How do we reduce gun violence in King County? Interview with Dom Davis of Community Passageways
By Julie C
Producer Nikki caught up with CEO & Founder of Community Passageways, Dom Davis, to talk about how his organization is working to lower gun violence in Seattle and King County.
As more and more people across the country are calling to defund police, there is a growing need to identify alternative solutions to public safety issues. When it comes to the issue of gun violence, Seattle-based nonprofit Community Passageways (CP) provides a powerful, data-driven model that deserves both attention and investment. With a vision for zero youth incarceration and a commitment to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline, Dom Davis founded CP in 2017 in response to a perceived increase in violent crimes affecting youth. In this interview, Converge producer Nikki Barron sits down with Davis to discuss the current uptick in gun violence locally, the root causes of this long standing issue, and how the CP model provides a blueprint to a safer, more equitable Seattle.
Davis begins by painting a clear picture of how pandemic-related factors, such as thousands of youth facing the closure of schools and cancellation of sports and other extracurricular programs, is exacerbating pre-existing conflicts in the streets, elaborating on the role social media is having in the process. “A lot of people on IG are showing guns and money, shooting at people,” he says, adding how gang recruitment on this medium is leading to an influx of new activity in the streets. However such “ground level” issues, as Davis calls them, are only a small piece of the puzzle. On the systemic level, he emphasizes that relief resources now, and historically, have not been put into the hands of communities for young people to have self agency in creating alternatives. To make matters worse, many youth and their families are experiencing financial despair, unemployment, and even houselessness, their basic needs left unmet.
This stark backdrop, Davis explains, is why CP embodies a holistic approach to gun violence intervention and prevention. Through their Deep Dive Program, they provide flexible, direct, and culturally-relevant support for over twenty young people who have been identified as most at-risk for being shot or ending up in the system. In addition to food, rental, and utilities assistance, young people receive individual and family counseling, apprenticeship opportunities, and daily stipends for their engagement. The program is led by a team of eleven “Community Ambassadors” - each with direct life experience and resilience built in the streets. This peer-mentor model is designed to be played forward, as participants are trained to bring the CP message, network, and resources back to their peers.
The CP model has already seen life-saving de-escalation and truce-building results from the space it creates. Young people who have shot at each other in the streets are able to unite, settle differences, and grow a new sense of community within months. However beyond demonstrating the importance of scaling this life-saving intervention work, Davis also takes the time to emphasize the importance of long term economic solutions in sustainable prevention. “What makes people put down guns and stop shooting is an abundance of wealth and resources,” he explains, pointing out how although some resources do exist, those intended for Black and Brown communities are too often paralyzed by webs of state and NGO bureaucracy in the current allocation systems.
To Davis, addressing the root causes of gun violence means real, reparative investment directly into Black and Brown communities- and he is not waiting for a broken system to do this work. With dialogues about establishing new Black financial institutions in the works, Community Passageways is facilitating a bold vision and plan for building generational wealth - one rooted in collectivity and self-determination. “When you have a purpose and a plan to wake up to everyday, you don’t pick up the gun, you pick up the plan.”
You can get more information, donate, or collaborate with Community Passageways by visiting their website at communitypassageways.org. To find out how to help direct more public funding into programs like Community Passageways through advocacy and participatory budgeting visit kingcountyequitynow.com.
