Niagara Falls attended Ceasefire University in January, 2015 to prepare for implementation of GVI. Project Manager Katie Kudela has helped shepherd the process along as Niagara has moved closer to full implementation. The partnership completed a problem analysis in December, 2015 and began weekly advising calls in early 2016 as the city continues to shape GVI in Niagara Falls.
The July 13 meeting in the Niagara Falls Public Library was set up under a state-sponsored program called GIVE - Gun-Involved Violence Elimination - used in 17 counties since 2014. Meeting with felons is one way the program tries to reach its goal of reducing violent crime, and the batting average for the GIVE program seems good: of the 19 men called in for meetings in June 2016 and January of this year, only four were subsequently arrested.
