Flint Cease-Fire/Lifeline

 

 

Flint Ceasefire/Lifeline is a public safety initiative that is built on the foundation of strong enforcement coupled with coordinated opportunities for rehabilitation. It requires strong partnership between law enforcement, social service providers, and the community. The Flint program draws on several models including High Point, NC Drug Market Intervention (DMI) and the Chicago Ceasefire/Lifeline Initiative.  It is comprised of several key components:

 

1. Community mobilization – The initiative depends on the involvement of residents, neighborhood leaders, community groups, nonprofit and social service organizations, business owners, and faith leaders.
2. Public relations campaign – A broad public relations campaign will provide a clear message that violence is not tolerated in our community.
3. Data driven enforcement – Several areas throughout the City have already been identified as locations to concentrate the Flint Ceasefire/Lifeline.  These selections were based on analysis of their violent crime and current gang activity.
4. Youth outreach and violence interruption – The initiative will utilize outreach to youth through partner organizations and proactive community policing to offer support services.
5. Selection of targeted offenders – The Flint Police Department will partner with the Genesee County Prosecutor, Genesee County Sheriff, parole/probation officers, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, ATF, DEA, & FBI to collect and analyze intelligence on individual offenders.
6. Call-in – The targeted offenders will be invited to their own call-in session comprised of members of their families, residents of the community, and representatives from aforementioned stakeholder groups.  At that session, offenders will be presented with clear evidence of the cases again them and warned that their behavior must change unless they wish to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law – even in Federal Court when feasible.  They will then be offered the opportunity to take advantage of the social services they need in order to turn their lives around. 
7. Post Call-in – The participating offenders will be monitored closely by the police program coordinator and the community services coordinator. Arrests will be made if violent and drug behavior persists. Every effort will be made to meet participant’s needs given available resources to support positive outcomes.

 

On July 13^th at 6pm at First Presbyterian Church of Flint, we held our first community forum in an effort to inform the community of just what the Ceasefire/Lifeline initiative involved.  And to advise the community that Mayor Walling and Law enforcement are committed to working  in partnership with FACT and others to bring an end to the escalating violence in our city. As guest speakers we had Chief of Police Jim Fealy and Pastor Sherman Mason of Highpoint, North Carolina who were instrumental in the success of a very similar program in their city to speak to our community. We also had in attendance over two hundred and eighty attendees at this our first public meeting who expressed excitement over the strategy, with many looking forward to the next phase of the plan. Mayor Walling, Chief Lock, FACT and the City of Flint are committed to a Ceasefire/Lifeline initiative. $2.5 million in federal grants have been requested to enhance program implementation. 

    

---