Gangs_Richmond GRIP

Gangs: Richmond Gang Reduction and Intervention Program

Photo: GRIP One Stop Resource Center

The Richmond gang Reduction and Intervention Program (GRIP) is funded through a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in the amount of $2.5 million. The program, which is administered through this Office, is a collaborative effort between the City of Richmond, federal, state and local partners focusing on a target community. The goal of the grant is to significantly reduce gang activity in targeted neighborhoods. The GRIP program includes over forty programs focusing on the strategic areas of primary and secondary prevention, intervention, suppression and reentry. More specifically these strategies target the following populations:

Primary Prevention: Targets the entire population in high-crime, high-risk communities. The key component is a one-stop resource center that facilitates effective distribution of health and support resources for youth and families.

Secondary Prevention: Identifies young children, ages 7-14, at high-risk of becoming involved in gangs and juvenile delinquency. It involves schools, community-based organizations, and other community partners in providing age-appropriate services.

Intervention: Targets active gang members and their close associates ages 10-24. It requires aggressive outreach, ongoing recruitment and careful planning and coordination of services. The primary goal is to provide youth with positive alternatives to the gang life.

Reentry: Targets serious and gang-involved offenders who face multiple challenges to reentering their community. GRIP provides appropriate, individualized services and juvenile justice supervision to ensure a reduction in recidivism.

Suppression: Gang leaders are targeted for aggressive suppression efforts. Enhanced sentences, federal charges, and vertical prosecution are used to effectively remove the most dangerous gang members from the community.

Programs are designed to address the full range of personal, family, and community factors that contribute to high levels of juvenile delinquency and gang activity. Youth have the capacity to make better choices if they have better choices available to them. Our commitment to public safety is strengthened by administering prevention and intervention programs prior to the use of necessary suppression efforts.

GRIP programs will provide youth on the wrong track with the resources and skills to make positive choices and ultimately build better lives. All ages in the community are provided services through these programs, but many of the programs begin with very young at-risk youth. Available GRIP programs range from health care, after-school care, Class Action Camp, ESL and SSL Classes, job development, community revitalization and a host of other programs which will provide the community, and specifically youth, a positive alternative to gangs. Click here for a listing of programs.

It is hoped that the success of this program will be used as a model in other parts of the City, as well as other parts of the Commonwealth, as we work together to combat the growing problem of gangs across the Country. Along with Richmond, three other localities were awarded this grant by OJJDP and include, Milwaukee, WI; Los Angeles, CA; and North Miami Beach, FL.

A Summary of G.R.I.P. Nationwide

“Thanks to Gangs” Billboard

Target Area

The target area consists of Richmond Police Department Sectors 212 and 213. But more specifically, the area is known as the Broad Rock corridor of the Southside of Richmond. Click here for a link to the map. More specifically, the boundaries include:

Northern Boundary:     Midlothian/Belt Boulevard/McGuire Drive/Cofer Road
Southern Boundary:    Walmsley Boulevard
Western Boundary:     Broad Rock Boulevard/Warwick Road
Eastern Boundary:      Jeff Davis Highway

Subgrantee Information

GRIP Contact:

Esther Welch, GRIP Coordinator
900 East Main Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Phone: 804-786-0004
Email: richmondgangreduction@oag.state.va.us