ATLANTA, GA — Yesterday, the Coalition to Advance Public Safety (CAPS) convened key stakeholders, including representatives from city government, community-based organizations, and Grady Health System to launch its $500,000 Local Capacity Building Fund and disseminate the Atlanta Cost of Gun Violence report. 

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Marcus Walker, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Violence Reduction, greeted local and national partners at Grady Hospital. Anthony Smith, Executive Director of Cities United, introduced CAPS, stating, “For the first time, four national Black-led capacity-building organizations are not just working in your city, but we are working together to create greater coordination and impact.”

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The CAPS Local Capacity Building Fund will provide $500,000 as well as training and technical assistance to Atlanta community-based organizations providing direct services on the ground to reduce violence.

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According to the Cost of Gun Violence report, in Atlanta, each fatal shooting costs the government $1,571,246.08 and each non-fatal shooting costs $652,640.04. Last year, there were 118 fatal shootings and 1,278 non-fatal shootings, resulting in a total loss of $262,418,562. 

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CAPS is a collaborative effort focused on reducing near-term violence by 20% over the next five years in 12 cities at the center of the country’s battle against gun violence. In Atlanta, this would be a cost savings of $52,483,712 per year. Evidence from previous CAPS cities is promising: In 2023, Indianapolis achieved a 19% decline in murders and a 7% decline in nonfatal shootings from 2022. In Newark, the city saw a 32% reduction in shootings.

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The Coalition partners with cities, frontline direct service providers and other key stakeholders to increase the capacity of under-resourced CVI organizations and to support governments to build sustainable CVI infrastructure. Community Violence Intervention strategies establish relationships and systems of support that disrupt cycles of violence and retaliation in communities. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that CVI strategies reduce shootings and homicides. The four national, Black-led technical assistance and capacity building provider organizations that lead CAPS are national leaders on CVI strategies including street outreach, violence interruption, hospital-based violence intervention, life coaching, and more: 

• Cities United is a national leader helping cities to develop and implement comprehensive public safety plans including these strategies. 
• Community-Based Public Safety Collective is a national leader on street outreach and violence interruption CVI strategies, which reduce shootings by employing “credible messengers” from the community to identify and mediate potentially lethal conflicts, and follow up to ensure that the conflict does not reignite.
• Health Alliance for Violence Intervention is a national leader on Hospital-based Violence Intervention Programs (HVIPs), which intervene with violently injured people as soon as possible after they arrive in the hospital for treatment  in order to prevent retaliation and promote healing. 
• National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform is a national leader on Gun Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS), a comprehensive strategy that utilizes a data-driven process to identify the individuals and groups at the highest risk of committing or being involved in gun violence and deploying effective interventions including life coaching and peace fellowships with these individuals.

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