Montgomery mayor highlights violence-prevention programs as top priority

Mayor Steven L. Reed, mayor of Montgomery, said reducing violence is the city’s biggest current challenge and described a multiagency, community-focused approach during the Mayor’s Take podcast.

"The biggest challenge facing the city, right now is how we go about making it safer, and how we go about really working collectively, with, the new police chief that we have, our sheriff's department, and certainly, some of our partners at the state and federal level," Mayor Steven L. Reed said. "We really need community buy in. So we're trying to do that through the Community Violence Intervention Program, as well as our Office of Violence Prevention, and to make sure that there's a holistic approach to how we deal with violence on the front end and certainly how we respond to it on the back end."

Why it matters: Reed positioned violence reduction as the administration’s top priority and described both enforcement partners and prevention programs. The mayor named specific local programs by which the city is seeking to reduce violence and emphasized the need for community participation.

Details: Reed said Montgomery is coordinating the city police department (including a recently named police chief), the county sheriff’s office and partners at state and federal levels. He identified two city programs by name: the Community Violence Intervention Program and the Office of Violence Prevention. Reed characterized the intended approach as “holistic,” addressing prevention ("front end") and response ("back end").

What he and the host discussed did not include changes to ordinances, statutory citations, or immediate new funding allocations. The mayor spoke about strategy and partnership rather than announcing a formal vote, contract, or ordinance. No formal motions or council actions were presented during the podcast.

Context: Reed framed the city’s strategy as relying on both government agencies and community “buy in,” repeating that prevention programs and coordinated response are the focus rather than single-agency enforcement.

Looking ahead: Reed said the administration is working with law enforcement and community partners and underscored the need for resident engagement with prevention efforts; he did not specify timetables or new funding streams during the interview.