05/25/2026
After asking the City of Danville repeatedly to build and implement an official gun violence prevention plan with no success, residents are uniting to do it themselves.
On Thursday, members of the Vermilion County Gun Violence Prevention Committee gathered at Danville Public Library to begin discussions on building the plan.
Mary Catherine Roberson, a local activist who helped build Champaign's gun violence blueprint which led to a 50% reduction in gun violence after its 2022 implementation, shared a presentation at the meeting all about how different cities across the nation have built and implemented such blueprints.
The blueprint model addresses root causes, like concentrated poverty, lack of opportunity, underfunded public services, and eroded trust in law enforcement, through hospital-based intervention, street outreach workers, community mobilization, and more.
Champaign budgeted $2.59 million for this work in 2025, while the City of Danville has zero dollars dedicated to violence prevention in its current budget.
Full story at the link in the comments.
