09/30/2026
If you were caught in a cycle of retaliation—afraid, angry, grieving, weighing what to do next—who could you tell the truth to?
That question sits at the center of Community Violence Intervention.
Jacksonville, Arkansas, just launched a CVI program led by two officers who also work patrol. Their stated goals are to reduce violence, interrupt retaliation, and connect young people to support. We share those goals.
But CVI depends on trained, community-based practitioners building trust with the small number of people at the center of gun violence. That trust requires something law enforcement can't reasonably guarantee: confidentiality independent of the criminal justice system. A person weighing retaliation has to be able to tell the truth without wondering whether it becomes evidence, a report or grounds for enforcement. Once that doubt enters the relationship, the intervention has changed.
That isn't an indictment of police. Police have an important public safety role. So do CVI practitioners. Those roles should never compete, and they should never be confused.
No one can just show up and call themselves police. Police shouldn't be able to just show up and call themselves CVI. When that line blurs, it should send a loud message to our own field about where we are right now.
So here's what we'd offer Jacksonville, with respect: Keep the commitment. Keep the partnerships. Keep law enforcement engaged. Then put the intervention itself in the hands of trained practitioners who can work independently and be held to clear standards...and then fund CVI like the public safety infrastructure it is.
Saving lives takes all of us. Changing lives takes trust. Building a credible field takes discipline about what CVI is, and what it isn't.
