BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Buffalo has gone through a year of improvement when it comes to Gun Violence. Today, the County announced new statistics that show how much progress is being made.
In the past year, here's how Buffalo has improved on gun violence statistics:
2021:
- Shooting incidents: 63
- Shooting victims: 72
2022:
- Shooting incidents: 39
- Shooting victims: 50
A lot of the reason why improvements have happened is because of the community organizations reaching out to those who need guidance. Kenneth Stephens, Vice Chair of Stop the Violence Coalition, said they go door-to-door if they have to, just so that they can make a difference.
"We're bringing resources to your home for whoever is on probation to get them out of the mode of having guns," Stephens said.
Stephens said he doesn't want to see young adults go down this path because they can truly impact the next generation of people.
"All you're doing is putting yourself in a bad situation. You're going to jail. There aren't too many people that went through the G.I.V.E. program that went and got caught with a gun again," Stephens said.
County Executive Poloncarz said this is only the beginning. He knows Buffalo will continue to improve everyday with involvement like this.
“The work is not done. There are still shooting incidents that occur in our community. We know there is more work that needs to be done. Every death is one death too many, and that’s why this task force continues to exist,” Poloncarz said.
