ST. LOUIS — There have been 15 homicides in the first month of 2020 in the City of St. Louis. Cure Violence is a city initiative meant to curb crime in city, but when exactly will it start?
"There isn't one resident, one business, one visitor to this city that should be okay with continued delays on this,” said Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed.
He believes the long-awaited program is being delayed. Reed told 5 On Your Side the program, which already has more than $6 million in funding, should be further along.
“Now we’re here on Jan. 31, and they haven’t even started the hiring process. They haven’t even made the real first contact to activate that,” he said.
The Cure Violence program is meant to curb violence by deescalating conflicts.
Jacob Long, communications director for Mayor Lyda Krewson, sent this statement about the status of the program.
“Last fall, the Board of Aldermen, under the direction of President Reed, passed an ordinance and allocated the necessary funding for the City of St. Louis to implement Cure Violence for the first time ever. That was the extent of President Reed's involvement. He's had no role in this process since.
“Now, our Administration is solely responsible for the implementation and execution of Cure Violence, which we are doing through our Health Department. Since day one, we have been consistent in telling the community we fully expect to have the first interrupters in the community in early 2020, specifically around March/April. We're still committed to having Cure Violence in St. Louis by April 1.
“So no, we are not delayed or behind and look forward to sharing more details are they're available.”
Dr. Frederick Echols is the director of the St. Louis Department of Public Health, the office that will oversee the program. He said they’ve already chosen a location and have begun searching for advisers who can help them with additional services, like mental health.
“We also have to give ourselves a little flexibility because this is the first time the city is implementing a program such as this,” he said. “it’s often times easy to comment on projects when you’re not directly involved.”
The first Cure Violence center will open in the city’s Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood. Some of the employees at the center will be residents who live in the neighborhood. It’s not clear when the city will start hiring for that location.