SEE IT | 7News rides along with a violence interrupter in one of DC's most dangerous neighborhoods
WASHINGTON (7News) — 7News rolling in Washington DC's sixth district with Curtis Brothers.
"I'm a violence interrupter," said Brothers.
Curtis patrols the streets on the daily.
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"We know people are going to do what they want to do regardless, but our goal is to stop as many people from getting hurt as possible," added Brothers.
Violent crime is up 39 percent in DC at the beginning of September.
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"That's what makes summertime so dangerous. It's hot outside. Everybody is frustrated," he said.
7News is asking the question, what are adults, who actually reside in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city, doing to keep kids safe?
"I always make sure that I stay in the vicinity where it's known for people to be hanging out. So I am always close to anything going on," said Brothers.
Curtis grew up in these streets.
"Ninety percent of the kids that I deal with running the streets wreaking havoc, they have a mother and a father in their household. I think it's more out of boredom than anything," he said.
Curtis and his very loud music are a safety beacon for victims of crime.
"And my music is always loud so if anybody ever have an issue and they can't get to their phone, instead of calling the police, they just listen for the music and that lets them know what side of the neighborhood I'm on," said Brothers.
The Alliance For Concerned Men, a DC-based community organization, sponsors Curtis.
"What's you all got going on? I'm talking to you, all finished for the day?" Brothers asks a teenager walking in the 6th District.
He also runs Saving Our Youth, his own organization that helps mentor children.
"What you up to?" asks Brothers as he pulls up on three children playing in the neighborhood.
One child says: "nothing."
Potential trouble pops up, Curtis is just around the corner.
"It was like a full fledge brawl and I had to pretty much, me and one other partner, had to diffuse the whole grift," added Brothers. Through September 1st of this year, there has been more than 60 juvenile gunshot victims in Washington D.C.
A dozen kids of those kids didn't survive. Almost a 15 percent increase from last year.
DC youth talk about rising crime in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city
"It's killings around here but it's becoming the norm with murders these days and it's sad," said Brothers.
"Why do you think that is? So many killings?" asked 7 News I-Team Reporter Scott Taylor.
"Because people be off all these hard drugs, so these hard drugs give them no conscious," said Brothers.
The most popular drug on the streets in D.C. according to Brothers? It's a coin flip: heroin or meth.
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"What do you say to people who say violence interrupters aren't making a difference in D.C. It's a waste of money and the shooting and the drugs are going to continue. No matter if you are here or you are not here?" asked Taylor.
"I believe that is people who are ignorant because at the end of the day, if people knew better, they would do better. If I had somebody when I was a kid that did for me, what I do for these kids, I don't believe I would have gone the path that I did... I didn't have a role model," he said.
7News asked for the district to reveal how many violence interrupters it was using on the streets of Washington, D.C.
D.C.'s Attorney General's Office responded with its numbers in an email:
1. Can you give us a total number of those Violence Interrupters?
Cure the Streets is a community-driven public safety pilot program working to reduce gun violence in targeted neighborhoods across the District that have historically experienced some of the highest rates of gun violence. The Office of the Attorney General originally launched Cure the Streets in 2018 with two sites in neighborhoods that experienced high rates of gun violence. By January 2020, the program was operating in six sites in Wards 5, 7, and 8. Today, the program operates 10 sites in Wards 1, 4, 5, 6, and 8. The program employs about 105 staff members across the ten neighborhood sites. This includes 43 violence interrupters, as well as outreach workers, program managers, and other team members. See our website for more info about the program and how it works:
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2. Please provide the total amount of funding on an annual basis the AG’s Office pays the Violence Interrupters on the streets of DC.
The total budget for the Cure the Streets violence reduction program for Fiscal Year 2024 is $7,566,000.
We also requested the same information from DC's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement which emailed answers to our questions:
1. How many agencies/companies/third party vendors does the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement fund to place Violence Interrupters on the streets of DC?
The Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE) funded one grant award to Progressive Life Center, Inc., (PLC) which subcontracts for the violence intervention initiative and serves as ONSE’s administrative partner. PLC awarded subgrants to J&J Monitoring Solutions, District Services Management, Together We Rise Community Development Model, and Life Deeds for the violence intervention initiative.
2. Can you give us a total number of those Violence Interrupters?
Through the PLC subgrants, there are approximately 70 violence interrupters.
3. Please provide the total amount of funding on an annual basis the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement gives to those agencies mentioned above that place Violence Interrupters on the streets of DC.
In FY23, ONSE awarded $10.5M to PLC.