BUILDING BETTER COMMUNITIES: Local organization announces ambassador program to help combat recent rise in violence

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Richland County Sheriff’s Department reported a rise in shootings last year in the county. This year’s amount of gun violence has the mayor and other leaders in the community concerned as well.

A local organization is partnering with other resources to try to tackle the issue. It hosted a press conference with other community partners Thursday morning at the Dutch Square Mall.

“We’re tired and we’re at the end of what’s going on,” said Perry Bradley, Building Better Communities CEO. “With the recent shootings and the youth involved, we’ve put together a program that we know will work.”

That effort is a community ambassador program where people inside communities serve as a spokesperson for Building Better Communities.

Bradley says many of these ambassadors can be people who have dealt with gun violence firsthand. 

“A lot of times, retaliation is the biggest thing we see coming from our streets. People don’t want to talk about it but that’s what it is,” Bradley said. “When we talk about ambassadors, we’re looking  for the ones at risk, the ones that have already suffered the trauma, the ones that are going through it.”

Ambassadors would be trained for how to deal with their community’s problems. Building Better Communities reports that current ambassadors have helped by speaking with rival gangs, helped with suspects turning themselves in and can do even more.

“Training the ambassadors how to initiate first aid will possibly save some lives. I know that personally because I lost a brother to gun violence. If someone had gone through this program and knew how to stop the bleeding, he wouldn’t have died from a leg wound,” said Melvin Whittenburg, Building Better Communities chief operating officer.

The fifth circuit solicitor says he is worried by what he calls a recent uptick in youth violence and believes prevention is the best way to fight it.

“My belief is that we’ve got to invest earlier instead of arresting away the situation. We’ve got to invest in our communities,” said Byron E. Gipson, South Carolina fifth circuit solicitor.

Mayor Daniel Rickenmann agrees but also echoes recent words from Sheriff Leon Lott about keeping repeat offenders off the streets as a way of protecting the community as well. 

“We have to have a way to help people as they come back out but we also got to prosecute those repeat offenders that make it hard for us to have a stable and thriving community,” the mayor said.

“I don’t want to talk to the family of a 14 year old who has to bury their child,” Bradley said. “I’m tired of talking to mothers who are grieving because their children aren’t coming home anymore. It’s time for action.”

To find out more about Building Better Communities, visit their website here.