Detroit Creates First Office for Community-Led Violence Prevention

Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield launched the city's first Office of Neighborhood and Community Safety on Monday, Feb. 23. She named violence prevention advocate Teferi Brent as director. This initiative fulfills a campaign promise Sheffield made during her first 100 days in office.

The new agency will serve as a central hub. It coordinates six focus areas: Community Violence Intervention, conflict resolution and restorative practices, survivor advocacy and services, domestic violence prevention, re-entry support services, and group violence intervention.

"This new office will advance a holistic and public health approach to violence prevention and community safety," Sheffield said, according to FOX 2 Detroit. "It will serve as a hub for Detroit's violence prevention and intervention strategies and response."

Teferi Brent brings more than three decades of experience to the role. He worked in community organization and urban peace initiatives, founding the Community Violence Intervention group Dignity4Detroit.

"We will remove the silos that have historically prevented neighborhood-based organizations from accessing the resources and tools they need to effectively service communities in which they operate," Brent said, according to CBS News.

The Hudson-Webber Foundation gave a $200,000 grant, as shared by Fox 2 Detroit. This helps fund the program. Sheffield said the addition will be "budget-neutral" by shifting funding from the departments of neighborhoods and health, as reported by Detroit Free Press.

Detroit recorded 165 criminal homicides in 2025—the fewest since 1964 when the city had 125 homicides, according to The Detroit News. That marks a 19% decrease from 2024. The city has seen three straight years where homicides declined, falling from 252 in 2023.

Nonfatal shootings dropped 26%. They went from 607 in 2024 to 447 last year, as per WXYZ. Carjackings fell 46% from 142 to 77, a record since the police department began tracking the crime in the early 1990s.

"We will not and cannot arrest our way into long-term, sustained public peace and safety," Brent said, according to Fox 2 Detroit. "We have to address the social determinants of violence at its core with every resource that we can muster."

The executive order creating the agency goes into effect in April. Sheffield originally pledged to create an Office of Gun Violence Prevention but changed the name to avoid using the word violence.

Community groups including Force Detroit, Live In Peace Movement, Seize the Smoke, and The People's Action attended the announcement. Police Chief Todd Bettison said the new structure will bring additional resources and break down barriers between programs.