LSPA Summer Institute
On June 7, East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillard Moore III participated in the Louisiana Scholastic Press Association press conference. He discussed his work with the Baton Rouge Area Violence Elimination program.
The BRAVE program was first in introduced in 2012 with the intent of reducing the number of violent crimes committed by juveniles in Baton Rouge. The program takes a nonviolent approach to dealing with tennages involved in violent groups.
The end of the school year begins an increase in violent crimes.
“That’s our killing season: summertime,” Hillard said.
Some students fill the time previously occupied by school with violent activity, he said. The BRAVE program encourages these children to stop committing aggressive crimes.
Despite initially receiving criticism for a “hugs for thugs” mentality, BRAVE’s first year was met with a 25 percent reduction in homicides committed by violent group members. The annual homicide rates have remained far below those in the years before the BRAVE program.
“This year we are in better position than we’ve ever been ever,” Hillard said.