DAYTON — One city is treating violence like a disease, and they have identified some hot spots.
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Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims said he is very confident in this program because he’s seen it work in other cities across the country.
“We’ve had drive-by shootings. My house was shot up once,” Krista Mason said.
Mason has lived in North Riverdale for three years.
The neighborhood was identified as one of the violent hotspots in Dayton, along with near DeSoto Bass, by Cure Violence Global.
It’s part of the violence interruption program that Mims is working to implement.
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“We’re looking at areas of the North Main area and also some areas over in Westwood. Those are two primary areas,” Mims said.
Mason said she is not surprised to see her neighborhood identified as a violent hot spot and said she’s considering moving because of it.
“I just want it to stop, especially for the children’s sake,” she said.
Mims agrees.
“Our young people need to be engaged in this type of work themselves and learning as early as third or fourth grade how we would then identify it and resolve conflict at the lowest level,” he said.
He said the program treats violence like a disease and will work to solve the issue from the ground up.
“This is not a snitch program. This is a program to use them to help do mediation with different individuals,” Mims said.
Mims cites a 20 to 30 percent reduction in crime after one year.
“If I see any kind of changes, it would make me hopeful,” Mason said.
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