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RESIDENTS USE RELATIONSHIPS, TRAINING TO DISRUPT VIOLENCE AND RESTORE COMMUNITY IN EDEN PARK
In 2021, the Baton Rouge Community Street Team (BRCST) consisted of six people. But that didn’t stop them from walking the streets of Baton Rouge talking to neighbors, families, and friends about violent crimes. Their goal: to understand the root cause of crime and use their connections to the neighborhood to disrupt it. BRCST specializes in resolving relationship-based disputes. Their work combines evidenced-based strategies to reduce violence with the trust and care that neighborhoods need to truly be safe.
What makes this work is BRCST’s use of Credible Messengers, people who have transformed their own lives and want to support others as they do the same. Credible Messengers are trained to de-escalate potential situations, to provide interventions to prevent further violence and to support the victims of crime as they are faced with trauma. But, perhaps their most effective skill lies in the fact that many on the team are well-known in their neighborhoods and leverage their influence and talent to achieve peace.
BRCST members live in and/or are from the neighborhoods they canvas. Whether they are hosting their Heal the Block and Grill & Chill events or responding to a violent incident, showing up often includes shaking hands, hugging, and speaking to residents on their porches, or as they drive past and blow their horns. It is clear that members of the BRCST are home and that being home is why they are able to be so responsive to their community and why the community so readily listens. |
