For several years, the Topeka Center for Peace and Justice has been a local “home base” for individuals and groups interested in reducing violence, and especially gun violence.
Recently, in November of 2017, we partnered with the Topeka Police Department and a diverse group of community organizations to create the Topeka and Shawnee County Violence Prevention Task Force.
Task force members come from law enforcement, community and neighborhood organizations, faith communities, schools, and more. They are motivated by a desire to find a real, sustainable strategy for reducing violence.
The first task was to design a survey and distribute it all over Shawnee County. We are collecting survey responses to help identify local residents’ biggest concerns when it comes to violence in our community.
In addition to the survey, task force members are busy researching best practices around the world, and planning community events including the upcoming half-day conference “Healing Gun Violence: Exploring Evidence-based Strategies to Create a Safer Community” on June 7, 2019 at Pozez Education Center on the Stormont Vail Health campus.