City of Detroit sees drop in gun violence due to ShotStoppers program, study shows

A study from the University of Michigan shows that the city of Detroit saw a drop in gun violence due to the ShotStoppers program.

According to the university's Poverty Solutions, there was a 45% decrease in homicides and non-fatal shootings over a three-year period following the program's launch in 2023. The program consists of six community organizations tasked with reducing violence in six Community Violence Intervention (CVI) zones. 

The program is separate from ShotSpotter, which alerts Detroit police to shots fired.

Additionally, the study found that in the second year of the ShotStopper program, "the CVI zones outpaced the rest of the city with an overall decrease in their homicide victimizations of 33% and non-fatal shooting victimizations of 38% since the prior year, compared to the rest of the city's reductions of 12% and 26%, respectively."

Three of the zones consistently outpaced non-CVI zones or experienced reductions in multiple hotspots, according to the study.

"This study from the University of Michigan Poverty Solutions shows that Detroit's CVI program is contributing to historic reductions in violent crime and safer neighborhoods," said CVI Program Director Michael Peterson. "Having trusted community organizations intervene in situations that could escalate into violence has proven remarkably effective in preventing potentially tragic outcomes."  

The city provides annual base funding of about $175,000 per quarter to each organization. The current groups involved in the program are Detroit People's Community, New Era Community Connection, Detroit 300, Force Detroit, Wayne Metro Coalition/Denby Alliance/Camp Restore, and Detroit Friends & Family.

Officials say the city invested $11 million of its American Rescue Plan Act to the program.

As part of its study, U of M interviewed CVI group members, police and city staff. The university found that CVI teams used two strategies to reduce gun violence: interventions with people and groups at high risk of being involved and community engagement with resource provision.

The university recommended the following:

• Continue to institutionalize CVI within local government 
• Refine performance metrics to incentivize CVI teams operating in zones where the number of homicide and nonfatal shooting victimizations are in the single digits
• Incentivize broader community engagement—beyond individuals at high risk of engaging in gun violence—to encourage more sustainable community support for CVI

"Addressing community violence is linked to expanding economic opportunity for Detroiters. Exposure to neighborhood violence adversely affects children's mental and physical health, educational performance and employment prospects, perpetuating the cycle of poverty," said Sam Stragand, senior program manager of Poverty Solutions' Detroit Partnership on Economic Mobility.