REDUCING GUN VIOLENCE WITH A COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION PROGRAM

Trenton, New Jersey has faced a major uptick in gun violence in recent years, particularly among the city’s youth, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the social, economic, and health issues behind it. The Trenton Mayor’s Office engaged a Capstone team to create a strategy to combat the city’s rise in gun violence by rehabilitating blighted areas. The team analyzed data provided by the city to identify the most crime-ridden areas in Trenton, researched news stories, journal articles, and demographic data, and conducted comprehensive interviews with a variety of stakeholders, including local high school students. The team’s findings included root causes of gun violence, youth needs, and existing intervention mechanisms, and led the team to focus its recommendations on redeveloping vacant buildings and transforming them into useful spaces that fulfill community needs. The team’s final report proposes a program that would engage community members, especially youth, in the demolition, rehabilitation, and installation of new buildings.