, Advance Peace, Our Impact, at https://www.advmcepeam.org/about/thaolution. " Matthew Nuttle, "Police: Homicides down 40 percent in Stockton," ABC 10 News, January 2, 2019, `" "For the First Time in 35 years, No Children Were Murdered in Sacramento, CA, Last Yem," WMCS, January 23, 2019, buy'// tact' S om/2019/01/23/f t-time-years-no-children-wero-murdered-saeramento-ca- last-year. " Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, "The Economic Cost of Gun Violence in California," http l//I to 'ff doe/ o- tent/ I ads/2018/03/Economic-Cmtof-Gun-Violence-in-Califmia.vdf. Id. Cassandra Crlfwi, et al, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, "Policies to Reduce Gun Violence in Illinois Research, Policy Analysis, and Recommendations" (Feb. 2019), at https://www.jhsph.edu/mseerch/centers- and-instimtes/johns-hopkins-center-for-gun-policy-and-ws ch/publirations/jhsph-gun-violence-in-illinois.pdf.