Christopher 2X never thought that his Louisville, Kentucky, hometown could be more violent than it was last year. In 2020, Louisville hit historic highs in homicides and in people wounded by gun violence.

But that’s just what happened.

“As of this morning, we have 188 fatal homicides…and also as of this morning, we have 580 citizens that have been wounded by gunfire this year,” 2X, a prominent gun control advocate, told Spectrum News. “It’s been devastating. It’s been record-breaking.”

It’s been record-breaking across the country, too.

At least 12 U.S. cities have broken annual records for homicides in 2021, part of a rise in violent crime seen nationwide. Twelve U.S. Cities—including Austin, Texas; Toledo, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Rochester, New York; and Louisville, Kentucky—have seen record highs in homicides this year. To date, Los Angeles has experienced a more than 50% jump in homicides over 2019 — even while property crimes have fallen over that same period.

To push back against the trend, the United States Department of Justice announced it will award $1.6 billion in grant funds to groups across the country with the goal of reducing violent crime and strengthening communities.

“This latest round of funding will deliver critical public safety resources, helping public safety professionals, victim service providers, local agencies and nonprofit organizations confront these serious challenges,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

The grant funds are intended to reduce recidivism; help people transition from jail and prison into everyday life; and help bolster emergency response to non-violent drug overdose or mental health crises, among other things.

"These investments reflect a commitment that extends across this administration to invest in our neighborhoods, building bonds of civic trust and ending the cycle of trauma and violence that destroys too many lives and keeps far too many Americans from realizing their potential," Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Amy Solomon of the Office of Justice Programs said in a statement.

Those resources will help, said Darrel Stephens, retired Chief of Police for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, who is renowned for his evidence-based research in policing. But to make them stick, he said, they’ll have to help sustain programs that better the lives of populations at risk for crime and violence.

“Even in our lowest point back 10 years ago when homicides and assaults were way way down we still had the concentration in those high poverty areas,” Stephens said. “We haven’t been able to demonstrate the will to be able to sustain initiatives and programs that will help move out a generation or two be successful in their education pursuits, and help them be be successful in jobs and careers.”

In the nearer term, Stephens said that the biggest need is for collaboration between policing, mental health, and social services, providing resources to the people who need them the most.

“If we could ever manage to work together to target these problems, then I think we could see the type of violent crime reductions that we’ve seen in the past,” Stephens said.

Those programs do exist. Many cities have sought to crib from the work of CAHOOTS, a program that started in Eugene, Oregon, more than 30 years ago. The program, which works with local public safety agencies, is dispatched directly to non-violent crisis situations with a team typically consisting of a medic and a mental health clinician. According to a report from the Eugene Police Department, CAHOOTS teams called for police backup in only 2% of calls.

A number of Southern California police departments, as well, have sought to establish and expand partnerships with local mental health agencies, like the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, pairing up clinicians with police responding to mental health crisis calls.

Those funds, Stephens said, might also help law enforcement shore up resources in a year when police departments have developed dozens to hundreds of open positions.

But the ability for that grant funding to go to at-risk populations in at-risk communities might make the greatest difference to people like 2X. His nonprofit organization, 2X Game Changers, provides mentorship to young people with the hope of keeping them away from gun violence in Louisville.

“The fear factor is real. But at the end of the day, if there’s motivating factor that they can look towards as far as encouragement, it’s the kids,” 2X said. “Every time you look at a kid, you know it’ not time to surrender. It’s time to say, OK, let’s be a grown up, and let’s keep putting up a good effort to change the trajectory of where this is going.”

For more information on how the Department of Justice grants work and who can receive them, visit ojp.gov.