Tom Permean
Harris County saw a 43% increase in homicides between 2018 and 2022.
During the two-day National Violence Prevention Conference at the NRG Center, Harris County Health Department Director Barbie Robinson joined violence prevention activists to tout the county’s efforts to stop gun violence.
With $25 million in funding from the Harris County Commission, the Health Department has begun exploring different models to address violence prevention and expand public safety.
“We know law enforcement cannot be one size fits all,” Barbie Robinson said, “so Harris County Public Health has been directed to create the Public Health and Violence Prevention Community Division to house our two programs.”
Robinson talks about HART and RISE: HART stands for Holistic Assistance Response Team.
Robinson describes HART as an alternative response model to 911 calls for people in distress. HART teams respond to nonviolent calls in the community. In the pilot year, HART was projected to respond to 750 calls. It ended up responding to more than 2,000 calls.
Another program is RISE: the Relentless Interrupters Serving Everyone.
“The program is designed for individuals with lived experience,” Robinson said.[They’re] “We’re going into the community, we’re going to Sunnyside and Cypress Station, and we’re going to work with individuals in the community who are potential victims and potential perpetrators, and we’re going to work to disrupt and prevent violent incidents.”
Robinson said RISE has engaged with more than 7,500 residents in the two communities since March.
Robinson said gun violence not only causes emotional trauma for victims and their families, but also takes a financial toll.
“Every time a gun violence incident occurs in our community, it costs approximately $273,000. Because of the work we’ve done, we’ve been able to disrupt and prevent 51 gun violence incidents in Harris County,” Robinson explained. “This program has saved our community approximately $13.9 million, approximately $14 million.”
The program will work with residents and businesses to “build trust and goodwill in the community as we expand the program.”
“What we’re trying to do is not just stop violent incidents,” Robinson said, “but also create safer, healthier communities where trust is built between our program staff and the community.”
