By Adam Garber
Executive Director, CeaseFirePA
Imagine you hear someone plans to shoot up a party at a pizza parlor before it happens. Or hear a gunshot victim talk about retaliating against his former friend and now gang rival. Would you step in to de-escalate? To intervene? That’s the astounding work community violence intervention workers take on every single day across Pennsylvania.
Over the last four years they have stopped countless shootings, retaliations, and explosions of anger. They have connected Pennsylvanians returning from jail and diverted youth. The results are in: gun violence dropped 38% in the last two years across the state.
CVI workers here succeeded because of their passion, their skills, their dedication — and the backing of the commonwealth’s Violence Intervention Program. That’s why budgets matter.
Everyone wants their tax dollars to be used on programs that are effective, successful and improve our lives. And in recent years, Pennsylvania has taken that charge seriously — creating a funding stream for community violence intervention programs.
If we look at the return on that investment, we see safer communities and less gun violence statewide.
From 2022 to 2024, gun homicides have dropped 38% according to an analysis of the Gun Violence Archives by CeaseFirePA Education Fund. The nonprofit collects data on gun violence from over 7,500 law enforcement, media, government and commercial sources daily, which tend to not include firearm suicide a major source of gun deaths in Pennsylvania.
Regional data revealed Philadelphia experienced a 52% decrease in gun violence over two years, its lowest levels in a decade. Allegheny County also saw a remarkable drop, reducing by 30% over two years.
What changed? Yes, the COVID-19 pandemic ended. And gun sales decreased. But the evidence is clear that a historic investment in data-driven, community-centered violence intervention programs are saving lives. In York, that was a program partnering law enforcement and community leaders to reduce conflict between rival groups and create positive outcomes, such as employment and enrollment in job training programs. In the Lehigh Valley, it was a hospital-based program to work support gunshot victims, preventing retaliation. In Pittsburgh, it was street outreach programs that identified rising conflict, and then stepped into deescalate before a shooting occurred.
Here’s just one example of heroism. A credible messenger from Promise Neighborhoods of Lehigh Valley, which partners with Lehigh Valley Health Network, went to the hospital to visit a young man who had been shot by his former friend. Although these two men grew up and went to school together, they eventually became rivals from opposing groups. When the team member visited the young man in the hospital, many of his group associates were present and talking angrily about retaliation.
The credible messenger from the team had similar lived experience and training to deal with these situations. She negotiated with both sides and ended up preventing retaliation and further bloodshed. He has since joined Promise Neighborhood’s workforce development program, and is employed. He is also coaching community football.
These numbers are striking, and we should applaud the Shapiro-Davis administration and General Assembly for partnering to solve it in a way that works for as diverse a state as Pennsylvania.
Gun violence touches every corner and community of this state, but just like our neighborhoods all look a little different, so does this gun violence problem. Butler, Warren and Elk counties face different challenges than Allegheny, Philadelphia and York. Cumberland, Lancaster, Erie — every community is unique and approaching violence at the community level is the perfect partnership between state and local entities.
Gun violence is a disease that spreads across communities. The trauma of living in high-violence neighborhoods and experiencing shootings can quickly lead to more violence. We’ve found a medicine that works to save lives. And we’ve had a dose of $200 million over the last four years. That may sound like a lot, but research finds that every dollar invested in these programs saves the state up to $5 in health care, economic impact, the justice system and other costs.
We aren’t cured yet. Too many friends, brothers, parents, and siblings are lost to this crisis. So now is the time to push for more. When we are seeing families, neighborhoods, cities made safer and more whole, we can’t quit.
Pennsylvania has found a solution — invest in communities to fuel their own solutions. Let those closest to the violence rebuild the structures and resources they need to prevent the next case. As lawmakers discuss the state budget for the coming year, they should continue to fund and expand the Violence Intervention and BOOST Programs with $100 million. Community violence prevention is one of their greatest successes and this year presents an opportunity to build on that success.
Source: Berkshire mont