PINE BLUFF, Ark. — Hundreds of people learned about a new strategy for curbing violence on Tuesday during Pine Bluff's town hall meeting at the Pine Bluff Convention Center.
The meeting comes after a string of deadly shootings, some claiming the lives of children.
Activists from across the country explained the Group Violence Intervention program, also known as GVI.
And as the research shows, it's already worked in other cities.
"We're losing children," GVI Philadelphia volunteer Kimberly Burrell said. "That's important to me. I'm a mother of five children. I lost one to gun violence."
Testimonies were shared from cities nationwide about how GVI curbed violence for them, hoping to strengthen the program in Arkansas.
"If we don't agree on anything," Burrell said. "We have to agree that kids need to live."
It's a strategy that many Arkansans in the audience said is long overdue.
"Often, we approach the situation with children like they're at risk," Pine Bluff resident Alfred Carroll said. "Our children are way past at risk. They're in crisis."
The National Network for Safe Communities also explained how GVI holds a small percentage of people responsible for most of the violence.
National Network for Safe Communities Director David Kennedy said it includes looking closely at misdemeanors and past offenses from other group members affiliated with suspects.
"It's not about huge sanctions for individuals," Kennedy said. "It's for the group to know that when somebody in the group shoots somebody, the group will pay a price it doesn't want."
Presenters explained that it requires collaboration between the community and law enforcement.
While this aims to offer more immediate help, it's not created to be a fix-all solution.
State Representative Vivial Flowers attended the meeting and shared her thoughts on the GVI program.
"Giving support to GVI and the city to engage in this effort doesn't mean we stop doing what we're doing," Flowers said. "We [need to] figure out how to help that effort while continuing what we're doing."
For now, GVI community leaders hope for more involvement in this push for safety.
"Give GVI a chance," Burrell said. "It will work, but we all have to work together."
Almost everyone in the audience seemed receptive to GVI.
Community leaders said they've already started applying some of these strategies, but it's still just getting started.