For Immediate Release: 7/9/2015 3:18 pm
Worcester, MA (July 9, 2015) - We are gravely concerned by the recent shootings occurring in our city, and in particular those involving our young people. While Worcester remains an overall safe place to live and work, pockets of our community continue to be affected by unacceptable levels of gun violence. This is why the City spearheaded the new Worcester Youth Violence Prevention Initiative, a collaborative effort which seeks to use data-driven solutions and violence prevention models that have been successful elsewhere to reduce the numbers of victims in our community. This long-term work is ongoing, with the understanding that these issues will not be fixed overnight. In the short term, Summer Impact funding included in this year's City budget has allowed the Worcester Police Department to put increased numbers of officers on the streets. These officers are being deployed to targeted areas to contain the immediate issues we have seen over the past few weeks. We are also working with the Youth Violence Prevention Initiative and the reconstituted Worcester Clergy Police Partnership to address violence in our neighborhoods. We remain committed to doing everything in our power to curb youth violence. Worcester does not have a single life to spare.
