City treating violence as a health problem

BALTIMORE - They're looking at this as a health issue.

Baltimore city says stopping violence should involve behavior change.

Violence, like we saw on Saint Patrick's Day in 2012 is the kind of thing that the city says is preventable by working more closely with young people.

Monday, the city kicked off a week of events designed to help continue the city's Safe Streets program.

A fourth Safe Streets program site in the Park Heights Community was created and should begin operations by this summer.

The city says Safe Streets is a program that has a proven track record in communities where it's already operating.

“They include things like community mediation. They include things like an event being sponsored by Johns Hopkins at the Family League in looking at anger management things like a basketball tournament for peace,” said Baltimore health commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot.

“It's a combination of community health interventions as well as constructive activities and youth alternative.”

Doctor Barbot says the week should remind people that we can all play a positive role in helping stem violence among young people.

She says in many cases youth armed with techniques to stop violence take the lessons learned back to their own homes.