Narrow Bridge
Understanding the bridge between community-based violence intervention and gun violence prevention on issues of public safety.
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In this issue: “The issue is in the way the road is structured.” In his opening keynote address at the 2025 Brady Summit, Building A Future Without Gun Violence, former Stockton mayor and special adviser on economic mobility and opportunity to Governor Newsom, Michael Tubbs, spoke of the need for a new paradigm on issues of public safety.
Wondering what a new paradigm would look like in practice? Same here. For anyone new to the policy debate on what’s fueling gun violence in America, solutions are generally categorized into two avenues: community-based violence intervention (CVI) and gun violence prevention (GVP). “GVP” has the most familiarity, while the term “CVI” is gaining traction. That said, CVI organizing has been in effect across communities for the past twenty years — it just didn’t have a formal name until recently.
In this issue, I explain what each term means, what bridges both schools-of-thought, and why it matters. Hop in.
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Alternate Routes
The term gun violence prevention, or “GVP”, is broad; it pertains to the policies and practices at the local, state, and federal levels that effectively reduce gun violence incidents. Examples of GVP include background checks, safe storage practices, and reducing illegal gun sales.
The term community-based violence intervention, or “CVI”, is community-first; it pertains to grassroots programs that connect trusted messengers with lived experience, referred to as peacekeepers or violence interruptors, with at-risk groups or individuals to offer immediate crisis response and help restore public trust. Examples of CVI include trauma center or emergency room support, street outreach, and designing community gardens in urban spaces.
GVP offers system-powered solutions. CVI offers people-powered solutions.
Did you know? In early days of gun violence prevention, solutions were funded by the Office of Family Planning (yep, that’s reproductive health dollars!)
Street Services
The bridge between both schools-of-thought on issues of public safety is in their approach to messaging — that is, the characterization of the communities most affected.
While essential to establishing a standard metric, evidence-based practice is often outdated because field work moves more quickly than research alone. This introduces a practical use case for emerging technologies to relay real-time incident reports, bridging the gaps in data awareness between the field-based knowledge of CVI first responders and the evidence-based knowledge outlined in law enforcement briefings.
On Ramp
If you’d like to continue this conversation on sustainable pathways for public safety, join me for a discussion thread tonight starting at 5:30PM PT/8:30PM ET. I’ll also discuss some of the topics covered in Route 24’s latest issues and will answer any questions.
For subscribers unable to participate, I’ll be sending a follow-up reader survey with Friday’s issue to include you.
A reminder to those interested in legal policy frameworks to consider joining Force Multiplier’s next event, which focuses on rule of law and features
’s .As always, thank you for joining me on this road and see you soon!
Stay the course,
Sam
Sam Reetz, is a filmmaker, performer, and founder at Millennial Ethics, creating narrative solutions to complex issues.
Follow her work on Bluesky, Substack and Instagram.
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