FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. — Forsyth County leaders plan to meet on Thursday to discuss the increase in crime in the community and vote about preventative measures.
Over the last few months, we've seen headlines about violence in the Winston-Salem community time after time. The city of Greensboro has a program to help curb some of that violent crime. Now, Forsyth county is trying to do the same.
WFMY News 2’s Amber Lake spoke with commissioners who have strong opinions about the topic.
Forsyth County Commissioners said some things got to give. Crime is on the rise, and something needs to happen to decrease the violence. With violence on the rise, commissioners are searching for solutions.
"It boils down to two different perspectives. So, we can improve the quality of life of youth," commissioner Fleming El-Amin said.
On Thursday night, Forysth County commissioners will talk about two programs to help cut down violent crime in the area. One is a partnership with Cure Violence. Commissioner El-Amin said they spent four months in some of the troublesome neighborhoods assessing the needs.
El-Amin said, "They came back with some recommendations some assessments, and we will be voting on allowing them to do that program."
While El-Amin is on board with this program, commissioner Gloria Whisenhunt is not.
“I just don’t want to do anything to cause our law enforcement to think that we are trying to minimize their efforts," Whisenhunt stated.
The Cure Violence program would use 1.5 million dollars in American rescue plan funds through 2024. The goals are to detect potentially violent conflicts, identify and treat high-risk individuals and mobilize the community to change norms.
The second program is a juvenile intervention and investigation team. This program will allow officers to investigate youth-involved gang-related violence and gun violence. The goals are to reduce gang-related crimes and youth-involved crimes, increase stats flagged for tracking and monitoring gang violence, reduce the number of youths detained at Forsyth County Detention Center, reduce and relieve SRO workload and so much more.
“I think that is a troublesome area," Whisenhunt said. "I think it’ll give our parents some comfort knowing that our law enforcement is tackling this issue here in Forsyth County.”
The money for these programs comes from ARPA funds, in which Forsyth County received $74.2M total.
El-Amin looks forward to the meeting and is hopeful of creating a solution.
“Both of them have very good assets in the community, and I hope after we debate and deliberate and discuss. It will indeed come up with four votes for both programs,” El-Amin said.
The measures will be considered and voted on tomorrow, March 3.