And on Wednesday, Krewson said she’d consider buying body cameras for police officers.

Cure Violence brings a novel approach to crime reduction: Train local residents in crisis intervention. Send them out into their own communities to change the hearts and minds of people at high risk of violence. And, ultimately, stop shootings before they occur.

The methodology can be effective, but on a hyperlocal scale and only if executed correctly, with the right people hired, said Caterina Roman, associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Temple University. Roman studied the program in Philadelphia and found that shootings were reduced in the neighborhoods where efforts were focused.

“So many individuals are caught up in the street life who just need that last nudge and they almost have a foot out the door,” she said. “Cure Violence is really good with helping with that last nudge.”

It costs roughly $500,000 to operate one center employing seven or eight “violence interrupters” for one year, said Charlie Ransford, Cure Violence’s senior director of science and policy. A center of this size can reduce crime in a roughly 2-square-mile area.