April 31, 2025
Elected leaders, law enforcement officials, criminal justice representatives, and community organization members gathered in the Millennium Student Center at UMSL for the Save Lives Now! Advisory Council meeting. Brandon Sterling, the initiative’s director, welcomed the attendees, including St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, as they discussed the progress of Save Lives Now! This initiative, led by the East-West Gateway Council of Governments, aims to reduce violent street crime by 20% across the St. Louis region over the next three years. UMSL criminologists Chris Sullivan and Lee Slocum, who are serving on the implementation team, are playing a pivotal role in the effort by providing research and data evaluation to ensure the success of the program.
The Save Lives Now! initiative will begin a pilot program in St. Louis next month, targeting 40 individuals at high risk of becoming offenders. It will then expand to serve additional participants from St. Louis County and St. Clair County in Illinois. Sullivan and Slocum’s expertise in research will be crucial as they evaluate the program's progress and impact over the next three years, contributing to a data-driven approach to addressing violent street crime. Their involvement in this initiative aligns with a $779,614 grant from the National Institute of Justice, which aims to improve violence intervention implementation through timely data and research.
