Jan 13th, 2022
The MPD Office of Strategic Initiatives expands by creating a youth violence prevention coordinator position. Under the leadership of Commander Curtis Graves, the candidate in this new role will focus on youth gun violence utilizing proven prevention, intervention and enforcement strategies.
Some of the duties include coordinating citywide programs or projects related to violence reduction. Other responsibilities consist of coordinating street outreach efforts with community partners identified before or after enforcement actions.
Taking a collaboration approach, mitigating youth gun violence will involve the efforts of the MPD Office of Strategic Initiatives, Gulf Coast Technology Center, and Mobile County Public School System. The goal is to use the advancements of cyber technology to interrupt gun violence before it occurs. Other times deploying established city resources such as the MPD family intervention specialists or MPD victim advocates may be the appropriate public safety response.
“Stopping a handgun from being fired sometimes involves stopping a victim of crime from becoming a perpetrator of a crime,” Commander Graves explained.
Commander Graves has selected James Dixon as the candidate for the youth violence prevention coordinator position. Dixon has a background in public education and has worked in an alternative school in Mobile County. He has a master’s degree in public health.
Dixon’s start date will be determined after Mobile City Council considers the proposed contract for the new position.
MOBILE POLICE DEPARTMENT