Montgomery partners unveil youth-focused community safety plan under 'Together We Rise' initiative

Central Alabama Crime Stoppers representatives on Monday introduced work they say supports the mayor’s Together We Rise public-safety initiative, describing a community safety task force and youth-centered programs aimed at reducing violence and recidivism.

The groups presented to the Montgomery City Council a plan to build a task force, launch a multilingual public information campaign, reestablish neighborhood-watch programs, run gun buyback events and expand youth programming through partners including the Department of Youth Services (DYS), area schools and local nonprofits.

The presentation, delivered by Diane Thomas and Tony Garrett as part of the mayor’s message, said the effort will pair street-level outreach with mentoring. Garrett said the group is already doing gun buybacks and has reestablished a local chapter of Moms Demand Action and is planning Students Demand Action. Thomas said the initiative will work with DYS, including a site visit with a girls’ residential facility, and with Alabama State University on summer programs in parks and recreation centers.

Speakers emphasized mentoring and conflict-resolution training. Thomas described a “women in law enforcement” mentoring program that will visit a girls’ residential facility to deliver mentoring and nonviolent conflict-resolution skills. Garrett said partners will teach peer mediation in schools and work with the YMCA to schedule programming for young people.

Council members asked about outreach to youths outside schools. One council member noted an approximately 25% absentee rate in the local school system and asked how the initiative would reach students not attending school. Presenters said some youth encountered in recent incidents had told outreach workers they wanted a GED and other supports; they described plans to connect those youths to existing programs and to expand on-the-ground mentoring and peer-support efforts.

Speakers also raised concerns about reentry: Thomas and Garrett said youths released from residential facilities often return to the same environments that contributed to their earlier offenses and that the initiative seeks coordinated follow-up—suggestions included assigning school resource officers and connecting youths to after-school programs and vocational training on reentry.

The presenters asked for the council’s verbal support and help identifying existing programs that need assistance, whether funding, personnel or facilities, and noted that some partners need help restoring operations (they cited a local program, Second Chance, that recently lost accreditation and furloughed staff). Council members and presenters discussed coordination with an existing community violence intervention consultant, Live Free, and emphasized working together across programs.

Why it matters: presenters framed the effort as a networked approach that pairs prevention and direct outreach to youths with community partners, school liaisons and reentry supports. The plan, as described, depends on coordination among nonprofit partners, the city and DYS and on volunteer mentors and staffing support, not on a single new city program.

Questions remain about funding, formal city commitments and timelines; presenters repeatedly asked the council to identify programs that need support and to provide referrals and advocacy rather than specific budget requests at this meeting.

The presentation concluded after council questions and brief discussion; no formal council action or vote specific to the Crime Stoppers task force was recorded in the transcript.