Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention highlights Kent partnerships, 'hundred days' interventions and lockbox distribution

The Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention briefed the Public Health '1 Seattle & King County Board of Health April 11 on community-based violence-intervention activities and a partnership spotlight in the city of Kent.

Eleuthera Lish, director of the county's Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention, said the office is taking a public-health approach that combines data, direct services to people at highest risk, community partnerships and technical assistance to jurisdictions. Lish said countywide "shots fired" incidents were up roughly 37% over a five-year period ending in 2024; however local partnerships appear to have contributed to reductions in some jurisdictions.

Chief Rafael Padilla of the Kent Police Department described Kent-specific trends and credited a multi-pronged response for recent declines in several crime categories. Chief Padilla said Kent's detectives maintain high clearance rates for shootings and that homicides in Kent fell about 36% in 2024 compared with 2023.

Mark Rivers, deputy director of Community Passageways, described on-the-ground work: conflict-mapping meetings that classify young people as red/yellow/green risk levels, relentless outreach and safety-planning, cognitive behavioral tools for young people, safe-passage escorts at transit locations and school-focused engagement. Rivers said his teams meet youth where they are, perform assessments, create safety plans, connect families to supports and provide hospital-based bedside outreach to shooting victims and their families.

Lish described the county's "hundred days of action" summer initiative launched last year to increase street-level services and community events during months of higher risk. During and after the initiative staff and community partners reported distributing about 5,000 gun lockboxes (Lock It Up program), providing meal vouchers and self-care bags, and contracting with community organizations for extended community safety events; the county reported serving roughly 400 people during the summer effort and about 700 community members across six months after extending some contracts.

Lish said the office is launching a community violence-intervention training academy, co-designed with law enforcement partners, to cross-train outreach workers and first responders. The office also supports hospital-based intervention with Harborview Medical Center and funds the Regional Peacekeepers Collective and other community organizations.

Lish and Chief Padilla said these coordinated prevention, intervention and enforcement actions are not a substitute for traditional public safety but are complementary tools. The office plans more Stop the Bleed trainings and summer community events; it also released a hundred-days-of-action report and offers public-facing data dashboards and a county resource guide for victims and families.

Board members thanked partners and asked the office to return with lessons learned from the hundred-days interventions and implementation details for the training academy and sustainable funding.