PINE BLUFF, Ark. — The Pine Bluff Police Department and Jefferson County Sheriff's Office shared how on Wednesday, the City of Pine Bluff reached a milestone— they have made it 215 days (about seven months) without a juvenile being involved in a homicide.
The Director of the Pine Bluff Group Violence Intervention (GVI), Kevin Crumpton Sr., explained how he has directed the GVI since November of last year and how seeing that number of days without juvenile homicides has been a sign of good progress for Pine Bluff.
"In 2023, in the months of July and August, we had nine homicides that were juveniles,” Crumpton added.
This summer, that number has dropped down to zero, with Pine Bluff not having seen a juvenile homicide since January 12, 2024.
Crumpton said that the GVI, which was formed in early 2023, started working to make this a reality while school was still in session.
"We had a lot of visitation, heavy visitation in the schools,” Crumpton said. “We were having peace walks. We were going to the elementary schools, high schools, and we were encouraging the students to stay safe, stay alive, and stay free.”
They’ve also held numerous events aimed at curbing the problem, including having a Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 7.
However, the workers at the GVI aren’t alone.
Eric Walden Jr. with the 6th Division Circuit Court is someone who works with the group and juveniles by making visits to people who have been impacted by violence.
"To have somebody come out to your house outside of the normal 8-5,” Walden said. “Outside of those normal times- ‘Okay, yeah. They really care about me. They really want to see me successful.’ I think that makes a difference."
Though they have had a long stretch without juvenile homicides, their work isn't over yet. This is something that Crumpton is reminded of on the first Tuesday of every month when the GVI hosts a support group for parents.
“We have about 12 parents that actually have lost a child to gun violence,” Crumpton said. “And they come here and kind of talk about what happened. And they help each other with that therapy.
He and Walden both hope that their continued hard work and the continued hard work of others will mean no more parents have to join the club.
"We need the whole community to embrace this mindset,” Walden said. “Hey, we're tired of the things that's going on. We're tired of the youth gun violence. We're tired of gun violence period."
Crumpton added that he wants his group to start to work more closely with the adult population of Pine Bluff to reduce gun violence in that area.
The progress they’ve made in reducing youth gun deaths isn’t exclusive to Pine Bluff, either- Little Rock has seen similar successes in recent weeks.