CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The first office of its kind in the state aims to reduce homicides and gun-related assaults in Mecklenburg County.
What You Need To Know
Mecklenburg County has the first Office of Violence Prevention in the state
The Office of Violence Prevention is part of Mecklenburg County Public Health
The office aims to reduce homicides and gun-related assaults by 10% in five years
Mecklenburg County Public Health created the Office of Violence Prevention in 2020, which approaches violence as a public health issue by identifying root causes, receiving community feedback and analyzing data.
Through this process, the office came up with a five-year plan to combat violence.
Senior Health Manager Tracie Campbell is the only employee. Before this role, she worked as a hospital injury and violence prevention coordinator, a social worker and a disease prevention specialist.
"We can treat [violence] like any other disease. It spreads, it’s infectious,” Campbell said.
According to the strategic plan released this year, between 2015 and 2020, Mecklenburg County had 544 homicides with Black men ages 18 to 34 most at risk of being suspects and victims.
Campbell said these statistics hit close to home.
“I’ve had personal experience with family members being victims of homicide even here in Mecklenburg County, so the people that we serve not only represent people that look predominantly like me, but they represent my family members,” Campbell said.
According to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, in 2022 there have been at least 97 homicides.
Campbell said the plan aims to reduce homicides and gun-related assaults by 10% by 2028.
“We may see reductions in other areas. It may not be reflected in the 10% decrease in homicides and gun-related assaults and that’s OK. We have to move the needle at some point, and we’re just not moving the needle, because we are not working in a collective capacity,” Campbell said.
One of the areas of focus of the plan is community engagements and partnerships. The Office of Violence Prevention works with local hospitals to distribute awareness materials related to gun violence and gun safety, including children's activity books.
In addition, the office has a partnership with Inlivian, formerly the Charlotte Housing Authority. Through their collaborative work, Campbell is also raising awareness with clean graffiti to promote violence-free zones at Inlivian's affordable communities.
She’s also trying to implement an interagency violence response plan.
"We do a really good of taking care of victims’ families, but we don’t do a really good job of taking care of other people in the community,” Campbell said.
Campbell hopes all these efforts can make a difference.
“It's important people know the lives of their family members may have been lost, that their lives mattered and that someone is working to make sure that no more lives are lost,” Campbell said.
The office's operating budget for this fiscal year is $304,801.
Campbell said the goal is for her team to grow in the future. She hopes the success of this program will lead to the success of other programs.