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Police and attorneys attribute the decline in gun violence to Omaha 360, an initiative launched in 2009 by an empowerment network that includes nonprofits, neighborhood associations, churches and local law enforcement.

ABC News recently spoke to community leaders in Omaha, Nebraska, where officials reported a steady decline in gun violence over the past 15 years.

“It really helped build trust between the police and the community, and between these various organizations,” Scott Gray, deputy chief of the Omaha Police Department, told ABC News. “The Empowerment Network is the hub because it sort of brings all these different organizations together, which on their own tend to stay out of touch and are more efficient.”

Omaha 360’s strategy is to “cooperate, prevent, intervene, enforce, re-entry and support services” and reduce shootings by 50%. https://t.co/RavRwt9rIP

— K-12 School Shooting Database (@K12ssdb) February 22, 2023

The number of reported victims of the Omaha shooting, including only survivors, has dropped from 246 in 2009 to 121 in 2022, according to the Omaha Police Department, with the lowest figure being 90 victims in 2017.

Other cities are not only paying attention, but some of them are already implementing their successful strategies.

In May 2022, Acting Kansas City Police Chief Joseph Mabin announced on his blog that the department had joined KC 360 and was running pilot programs in the Santa Fe and Oak Park areas.

According to The Kansas City Star, KC Common Good aims to replicate Omaha’s success with the KC 360 initiative, which takes a community-based approach to reducing gun violence, building closer community relationships with the police, and implementing justice reform.

“In all our areas, be it education, violence prevention, housing, employment, we identify agencies, organizations, churches, neighborhood groups that work in that particular area, we bring them together. [and] identify where your strengths lie,” said Willie Barney, president of the African American Empowerment Network.

The main component, according to Barney, is regular communication with the community and listening to opinions. Every Wednesday, Omaha 360 hosts an hour-long public forum with news from law enforcement and community partners.

Participants, usually about 80-120 per week, study crime statistics, with a focus on shootings, Barney said.

“Then we switch over and say, ‘OK, what’s going to happen in the next seven to 10 days?'” Barney said.

If the group is aware of something of concern, they mobilize resources well in advance to see who can respond. This may be a local church group, an anti-violence group, or another group that can best help defuse the impending situation.

The meetings are “a way to get everyone in the same room, discuss strategies on a weekly basis with follow-up questions,” said Grey, the deputy chief of police.

Once a month there is a larger Empowerment Network meeting open to the public. According to Gray, the interconnectedness of participating organizations allows the community to allocate resources without competing for grant funding and duplicating services. (Barney said the Empowerment Network is funded by a combination of private and public funds, including city and state donations and charitable donations.) “With 360, you have a moderator in the room,” he said.

“It really brings us back to the issues of poverty – housing, unemployment, education,” Barney said. “We really went upstream to address these issues and also improve communication channels with the police department.”

Omaha 360, which has over 500 organizations involved, is looking to further strengthen its re-entry program and work with the state on prison reform.

“Nebraska has had its ups and downs in prison reform,” Barney said. “I think everyone in the state, whether they’re conservatives, liberals or whatever, understands that we need to do more on the re-entry side.”

In recent years, Omaha 360 has worked more closely with the Nebraska legislature, especially state senators Justin Wayne and Terrell McKinney, according to Barney.

Cities like Boston; Chicago; Kansas City, Missouri; Little Rock, Arkansas; Minneapolis and Tulsa, Oklahoma, are in early talks about what a similar program might look like for them, Barney said.

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