Frustrated by the increasing violence in their neighborhoods, a group of peacekeepers in Durham is taking matters into its own hands. Members of Bull City United feel they are as qualified as anyone, given the fact they were all once on the other side.
“I know what these streets are like, so why would I want my kids to live in that kind of environment,” David Johnson told Health Affairs magazine. “As a person that used to contribute to violence, I’m trying to be the person contributing to the peace process.”
Johnson claims he grew up on the streets of Durham and by the age of 15 was a full-fledged gang member soon on his way to prison to serve a 10-year bid. These days, he’s back in the neighborhood but on an entirely different journey.
“We’re in the communities every day, canvassing, monitoring, talking and modeling the behavior of change,” he said. “On the everyday level, we’re making sure [local youths are] all right, going with them to meet their probation officer, seek employment, seek education opportunities, just being around them and showing them it's a better way to live than selling drugs and being violent.
With a population of 268,000, Durham averaged almost two shootings a day in 2018, including 32 murders overall. Much of the violence often plays out in a domino effect, stemming from the retaliation of previous acts.
Johnson said his job and that of other outreach workers is to try to prevent the violence by keeping in constant contact with those most likely to engage, especially males in the 16-to-25 age group.
Bull City United is modeled on the approach of Cure Violence, a program developed at the University of Illinois at Chicago that has become a national model for efforts to reduce urban violence, used in more than 60 U.S. communities. The program centers on the core belief that “violence can be interrupted and retaliation can be prevented through the work of trusted violence interrupters.”
In Durham, the Bull City team gets a weekly report on shootings in its two target areas and from there the real work begins.
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