FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX News) — Kentucky's Juvenile Justice Oversight Council is studying One Lexington's approach to reducing gun violence as lawmakers work to improve the state's juvenile justice system.
Kentucky's Juvenile Justice Oversight Council met Thursday to explore strategies for tackling youth violence, turning to a Lexington city initiative that has produced dramatic reductions in gun violence over the last four years.
One Lexington is a city initiative that leverages government resources and community partnerships to address gun violence impacting young people. Its goal is to make Lexington a safer city by reducing gun violence among young adults.
The numbers show the effort is working. One Lexington leaders said the country has seen a 35% decrease in overall gun violence over the last four years. In Lexington, the drop has been about 60%. Last year, the city saw its lowest number of gun-related homicides since 2015. So far this year, Lexington is on pace to see the lowest number of homicides and shootings in 40 years.
One Lexington says the key to that success is addressing the root causes of gun violence.
"These kids ain't coming out of their momma with machine guns, right? There's a reason. They're not inherently violent. We have to figure out where do things go wrong and we have to address it at the root," said One Lexington Director Devine Carama.
Members of the Juvenile Justice Oversight Council expressed interest in replicating Lexington's success in other parts of Kentucky, where communities are seeing troubling trends.
"In Henderson County, we've had a lot of juvenile gun violence lately - several murders," explained Council Member Steve Gold. "We're talking youth with glock switches on guns, you know, turning a hand gun into an automatic weapon."
One Lexington leaders emphasized that community partnerships are the key to addressing the issue, saying the problem cannot be solved through policing and incarceration alone.
"Sometimes when we think of gun violence prevention or community violence prevention, we are thinking in the purview of street outreach, we're thinking of accountability through the justice system and that's the only lens," said Carama. "But when you expand it to a quality of life issue, to a root causes issue, you're pulling in the social services department, you're pulling in parks and rec, you're pulling in the faith community."
One Lexington also pushed the council to work with local school systems, noting that children already spend a significant portion of their waking hours there.
