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Baton Rouge's new anti-violence program builds on defunct BRAVE, but works to create own legacy

The Advocate - 11/19/2018

Nov. 19--On a recent Tuesday, a group of Baton Rouge's most notorious young men -- all affiliated with a neighborhood quasi-gang -- sat in a courtroom, face-to-face with the region's most powerful law enforcement officers.

But instead of threatening them with arrest, parish leaders at that after-hours meeting offered the men the exact opposite: the chance to flip their current trajectory.

"We are pleading to you to change your lives," said Aishala Burgess, the executive director of Truce, the parish's new anti-violence program that seeks to redirect young people away from a life of crime. "I'm so tired of seeing black men incarcerated that it's sickening. ... We're taking away the excuses. Y'all have to want it."

Burgess orchestrated this late-night meeting -- known as a "call-in" -- at which officials invite specific young men involved in gang-like activity to make a choice, either stop the violence and be offered a host of support services, or fall victim to the streets, which will almost inevitably lead to prison or, even worse, a grave.

During the almost-intervention, a few law enforcement officials address the youth but the message is really driven home by community members with street-cred and influence, the latter of whom are also black like all the young men. Three of the about 12 young men in attendance sit in orange jumpsuits, transported from Parish Prison, but the rest came on their own accord. Three are older relatives of young men identified for the meeting, but couldn't come.

"We promise to make every effort to help you to get you where you need to be," Burgess told the group, mentioning job support, education assistance, mental health and substance abuse treatment. "Truce is not a 'Get out of jail free' card. If you do the crime, you still have to do the time. This is why it's important for you to take the help right now."

Truce is the offshoot of the now-defunct Baton Rouge Area Violence Elimination program, or BRAVE, a federally-funded initiative that ran from 2013 through 2017 and focused on targeting youth in gangs in two high-crime ZIP codes to bring down the city's overall violence. But a year since BRAVE folded and six months into Truce, the privately-funded nonprofit is replicating some BRAVE tactics local leaders and national criminologists deemed successful, but Burgess admits they have also made a concerted effort to leave parts of BRAVE behind.

"What we did not maintain was law enforcement (actions) on behalf of Truce," Burgess said later in an interview. "Even through our 'call-ins,' law enforcement will give their spiel first and then you hear more from your community, and then constantly you hear about the services."

These call-ins were a key method of BRAVE, with nine conducted over the program's five years, and research supported their effectiveness. Already, Truce has held two, one in July and one in late October. Burgess said the Truce call-ins have a new dynamic this time around: they're more welcoming to the youth and more assistance-oriented.

"They feel the difference," Burgess said. "This is not about informing me that I'm on a list to go to prison, it's more of a, 'How can we help you? How can we change your life?'"

'We care about you'

To hear Burgess tell it, the youth attending have three options: quit a life of violence and take Truce up on support services; leave a life of violence on their own; or remain active in the violence and expect the full wrath of a coordinated law enforcement effort. BRAVE highlighted the same options, too, but the Truce call-in focuses more on the first choice.

"The reason that we're here is because we care about you," Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul said at the call-in, looking directly at the three shackled men brought from Parish Prison. "I understand, statistically speaking, the deck is stacked against you guys. ... This is not a threat, we're here because we're asking for your help, we're asking for your help because y'all have influence."

Next, a funeral director talks of the many young black men he's picked up from the morgue, having to explain to grieving mothers another senseless murder. Burgess mentions that 20 of their peers called in through the BRAVE program are now dead. A young doctor talks about ignoring society's negative perceptions of black men and creating new ones. An inmate serving a life sentence for murder tries to get them to learn from his mistakes. Burgess reiterates that the services Truce offers are free. All it takes is a choice. The right choice.

"They actually care, they are sincere -- I didn't have that," said James Abram, a business owner who previously served time in both state and federal prison from his younger years running the streets. "I was a product of my environment just like y'all are right now, but right here today, you have the opportunity to not become a victim of that environment."

About an hour into the meeting, many of the youth -- anywhere from 14 to 26 years old -- nod along. Some open their packets to see more information on Truce. The call-in ends with former LSU football coach Les Miles standing up, one of two white people who addressed the group.

"This meeting, these moments, can change your life," Miles said, who became involved in Truce after East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore III told him about the effort. "What you have here, this is rare. ... Take the program. Do it, do it."

As they stand up to leave, one of the young men turns to his peers. "I feel kinda special," he said.

While they walk out, the three young men are approached by a few Baton Rouge Police officers. The cops offer their advice and joke with the young men, but they also tell them they are aware of the current beef among different groups. When Miles comes out, they excitedly shake his hand, and the former coach reiterates they should get involved in Truce. Paul and Moore also greet them -- no one seems tense. Truce's social worker, Candace O'Brien, makes sure the teens know how to contact her.

Truce organizers did not allow reporters to speak with any of the youth or their families at the call-in, to protect their identity.

Burgess said that interaction after the call-in would not have happened at prior BRAVE call-ins, where the youth and the presenters were kept separate, the format more strict.

Three weeks after that Truce call-in, Burgess said they had heard from one teen who attended, and another reached out to thank them but didn't need services himself. After the July call-in, Truce had two youth who accepted their offer.

"Change doesn't happen overnight, but it will come," O'Brien said. "It's the small successes."

Currently, Truce has 15 clients, most of whom need help finding jobs, O'Brien said. She said they work on all kinds of goals, from going back to school, securing a bicycle to get to work or simply filling out a job application correctly. They have about 10 youth on a waiting list for Truce services.

From BRAVE to Truce

LSU social scientists published their final review and analysis of BRAVE at the end of October, overwhelmingly calling it successful in reducing violent crime and gang activity. The report also evaluates the future of such an initiative, and notes that without the federal funding "branding, community engagement and law enforcement strategies need to be evaluated and updated," but says the now nonprofit Truce should be "a sustainable program."

"During the grant period, much of BR experienced a reduction in violent crime," the report says. "At the end of the program in 2017, violence was increasing, but overall rates were still lower than pre-BRAVE years."

The report also notes that at the beginning of Brave in late 2012, analysts identified 67 active gang-like groups, but at the end law enforcement considered 41 of those groups inactive. Researchers also found the call-ins successful in decreasing criminal activity among group members -- and even their associates who even didn't attend -- though sometimes just slightly.

One of the main challenges researchers found with BRAVE were how some law enforcement actions were "not applied consistently," which Moore said they are working to address. And Burgess said any law enforcement action will stay separate from Truce's work. She wants the teens to know Truce is a safe space .

In the first few years of BRAVE, the Baton Rouge Police Department deployed an officer unit that became known as the BRAVE team, specifically patrolling these high-crime areas. While that unit is no longer called BRAVE -- revamped into the Street Crimes Unit -- many in those communities still know it as the BRAVE team and affiliate it with aggressive policing.

"A lot of people in the community saw BRAVE more so as your law enforcement side of things, for Truce we wanted people to see we are the services side of things," Burgess said. "We want them to understand there's no Truce team, no one is coming to kick in your doors on behalf of Truce."

It's a transition that Burgess and her small team -- only her, O'Brien and one other woman who focuses on their communication -- want to ensure, though it's a tad tricky. Burgess is a former assistant district attorney for the parish, where she focused on identifying these local gang-like groups, and then worked closely with BRAVE, and O'Brien also worked as BRAVE's case manager.

But Burgess said they have made deliberate changes, like breaking such close ties with law enforcement, but also picking new paint for Truce's office (bright green as decided by some of their clients) and reaching out to new community partners beyond the two zip codes and to youth who might not be in gangs.

Since the start of the school year, Truce has started meeting weekly with a group of Tara High School students whom administrators considered most challenging, trying to intervene before their trajectory becomes worse.

But she also admits that one of the most touted aspects of BRAVE, the measured crime and gang reduction, will be much harder to replicate with Truce. While gangs and high-crime areas remain a priority, Truce will work with any youth in need across the parish. But law enforcement officials continue to believe Truce is working, despite the shift in focus. On Friday, Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul said that despite a spike in deadly violence in the city, detectives are not attributing that to group or gang activity, which he partially credits to Truce.

Burgess also believes their work helps crime reduction, but she said her main focus is the youth they serve, and helping them find the hope that has been lost by so many, even themselves.

"Just because kids are in our program, but it doesn't necessarily mean they're bad kids," Burgess said. "They really aren't bad kids, they want the same things as kids who grew up in any other situation. For them, they just did not have the means."

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