At NJIT, Leaders Share Community Violence Strategies

Federal, state, municipal and community leaders convened at New Jersey Institute of Technology to share strategies on how to address the roots of violence in communities across New Jersey.

The Community Violence Intervention Summit was led by U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and included U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr., Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Patricia Teffenhart, executive director of the Division of Violence Intervention and Victim Assistance in the N.J. Office of the Attorney General.

Leaders of grassroots organizations that help people affected by violence — Newark Community Street Team, PEI Kids, Acenda and Project HEAL — stressed the importance of collaborating and connecting disparate resources to deliver the broad range of services that such people need. Each entity exemplifies an evidence-based, bespoke approach known as community violence intervention.

Repeatedly, the grassroots leaders framed violence as a public health issue — a refrain that resonated with Booker, who supports legislation for this that would provide funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“There is a way out of this nightmare,” Booker said. “And while common sense gun safety should be automatic, the true solutions will always be found at the community level with the heroes that are out here saying that this is not who we are. We are a nation where we the people can create real freedom, which is freedom from violence, freedom from fear and freedom from death.”

The mayors of Trenton, Plainfield, Perth Amboy and East Orange also connected violence to abandoned or substandard housing, untraceable ghost guns and a need for bail reform. And while their circumstances vary, they all need funding from state and federal agencies to tackle them.

The summit, held at NJIT’s Eberhardt Hall, illustrates the university’s core mission of building partnerships that benefit its home city of Newark and beyond. As NJIT President Teik C. Lim said at the onset, “For NJIT to thrive, it’s no secret that Newark and New Jersey must thrive. We are interconnected partners and, as a public university, we have a mission that extends beyond simply educating our students.”