LEXINGTON, Ky. — People in the city of Lexington are calling for more action to reduce violence amid rising gun violence deaths.

Last year, the City of Lexington saw 37 murders. The year before in 2020, 34.

A group in Lexington is calling on Mayor Linda Gorton to implement a violence reduction strategy called group violence intervention (GVI).

But Mayor Gorton countered back, saying overall in the larger category of violent crime in Lexington, it decreased by 4% between 2020 to 2021.

Michelle Schooler is one of the many people who joined the organization Building a United Interfaith Lexington through direct-action calling for a different approach to reducing deaths.

She lost her son on January 3, 2016.

“I don’t have a grandkid,” Schooler said. “I’m hurting. It’s been 6 years.”

A man prays outside city hall in Lexington during a rally to reduce gun violence. (Spectrum News 1/Khyati Patel)

Her 28-year-old middle child Corenz Corey Marquis died to gun violence.

“The only thing I can do is go down the street here at Lexington cemetery and visit my baby. My baby, he’s gone forever,” Schooler said.

On Tuesday, many others in Lexington stood outside city hall to call for more action.

B.U.I.L.D is calling to reduce violence by using an approach called the group violence intervention strategy.

“Our people are dying. Our communities are being torn apart. This is no time for more of the same. Now is the time for a proven solution. We demand Mayor Gorton implement the Group Violence Intervention strategy on the recommendation of national experts,” said Reverend Nathl Moore, pastor of First African Baptist Church of Lexington.

In a statement Tuesday evening, Mayor Gorton said she takes violent crime seriously seeing her responsibility in implementing GVI or not.

Last year she consulted with various entities and ultimately they concluded that quote: “All expressed serious concerns about the targeting aspect of GVI, and the serious damage it could do to the relationship among government/law enforcement and communities of color.”

Gorton also said her administration researched other cities’ data to learn about whether their data showed a decrease in homicides. Ultimately, the National Network for Safe Community said that “they were at a loss to explain why GVI wasn’t working in some cities.”

You can read the full letter from Mayor Gorton below:

“Dear Members of BUILD,

On March 8, 2022, I received via email a press release from B.U.I.L.D. demanding that I implement GVI in Lexington, KY. Out of respect for the church members who are part of B.U.I.L.D., many of whom I know, I am choosing to reply by addressing facts and the administration’s actions.

Group Violence Intervention (GVI) - As the elected official ultimately responsible for the decision to implement this or not, I take violent crime very seriously. I rely heavily on the experts who work in this environment. I have consulted with Police Chief Lawrence Weathers, law enforcement, the Director of One Lexington, street outreach workers, community activists, faith leaders, the ACLU, NAACP, and the Human Rights Commission. All expressed serious concerns about the targeting aspect of GVI, and the serious damage it could do to the relationship among government/law enforcement and communities of color.

In an effort to determine whether GVI is a tool that could be successful in Lexington, last year my administration researched some cities that use GVI to learn about whether their data shows a decrease in homicides. When we met with National Network for Safe Community (NNSC) representatives, they stated in a BUILD meeting in Fall 2021 that they were at a loss to explain why GVI wasn’t working in some cities.

The above two factors combined to make it clear that GVI is not the program Lexington should emphasize right now. There are many positive components of GVI that are similar to other violence prevention and intervention programs that I fully support, and have ensured that our team prioritizes. 

There are many organizations that promote programs as the best models for addressing violence. GVI is one of them, and shares many similarities with other programs.

Numerous social and economic factors play a part in violence. Along with proactive, community-focused policing, we also focus on the upstream, root causes of violence. For example, every day we work to address affordable housing, homelessness, strengthening our workforce, youth programming, job training, substance use disorders, and rental assistance, just to name a few. This represents a significant increase in funding for our community violence intervention program.

Flock Cameras: My administration has consulted with the ACLU, Human Rights Commission and NAACP several times regarding the use of Flock cameras. They shared their concerns, agreed that these concerns were addressed in the policy outlined by the Lexington Police Department, and will continue to monitor the implementation and reach out if they have any issues. Flock looks at crime analysis data across the board to recommend placement of its cameras. For BUILD to make a statement about the mayor installing cameras in already “over-policed communities” without even knowing where the cameras are is problematic.

I will continue to work aggressively with our community partners to address homicides in our community.  We know that overall the larger category of violent crime in Lexington decreased 4% when you compare 2020 to 2021. We will not let up on our efforts to support people to choose a path of non-violence.”

The City of Lexington also introduced a new program called Flock Safety during a workshop meeting on Tuesday. It comprises cameras that will help gather images of cars and driver’s license plates to help with investigations. The city said they will not use it for traffic enforcement.