8 MARCH 28-APRIL 3, 2024 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | people that have the highest rate of recidivism in terms of gun crime and violent crime,” Hanifi n explains. “Our primary, overarching goal is to keep the young men and women who are most at risk for violence in our community alive, safe and free. And by free, we mean out of prison. So we are trying to stop the next shoot- ing, the next person from pulling the trigger, and the next victim of gun violence.” Under the SAVE program, the APD iden- tifi es residents between the ages of fourteen and 25 who might be at risk for vio- lence and inform them of ways they can receive support through various city services. “Our traditional response to vio- lent crime is, crime happens, and as we respond to it, we investigate, we identify the perpetrator, we make an arrest and cooperate with pros- ecution,” Hanifi n says. “This is not that. What this is, truly, is violence intervention and prevention. This program is for community by com- munity. So all of the law enforcement partners, probation offi cers, parole, the DEA, the U.S. attorney, we are all working together with community partners, social services, health care and mental health providers, etc. We as a group present candidates each week based on four different things: We look at the fatal and non-fatal shootings every week, see who is involved or what groups; [we see] where we can do the intervention; we look at detective referrals, SRO referrals; and also, we compile who’s talking about guns, specifi c group names in CAD calls and reports that are taken. So that’s where we look for groups and individuals.” Through the SAVE program, candidates are given a custom notifi cation each week as a way to touch base. “A custom notifi cation is where we go out into the community, meet them where they are, typically at their residence,” Hanifi n explains. “We introduce ourselves as representatives of the SAVE program, and then we talk about the program and deliver them a letter talking about the program. It’s basically a formal letter, but it’s individualized. Each one has a little paragraph that’s individualized to them and their situation. And we talk to them about why we feel they’re at risk for violence.” According to Hanifi n, the main message is this: “We know who you are, we know what you’re doing, and we’re not going to tolerate the violence anymore. If you make us, we will stop you. However, we want to give you an off-ramp, if you’ll take it.” That’s where the social services and needs-assessment offer comes in, he says. “We do it, but based on a hierarchy of needs,” Hanifi n adds. “Safety and security is fi rst. And then it’s behavioral things. What are the behavioral things that are contrib- uting to this group affi liation or person’s behaviors? Are they lacking something? Is it substance abuse? Do you do cognitive behavioral therapy? Any type of specialized counseling? And then it’s also housing assis- tance, food assistance, and it goes down from there to IDs, driver’s license, job training, job placement, etc. It’s a 360 approach. “If they will take it, it’s voluntary,” he con- tinues. “They don’t have to take the services. We give them that strong law enforcement message that we know who you are now and we’re watching, so if you do commit a crime, there’ll be swift consequences. But it’s really about trying to get them to take that offer of support and do a needs assessment. We take a family approach. It’s not investigatory; we won’t talk about any open cases; we can’t fi x what’s happened in the past. It’s from that moment going forward.” According to Hanifi n, one of the things that has made the SAVE program successful is that it targets the issue of youth violence at its core — by singling out the people who are directly involved or at risk. “The reason why focus deterrence strate- gies are so successful — and there’s a lot of data and science out there about this — are two things,” he explains. “One, you strip away their anonymity. You are now going to them and saying, ‘We know who you are and what you’re doing. We’re watching.’ And the second is that you offer concrete services and support.” Still, there’s a lot to learn and understand about what young people are going through, not just identifying and fi nding them. Adverse childhood experiences According to experts, one of the best ways to assess and understand youth violence today is by looking at adverse childhood experi- ences, or ACEs, which are potentially trau- matic events that occur during childhood. “Those adverse childhood experiences put those kids and young people at more risk for violence and also other problem behaviors in the future,” Kingston says. “We need to have programs for those that are more at risk.” According to McCann, research shows that if a kid grows up in an environment where he or she is exposed to a lot of violence, it can change the chemistry of their brain. “They don’t have the same empathy or understanding of the value of life,” she says. “We see kids, when I read their background materials, we often see kids who have pretty horrifi c home lives. They’ve moved many times, father may be in jail, mother may be a drug addict, grandmother’s raising the kid. There’s just a lot of things that make it really hard for that kid to grow up in a positive way.” If they learn to manage their emotions through proper confl ict resolution and have positive relationships, Kingston says, ideally youth confl icts won’t escalate into violence. “Some of it’s impulsive and is just going to happen, but I suspect that with some of these young people, other people were con- cerned about their behavior,” Kingston says. “If you start to talk to the school counselor or other people involved, there’s going to be a pattern of things in this kiddo’s life that other people were concerned about. And so I feel that what we really need is to be able to have other people watching out for the kids.” In the case of the accused RTD bus shooter, Kingston says: “Maybe this thirteen- year-old had a friend who knew that he had a fi rearm, and that friend might have been concerned about that but didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know who to tell, how to tell. In Colorado, we’ve got Safe2Tell. And that’s a great system. However, Safe2Tell does go to law enforcement, and in communities of color, we know that that can be a concern. So we’re trying to do things to work on that.” Building up systems and programs in Colorado that encourage young people to speak out and also teach them to help younger peers can be done through mentor- ing programs, McCann says, which are pro- vided through services like Denver’s Youth Violence Prevention Center (YVPC-D). “We’re fi nding that one of the things that will make the most difference for a kid is having at least one engaged adult — one adult that cares about the kid — that the kid can talk to or go to,” McCann tells Westword. “So I think those kinds of programs can be very infl uential.” Hearing from the kids themselves Through the YVPC-D’s Game Changers program, high school students Tre’Zurh Kimbrough, Khloe Yizar and Mckiya John- son have become well equipped with the tools they need to not only feel comfortable addressing issues internally, but also dealing with them around others, even strangers. “We discuss very hard things and have found community in one another,” says Kim- brough, a sixteen-year-old DPS student. “It’s been very resourceful and feels gratifying to be able to make a plan and know that as long as I have this info, I am prepared and can help oth- ers be prepared and improve the community.” Members of Game Changers range in age from fourteen to 25. The program uses research and a hands-on approach to deter- mine whether youth violence can be reduced by working with people who are not at risk but want to help. “It gives us the confi dence and power to know how we can change things,” says Yizar, a fourteen-year-old APS student. Johnson, a sixteen-year-old DPS student, tells Westword: “It has not only opened my eyes to all the violence that happens and why, but it also has given me a chance to advocate and speak out. I wouldn’t have gotten the op- portunity to speak about the risk factors we endure as the young people we are.” According to these three, risk factors they’ve learned about include ACEs and places where people live. “You can look at maps and data and see where the risk factors are higher,” Johnson says. “Places like Park Hill, Montbello. There are less opportunities to make it out. So things are more likely to happen because of the higher risk factors we have.” For Kimbrough, the most important thing about Game Changers and YVPC-D as a whole is that she and others in the program have the power to teach other people their age. “By learning something, you’re able to have the ability to possibly stop it from hap- pening,” she says. Yizar cites a saying from Nobel Peace Prize winner and South African theologian Desmond Tutu. “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river,” he says. “We need to go upstream and fi nd out why they’re falling in.” Email the author at [email protected]. Armed and Dangerous continued from page 6 Programs such as Aurora’s SAVE work to deter youths like Remi Cordova before they commit crimes. AURORA POLICE DEPARTMENT CBS/YOUTUBE
