Law enforcement officials, school superintendents and other community leaders announced the funding of a new program aimed at curbing gangs and violent crime in Jefferson County.
The Gang Reduction Initiative of Pine Bluff (GRIP) was recently awarded $330,000 in state funding, according to a state education official. While the program is taking a three-prong approach of preventing, intervening against and suppressing gang activity and related crime, much of the focus has been placed on encouraging young males to steer away from such an environment.
Stacy Smith, deputy commissioner of the Arkansas Department of Education, said one part of the funding comes from federal Elementary and Secondary School Education Relief funding in response to the covid pandemic because state education officials felt GRIP was addressing the loss of student engagement in their education. The other portion, she said, comes from Gov. Asa Hutchinson's office and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
VIDEO: Gang Reduction Initiative introductory press conference
Jefferson County Sheriff Lafayette Woods Jr. chairs the committee behind GRIP and collaborates with Vice-Chairman Circuit Court Judge Earnest Brown Jr., Pine Bluff School District Superintendent Barbara Warren and 15 other partners.
"The epidemic of gang violence that currently threatens our community is absolutely unacceptable," Woods said during the news conference at his headquarters. "We all know that. We've accepted that, and that's why we're here today. It's critical that we make clear it will not be tolerated. It's not a promise that we will eradicate it, but it's a promise that we will put 110% effort into what we're doing here, to minimize the threats we see in this room and abroad. ... The message to those currently looking to get in a gang, you are now a target."
Brown said the idea for GRIP came after three homicides occurred in Pine Bluff on Sept. 3, 2020, adding he received an email from a juvenile justice specialist about gang reduction activity. Since then, members of the local judicial system, law enforcement, school and community leaders have joined the effort to develop a plan against gang violence.
The collaboration, Wood said, will use the federal Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention's Comprehensive Gang Model to guide efforts.
"We're embarking on the implementation of a plan that has a potential for great success for our youth," Warren said, adding her excitement over GRIP could not be contained. "The implementation of GRIP represents an opportunity to change the headlines and rewrite the message that keeps playing out about our community, our school and our scholars. As with anything, it takes funding, resources and partnerships to get things done."
Warren revealed that she discussed with Smith a homicide that occurred near the Pine Bluff High School campus and on-campus fights that resulted in arrests earlier this school year. Hutchinson then invited Warren and Brown to a meeting, where state education Commissioner Johnny Key and Smith accompanied them.
The Pine Bluff School District has operated under ADE control since 2018.
"For us, we're trying to address the academic needs at school and we realize all these things that are happening are coming back on campus every day," Smith said, referring to the acts of violence. "Barbara and I were literally having a conversation about how to figure out a preventative model. She said, 'I've been working with a committee.' I said, 'Let me see the plan.' And, that's where we went from there."
Among the efforts to implement the plan in the Pine Bluff School District, Warren said, an OK Program led by the Rev. Kevin Crumpton will serve as a mentoring model for young Black boys and men and allow officers and other men to help boys develop leadership and critical thinking skills while promoting academic excellence and strong moral character.
Another campaign, Each One Reach One, will give participating students a mentor to whom they can reach out.
GRIP will also impact students in the Watson Chapel School District, which was rocked by a fatal shooting of a 15-year-old junior high school student on campus March 1.
"We are working hand-in-hand with Mrs. Warren to implement the same program she's got going there, and we'll continue with our own program we've got right now," WCSD Superintendent Andrew Curry said. "Our security director reaches out to kids and mentors kids. We have an affiliation with our pastors that we've started, and we're working with groups to help mentor young men."