The Peoria Police Department is applying for a federal grant as part of the community's anti-violence initiative. The Don’t Shoot program is based on the book by David Kennedy and addresses ways law enforcement and the community can reduce violent crime. Police Chief Steve Settingsgaard says the Department of Justice grant request is for about $700,000 over three years. He says it would pay for some of Kennedy’s staff at John Jay College to help Peoria officials with the program:
The legal team representing Johnny Savory was back in a Peoria Courtroom Thursday. The Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth and Northwestern Law Students are asking, among other things, to have new DNA technology applied to the blood evidence in the 36-year-old double murder cases for which Savory is convicted. Savory was 14 years-old at the time of the gruesome murders of 14-year-old James Robinson and 19-year-old Connie Cooper. He was paroled in 2006. Savory contends his conviction was unjust:
It’s an aggressive multi-strategy anti-gang and gun violence program designed to decrease shootings and get the most dangerous criminals off the streets. Led by Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis, the initiative creates partnerships among federal, state and local prosecutors, law enforcement, outreach specialists, community leaders and media. Never before has Peoria seen such comprehensive collaboration from key stakeholders in implementing a zero-tolerance message towards violence.
The centerpiece of the program is a focused deterrence strategy enhanced by an innovative community-wide education and outreach program crafted to thoroughly incorporate all segments of the citizenry of the Greater Peoria area. Using offender-based policing strategies, police and prosecutors send a specific message to a number of high-risk individuals that gun violence will not be tolerated. Then, the strategy includes communication about community programs that will provide services to help them on the road to a better and more productive life. As part of the message, these high-risk individuals are told that any future gun violence will result in the full force of federal and state law enforcement. They are put on notice and they know law enforcement eyes are on them.
