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Residents and council members press for more staff and oversight as 1 Lexington details decline in youth shootings
Summary
1 Lexington, the city-funded violence-prevention initiative, presented a year-end report showing declines in shootings among youth while residents and council members pressed the program for clearer financial controls and more administrative support following an internal audit.
At a Lexington Fayette Urban County Council work session on Jan. 21, 2025, the city-funded violence intervention initiative 1 Lexington reported year-end results showing fewer shootings and homicides among the young people the program serves, while residents and council members pressed its leaders for clearer financial processes and more staff after a recent internal audit.
The report, presented by Devine Karama of 1 Lexington and members of his staff, said the program’s targeted age range has been adjusted to 10–29 and that the initiative’s casework and school-based mentoring reached students in 29 Fayette County Public Schools. Karama said nonfatal shootings in the program’s age cohort fell from about 135 in 2021 to 66 in 2024, and that young-person homicides in that cohort fell from 24 to 10 over the same period.
The figures, Karama said, reflect work by community nonprofits, schools, survivors and 1 Lexington’s staff. “We are a city initiative that leverages community partnerships and government funding to…
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