Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Erie County Mark Poloncarz announced the findings of the first report of the county's task force to stop gun violence. Poloncarz says the report comes one year after the task force was formed.
Poloncarz says the task force was charged with increasing funding to programs specifically designed to reduce gun violence. One way was to increase funding to the GIVE program. He says the task force expedited an additional $530,727 in funding received by Erie County from NYS to expand the 2021 Summer Youth Employment Program to have a focus on gun violence prevention in targeted zip codes throughout the City of Buffalo.
This critical funding allowed 73 additional youth to engage in a 16-week program, working 25 hours per week at the rate of $15.00 per hour. "Partnering with the Stop the Violence Coalition, the Task Force designed specific work site locations to provide employment opportunities for these youth during the hours of 4 PM – 9 PM; these hours were selected due to the amount of increased activity that occurs in many of these youths' neighborhoods at these times," says Poloncarz.
Poloncarz says there will be a tree-planting initiative. "Evidence-based research draws a direct correlation between high crime and low vegetation (trees, bushes, and shrubs). The data suggests that higher rates of crime are found where there are no trees and vegetation and that the opposite is also true: where there is an abundance of trees and vegetation there are lower crime rates. This initiative is an opportunity to plant more trees and increase vegetation in targeted areas with the overall goal of crime reduction," adds Poloncarz.
Poloncarz says in July 2021 there were 36 shooting incidents recorded in the City of Buffalo. He says the number of shooting incidents decreased to 25 recorded shooting incidents in the following month.
The Task Force is also working on initiatives and Poloncarz says it has secured 300 gunlocks to distribute to Erie County residents. "Discussions with local community organizations and local clergy groups, as well as with the Erie County Executive's Office, are underway as the planning process for the most efficient distribution of these gunlocks is finalized," adds Poloncarz. He adds the Task Force is now partnering with the UB School of Social Work to create an environmental scan which will integrate mapping of gun violence "hot spots" in the community with mapping of assets and resources associated with gun violence prevention and recovery.
Poloncarz says the task force will be expanding to include new members to build a broader coalition of community advocates, law enforcement agencies, and government representatives focused on eliminating gun-involved violence.
