When Wil Pinkney took the helm of the newly formed Office of Violence Prevention for the City of St. Louis as director, he recognized that addressing crime takes a holistic approach. Last summer, Pinkney shared with St. Louis on the Air that one of the biggest means to community-based solutions to crime — especially when it involves young people — was to support efforts that already exist.
This summer, Pinkney is excited to see an increase in partnerships between neighborhoods and community organizations with city government.
“We [awarded] 13 organizations about $3.6 million in funding, just through my office, and we didn't do that last year. This year, we're going to serve, through [just] those organizations, about 2,500 young people,” he said. “Last year overall, with all the programs [plus Office of Violence Prevention], it was only 3,000. So we're definitely going to be expanding.”
The Office of Violence Prevention committed to working with organizations of all sizes. This has led to mechanical bulls in Fairground Park, resources from Ameren for utility assistance, “kickback” parties for teens across the city and collaborations with a board of youth to plan yearlong programs.
“Something else that has evolved [from the] kickbacks are peace walks. We started this in March, and we did the first one in the Dutchtown area around Laclede Park. The second one we did in the O'Fallon neighborhood, and we started in Fairground Park,” Pinkney said. “This is really to raise awareness of those who have been impacted by violence, to pay homage to them and their families, but to also bring the community together and empower the community.”
The Office of Violence Prevention has run under Pinkney’s purview since its inception nearly two years ago. While he’s glad to see a 50% decrease in youth shootings and victims in the past year, Pinkney looks forward to seeing bigger benchmarks of success, including less truancy and higher graduation rates.
“[I’d like to] see philanthropic organizations and the business community start to set aside funding for young people,” Pinkney said. “We're successful if we start to see a stabilization of our loss of population. I think that will be a sign of success.”
For more with Wil Pinkney, including events happening across the city for teens and young adults, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click 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 Ulaa Kuziez, Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Roshae Hemmings is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
