Anti-violence efforts in Columbus highlighted as fight continues

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Community leaders and advocates are shining a light on how they address violence in Columbus.

A little over a year ago, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther established the Office of Violence Prevention (OVP). Now it is sharing what it has accomplished in the last year.

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Leaders said out of the big cities in the U.S., Columbus has seen the second-largest reduction in homicides so far this year. However, they are cautiously optimistic, saying the work is far from over.

“We have to stay committed to our comprehensive approach, prevention, intervention and enforcement. We need all three,” Ginther said.

Since the Office of Violence Prevention put its team together, community conversations have been emphasized.

“Columbus is very unique in that we have so much collaboration, which is something that as an office, we are incredibly grateful for because we want to be the conduit of information between all of the different organizations working together,” Office of Violence Prevention Director Rena Shak said.

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Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children (MOMCC) is one of the groups collaborating with the city.

“Having all the entities that we have in Ohio and Columbus working together and moving in the right direction and not going solo is very important,” MOMCC Faith Director Rhonda Clayborn said.

Through community conversations, OVP analyzed the themes people focused on, including how OVP should approach its work and what resources people want to see.

“It is absolutely imperative that the work of our office is driven by the voices of the residents here in the city of Columbus,” Shak said.

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For OVP, 2023 was all about engagement. This year, there will be an emphasis on connecting resources with people.

“That will allow us to really get a deep look into what all of the different types of individuals in our city need from us, whether that is youth, whether that’s incarcerated adults, whether that’s homeless adults, you name it,” Shak said.

OVP plans to launch data sets this year, including ones that focus on resource access and crime data.

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