CVI Glossary

Community Violence Intervention (CVI)

Programs that reduce violence by working directly with the people and places most affected, usually through trusted local messengers, rather than through policing alone.

Violence interrupter

A trained outreach worker who steps in to calm disputes and stop retaliation before a shooting happens.

Credible messenger

Someone with lived experience, often formerly involved in violence or the justice system, whose background earns trust from people at risk.

Street outreach

Regular, in-person contact with people at high risk of violence to connect them with support, jobs and mediation.

Group Violence Intervention (GVI)

An approach that brings community members, service providers and law enforcement together to deliver a clear message and real help to the small groups driving most violence.

ShotStoppers

The City of Detroit program, launched in 2023, that funds community violence intervention groups in set zones and rewards them for reducing shootings.

Intervention zone

The neighborhood area a CVI group is responsible for and measured on.

Conflict mediation

Bringing people in a dispute together, with a neutral person, to settle it without violence.

Hospital-based violence intervention

Meeting people at the hospital bedside after they are hurt by violence, when they are most open to help, to prevent retaliation and repeat injury.

Peace circle

A guided group conversation, often with youth and parents, to build trust, work through conflict and repair harm.

Block captain

A resident who organizes neighbors on their block and is often trained to spot and calm trouble early.

Safe passage

Adults posted along routes to and from school so children can walk safely.

Trauma-informed care

Services built around the fact that many people have lived through trauma, so help is given in ways that do not cause more harm.

Reentry

Support for people returning home from jail or prison: housing, jobs, mentoring and staying out of conflicts.

See Detroit CVI groups