In 2022, after years of being labeled the “most dangerous city in America,” the City of St. Louis created the Office of Violence Prevention. Leading the office is Wil Pinkney, a native of the Bronx borough in New York City.
The office is working to break down the “silos” in both government and communities, Pinkney told St. Louis on the Air. He noted that while many cities suffer from crime and violence, the impact on St. Louis’ community is unique.
“The impact that government policies, social policies, the impact of the Michael Brown killing, and race [has] affected the way people respond and perceive violence,” Pinkney said. “I say that as a Black man myself. The impact of racial policies [and] institutional racism is really intense here. Everything starts and ends with race when you talk about the city generally.”
Within the past year, the Office of Violence Prevention has partnered with several nonprofits that tackle many systemic ills that lead to repeat violence. Among other services, the organizations provide quality mental health services, supportive re-entry for former offenders and harm reduction.
Pinkney said that St. Louis’ reaction to violence has improved over time, but more needs to be done.
“The thing that people in St. Louis have been looking for is action. It’s a lot of people that still want to talk. We know what the solutions are. … We just need to do it,” he said. "We need to find the people who are willing to jump in, that understand the assignment and are willing to do what needs to be done.”
The Office of Violence Prevention is responsible for distributing America Rescue Plan funds to organizations that are seeking to address the root causes of violence. The office has put out requests for proposals for community violence intervention and prevention programs.
“We have funds right now,” Pinkney said. “We have to be able to reach out to communities and community organizations, people who would have been doing great work. … We also have a separate pot of funds for youth programming that we're going to be putting out RFP for soon.”
To hear more about the Office of Violence Prevention’s community engagement efforts, Wil Pinkney’s responses to Justin Boyle and Jeremiah Miller and Pinkney’s thoughts on the causes of youth violence, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcast, Spotify or Google Podcast by clicking the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Ulaa Kuziez is our production intern. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr. Send questions and comments about this story to talk@stlpr.org.
