Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh announced the appointment of Lateef Johnson-Kinsey as the city's first director of the Mayor’s Office to Reduce Gun Violence. 

Johnson-Kinsey is a pastor and school administrator with 15 years of experience in violence intervention, corrections and youth counseling.  In this new role, Johnson-Kinsey will focus on synchronizing anti-gun violence efforts by working alongside residents to propose solutions backed by best practices.

He begins as director on April 13. He said a big priority is developing communication between organizations to mobilize together in the community.

“A lot of it is anger," said Johnson-Kinsey. "For you to leave a argument and pick up a gun and come back to shoot someone, they’re angry. They have no way of dealing with conflict. That’s what we’ll be dealing with, is to use the organizations we have already dealing with conflict to support them more when dealing with these situations.”

After Johnson-Kinsey was named director, hugs were given freely.

He's someone many may recognize as senior pastor of Well of Hope Church and dean of students at Syracuse Academy of Science. He is also one of many Syracuse residents who intimately knows the toll of violence.

“My cousin was shot," Johnson-Kinsey said. "She was shot four houses down from my church a month after I was licensed and ordained to be pastor of the church. It became personal now. That was in 2013. Even more now as I’ve lost family and loved ones. Working in the schools, you see it more because if a shooting happens on Thursday, on Friday, those kids come to school.”

Johnson-Kinsey is a participant of Syracuse CureViolence (Syracuse SNUG) and the Multi-Disciplinary Intervention Team that works with community members serving probation or who are on parole, and partners with Syracuse Save Our Youth (SOY). 

"His work in and for the city is representative of his deep commitment to bettering our community and providing the best possible quality of life for all of our residents,” Walsh said in a statement Friday. "I believe the fight against gun crime is one that we can win, and in doing so, Syracuse will serve as a national model for how a city can successfully turn back gun violence.”

Johnson-Kinsey said accepting the position felt like a fulfillment of a lifetime of experiences.

He said when he returned to his hometown from Philadelphia, he didn’t know what was in store, but he wanted to serve. 

The Syracuse chapter of the National Action Network advocated for the office and got the Walsh administration to take a look. First, the office will compile data on violence in the community and gaps that exist and may encourage violence.

They plan to bring in a national expert to start research in May and through the summer.

“What I’ve said to the council is that I’m not going to wait for a report at the end of the year to implement some programming," he said. 

Some initiatives being considered include a collective place where information is available. Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens said the population being targeted doesn’t use 211 and is in need of another resource. She also said there are plans to provide early intervention after a shooting.

“The problem is once they leave the hospital, they’re probably going back to the same neighborhood or address they were shot at," Owens said. "So one of the solutions that's on my plate to review and Lateef’s plate to review, is the opportunity for respite places for people to get the services once they leave the hospital, that if there is a trajectory, to move in another direction. They’re in a safe place where they can deescalate and have enough peace around them to think through the next steps of their life.”