FLORENCE, S.C. – Florence City Council will discuss a resolution asking city staff to develop a comprehensive crime prevention strategy for the city at its 1 p.m. Monday meeting in council chambers at the City Center, 324 W. Evans St.
The resolution calls for city staff to work with various organizations to develop a plan that combines deterrence, workforce training, employment, mental health counseling and other services to reduce gun violence in the city.
According to the resolution, the city will work with Project Ceasefire and Project Safe Neighborhoods as well as local organizations.
Project Ceasefire is run through the Office of the United States Attorney, District of South Carolina as part of another national effort called Project Safe Neighborhoods.
Project Safe Neighborhoods is an initiative to reduce gun and gang violence. It started in 2001 and more than $2 billion has been used to hire new federal and state prosecutors, support investigators, provide training, distribute gun lock safety kits, deter juvenile crime and develop and promote community efforts to reduce gun and gang violence.
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Project Ceasefire’s goal is to deter gun crime, develop and promote community outreach efforts and provide training and support for other gun violence reduction strategies.
The resolution also encourages residents to report information about crimes or suspicious activities to the Florence Police Department.
In late April, Florence Mayor Teresa Myers Ervin, Florence Police Chief Allen Heidler and Florence County Sheriff’s Office Major Michel M. Nunn discussed a weekend of gun violence that left four people dead in Florence County. A fifth Florence County resident was killed in gun violence in Myrtle Beach.
There have been several more gun deaths in Florence in the past two months.
The resolution comes a little more than a month after community representatives for Cease Fire USA criticized the Florence City Council for its inaction on gun and gang violence.
The Rev. Leo Woodberry and others appeared before the City Council in November asking the city to establish cease-fire zones around the city to reduce gun violence.
The City Council had not taken action on the issue of gun violence when Woodberry, the group’s founder, and Democracy Center of Florence Program organizer Anthony Hall chastised the City Council for its inaction and announced the formation of a stakeholders’ group that would work with city and county officials as well as businesses and other organizations to establish cease-fire zones and reduce gun violence.
At the meeting, Hall said the group recommended:
An interconnected network of video cameras or systems to keep watch on high crime areas.
A gunfire-noise-activated system that would alert 911 when it detected gunfire so police could be sent to the area.
Training parents, churches and other organizations to teach children about non-violent conflict resolution and how to resist peer pressure.
Developing tools to help people cope with the stress created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
On May 14, Operation Cease Fire held an anti-violence rally at the Oakland Avenue Plaza in North Florence.
Organization members placed Cease Fire Zone decals on the doors of some of the businesses at the plaza. The Cease Fire Zone stickers have been popping up at businesses in downtown, east and north Florence since the rally.
At the rally, Woodberry, the group’s founder said, “Talking is not enough. We have got to get out. We have to organize. We are developing programs where we teach our children how to resist peer pressure and how to solve problems with non-violent conflict resolution. Solutions are already in place. We don’t need studies; we need action.”
