In October 2022, in response to a dramatic increase in Lansing homicides, the city of Lansing, Ingham County and the Michigan Public Health Institute partnered to launch Advance Peace Lansing. The program combats crime and protects neighborhoods by intervening in the lives of young people at the center of gun violence and helping them find better, safer, more productive paths.
By all accounts, Advance Peace Lansing is succeeding. Independent research has shown that fatal shootings were cut in half in its first two years compared to the two years previous. Non-fatal shootings fell 10%.
Additional federal, state and local support has enabled Advance Peace to expand its Peacemaker Fellowship program from 15 Fellows in southwest Lansing to 55 in the entire city as well as East Lansing. It has also created a presence in the Lansing schools, including sporting events.
So we were shocked and alarmed that the U.S. Department of Justice abruptly cut hundreds of grants aimed at gun violence prevention, addiction treatment and victim advocacy, including one to Advance Peace Lansing and a $1 million MPHI grant for research.
A $2 million grant for Advance Peace remains in place. The terminated contracts should be restored, and It is vital for the safety of our community that the larger grant be sustained.
The DOJ’s reason for cutting the Advance Peace Lansing grant? That it “no longer effectuates agency priorities.” And yet those priorities include combatting crime, protecting children and supporting law enforcement operations. Advance Peace does just that. While it works independently from law enforcement, it has earned strong support from the Lansing Police Department as well as the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office and Sheriff’s Department because it intervenes in cyclical and retaliatory violence in ways that police patrols cannot.
The Peacemaker Fellowship program provides mentorship, cognitive behavior therapy and life skills training to young people who are very likely to be victims or perpetrators of gun violence. It helps them avoid deadly confrontations. Advance Peace’s Neighborhood Change Agents make connections in the community and are often able to intervene to prevent conflicts from escalating into gunshots and homicides.
And there are substantial savings to the taxpayers. A single homicide can cost $1 million or more when taking into account police, hospitals, prosecutions and incarceration. Research estimates Advance Peace Lansing has saved an estimated $28 million to $49 million over two years.
The Department of Justice’s decision to withdraw funding from Advance Peace and other proven community-based programs defies logic and undermines public trust. It also reflects a misalignment between federal rhetoric on public safety and the evidence-based strategies that communities like Lansing are deploying with success.
The work is not done, and Advance Peace Lansing has the momentum to do more. It would be a tragedy to make it do less. I urge our elected officials — in Congress and at the state Capitol — to challenge the DOJ cuts and continue to invest in and strengthen a program that has been a national model of hope, healing and evidence-based public safety.
Dr. Paul Elam is chief strategy officer of the Michigan Public Health Institute and has been a leader in the development and operation of Advance Peace Lansing.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Viewpoint: Advance Peace Lansing’s plan to stem violence is working. Defunding it makes no sense
Reporting by Paul Elam / Lansing State Journal
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