Safety
Religious leaders unveiled a strategy Tuesday to sustain the momentum of peace efforts launched in response to a shooting in a local church.
A renowned expert on crime talks about the challenges Richmond faces in lowering its homicide rate, and the hope for its future.
The new year began ominously, marked by audacious crimes. But residents, city leaders and police are now focused on what they believe are glimmers of hope.
Life in violent and impoverished neighborhoods can be tough to comprehend. It can be a world of substandard schools, street loyalties, environmental pollution and infrastructure disinvestment. Often, the motley mix is also awash in guns. Go inside to hear the audio interview with a local 19-year-old describing his neighborhood.
For many of the roughly 1,000 people who took part in Saturday’s slate of peace events – marching and linking hands in a human chain – the day had the unmistakable feel of a turning point. An audio slideshow captures the words, music and images of the day’s peaceful rally.
Police estimated that 700 to 1,000 people took the streets Saturday for a day of peaceful activism. Go inside and view a photo slideshow of 20 images of the day’s events.
At 11 a.m. Saturday, leaders from about 80 area churches plan to pray with thousands of residents at 210 separate street corners throughout the city. At noon comes a peace march, followed by thousands linking hands near a local church hit by gunfire last month. Click here for a complete schedule of the March 6 activities.
Mark Wassberg has lurked around local crime scenes for years, collecting reams of raw footage of the city as few see it. Driven by a near-obsession to document the city’s struggle with deadly violence, this aspiring documentary filmmaker hopes to author his own rags-to-riches tale.
An audio slideshow gives readers an intimate portrait, told in vivid images, audio interviews and sounds from the streets, of Saturday’s historic collaboration of more than 80 area churches in a march against local violence.