The city of Jackson is moving forward with creating an office for violence prevention and trauma recovery that was announced in early May, said Safiya R. Omari, Jackson chief of staff in a press conference Tuesday morning.
The National League of Cities and Wells Fargo Bank awarded Jackson a $700,000 grant in May to create the office.
In addition, the city will hire an executive director and policy analyst with public safety experience, while seeking additional funds for the prevention office, Omari said in Tuesday’s press conference.
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“Students from local colleges will have the opportunity to serve as interns to broaden the community-based interventions towards violence prevention,” Omari said.
Jackson Mayor Chockwe Antar Lumumba stated in May during a press conference that the city of Jackson is committed to bringing a possible solution to violence.
“We are committed to opening a crisis intervention office to address the root causes of violent crimes before they occur,” Lumumba said in May. “This effort resulted in the grant received from the National League of Cities and Wells Fargo Bank to launch the initiative in response to violence in the city of Jackson.
“We understand the immense value and commitment to public safety as well as…residents in the Jackson area who experience trauma often, which is unacceptable.”
“The initiative will create a partnership with public safety organizations in the community to disrupt the cycle of gun violence,” Omari said.
