City-parish officials launched a new community-based nonprofit today in an effort to stem violent crime. Dubbed TRUCE, the initiative is led by law enforcement groups and funded by business leaders, including Jim Bernhard and Mike Wampold, who have vowed to support the fight against crime.
TRUCE will target youth between the ages of 14 and 24. The nonprofit initially was formed in October 2017 and already has 11 young people participating, TRUCE president and former Baton Rouge Police Chief Jeff LeDuff said during a press conference. The goal is to help youth leave behind lives of violence and pursue job skills and productive work. TRUCE’s services, adds LeDuff, are already in high demand.
“I can tell you this, our phone rings off the hook every day,” he said.
The new initiative comes months after the city’s former anti-crime program BRAVE—Baton Rouge Area Violence Elimination—folded when the federal government denied a funding extension last summer. Controversy surrounded the end of the popular BRAVE program, due to city-parish’s failure to comply with federal reporting requirements and Mayor Sharon Weston Broome awarding questionable last-minute grants.
TRUCE will be similar to BRAVE, said District Attorney Hillar Moore, and will be modeled after criminologist David Kennedy’s National Network for Safe Communities. The nonprofit will have trainings with the national group in coming weeks and hopes to strike a partnership.
Unlike BRAVE, however, TRUCE is not funded by government grants.
“TRUCE is funded by local businesses, some of whom are here today,” LeDuff said. “Without these people, TRUCE cannot be successful.”
In addition to Wampold and Bernhard, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber and the Baton Rouge Area Foundation are supporting the new nonprofit. Officials with Baton Rouge Police Department, East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office are also involved.
In a rousing set of speeches in January, Bernhard pledged his commitment to help tackle Baton Rouge’s toughest challenges, including crime, infrastructure and funding higher education. In March, a group of business leaders, spearheaded by Bernhard, Wampold, BRAC and BRAF, committed $540,000 to fund group violence prevention, which will go to TRUCE.
“As we help get this kicked off, we hope to attract more investments,” Wampold said in an interview after the press conference. “When businesses look at locating somewhere, crime rates are a big deal.”
TRUCE is already making progress with participants, said Assistant District Attorney and TRUCE Executive Director Aishala Burgess. The nonprofit offers access to social workers to assess needs, along with providing skills training and help seeking employment.
“Our kids show up every day,” Burgess said. “Young people ages 14 to 24 are responsible for most of the violence in the city… In reality, the criminal justice system cannot solve this problem alone.”
