Episode description

Coupling the latest social science with firsthand experience as a crime-fighter, Abt proposes a relentless focus on violence itself -- not drugs, gangs, or guns. Because violence is "sticky," clustering among small groups of people and places, it can be predicted and prevented using a series of smart-on-crime strategies that do not require new laws or big budgets. Bringing these strategies together, Abt offers a concrete, cost-effective plan to reduce homicides by over 50 percent in eight years, saving more than 12,000 lives nationally. Violence acts as a linchpin for urban poverty, so curbing such crime can unlock the untapped potential of our cities' most disadvantaged communities and help us to bridge the nation's larger economic and social divides.

As we expand our community discussion through networks, we encourage you all to reflect on the discussion questions below. Hoping for common understanding and motivation for a better future, we all play a part in ending gun violence in Kalamazoo. Chapters 1 & 2 are covered to understand the book's tone and to become familiar with this environment of violence.