PINE BLUFF, Ark. — Monday marked the 58th day in Pine Bluff without a homicide and the city is beginning to see a change of fate.
Community members believe a transformation has begun.
#PeaceinPineBluff: These four words are being spread across social media and through the streets.
Pine Bluff native and business owner Steve Hines said community members across town are crediting this change to one specific group of people: the kids and young adults working to create a brighter future.
"For me, everything starts with them they are the creators of the culture," James Lomax, DJ for Hot 89.7, said.
He recently used his platform to salute the youth for the change they are making, starting the #PeaceinPineBluff movement.
"I think that people do need to be aware and since we are such a social media-driven world that hashtag has purpose," Lomax said.
A city that has been broken down over the years with a reputation that "it's all crime," is beginning to rewrite its history.
Lomax moved to Pine Bluff almost three years ago.
"I thought it was a lost cause because I started to see the violence get higher and higher and higher," Hines said. "But the recent decrease in violence has gave us all hope again."
Hope that Hines said has been missing from these streets for far too long.
"I watched this city drop over the years," he said.
Hines claimed the community was on its last leg.
He believes the youth recognized the damage that's been done and wanted to be the difference.
"We've got to recognize the youth. If we don't recognize the youth, there's no use. It's them," Hines said.
We did reach out to the Pine Bluff Police Department to ask them if they had made any changes at the start of this new year.
The department spokesperson said they really haven't changed much in their department, so this all boils down to the people in the city.