One Less Shooting in Saint Paul

MPR News had a good story today about the 8218 Truce Center (pronounced 8 to 18), a recently formed nonprofit working to defuse violence before it starts in Saint Paul. They teach culturally relevant conflict-resolution skills to young people, especially young men.

Retroactive research on the decline in violence across the country in the 1990s found that organizations like this and the Interrupters in Chicago have real effects, and significantly more than increased policing (especially when compared dollar for dollar).

The story reminded me that I wanted to update my recent post on 31 dead in Saint Paul last year because some more stats on crime overall were just published:


Check out the heading on those graphs: Drop in St. Paul crime. So while, yes, the homicide rate went up about 100 percent, the overall violent crime rate is down. And the total number of injuries or deaths from gunfire went up just under 14%, so the doubling of the homicide rate had more to do with (I hate to say it) better aim or shooting at closer range than an equivalent increase in the number of shootings. A 14 percent increase in shootings is bad but not nearly as bad as a 100 percent increase.

But still, it's clear that guns are at the root of the problem. Until they are gone, conflict resolution is a life-saving part of the solution.