Richmond official outlines data-driven gun violence prevention plan, highlights Safer Communities funding

Greg Hopkins, director of the Department of Justice Services, told the Richmond Education & Human Services Committee on June 15 that the city is reorganizing its gun violence prevention work around a public-health model that emphasizes prevention, targeted intervention and community healing.

Hopkins said the city now frames prevention across three levels: primary efforts to strengthen communities and youth development, secondary outreach to individuals and groups at elevated risk, and tertiary supports for survivors and community transformation. "Our work is organized with three levels of prevention," Hopkins said. "Understanding who is most impacted, why they're impacted, and where the incidents occurred allow us to deploy resources more effectively and strategically."

The presentation reported that shootings since 2025 remain concentrated in the East End and North Side and disproportionately affect Black residents and young men. Hopkins said those patterns inform the citys use of Safer Communities grants from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, which support a network of local providers delivering prevention, intervention, workforce development and victim services.

Hopkins gave program-level metrics for the Safer Communities effort through the first three quarters of FY26, saying the initiative reached more than 16,000 residents, ran roughly 395 program activities, and represented about $3.2 million in violence-prevention investments. He also said the city funds 13 subrecipients who report monthly on performance measures tied to 10 focus areas.

Hopkins described several named programs and partners sustained by those funds, including We Matter RVA, Youth Justice, Lift Messenger, SARA (peer support specialists), the YWCA and NextUp. He said the Trauma Healing Response Network logged about 70 violence-related alert responses, conducted more than 900 wellness checks and coordinated more than 120 emergency relief requests in the last reporting period; partner faith groups provided roughly $35,000 in emergency assistance to families.

On evaluation, Hopkins said a strategic review recommended stronger outcome tracking, prioritized evaluations and a restructured framework to improve program alignment and effectiveness. Hopkins said the city has engaged the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform to help build a five-year strategy and provide technical assistance including comparisons to peer cities.

Committee members pressed Hopkins on metrics and partnerships, asking whether trauma-response groups can partner more closely with schools and whether performance measures will show a causal link between services and reductions in violence. Hopkins said the administration plans quarterly overlays of service delivery and hot-spot data to test program impact and make adjustments if results do not show expected reductions: "If we see the reduction, we need to duplicate this; if we don't, there may be tune-ups that need to be done."

Hopkins and committee members also discussed access to state victim funds and VAWA housing transfers; Hopkins said state eligibility requirements and limited funds sometimes hinder rapid assistance for burial costs or short-term relocation and suggested legislative remedies may be needed for more flexible local support.

The committee did not take formal action on Hopkins presentation; members thanked staff and said they would continue to monitor performance measures as funding and strategy develop. The committee is scheduled to meet next on July 9, when fall presentation plans will be discussed.