Kloiber goes all-in on GVI

Following a testy exchange with the mayor at the Sept. 8 council meeting, mayoral candidate CM David Kloiber has released the following press release, which attempts to explain the GVI program in plain English. Was he successful? You decide.

We reached out to a man who previously contacted the Times claiming to be Mayor Gorton’s campaign manager for comment this morning, but did not receive a response as of 1:20PM.

Here is the unedited press release:

September 12, 2022

For Immediate Release

Contact: Deborah Slone, Campaign Manager, David Kloiber for Mayor 

deborah@davidkloiber.com 

MAYORAL CANDIDATE DAVID KLOIBER RELEASES DETAILS FOR GVI INITIATIVE 

A New Plan for a Safer Lexington 

Lexington needs a new approach to the rising violence in our city, and David Kloiber has an initiative to accomplish just that.  The concept of GVI has been discussed a lot in the recent weeks, but today David Kloiber outlines several specific implementations he will bring to Lexington as Mayor.   

Steering Committee – Community-Accountable Policing 

With the implementation of GVI, David Kloiber intends to create a steering committee to oversee the new community-oriented model.  This group of appointed public safety policy experts, police, elected officials, and community leaders will directly vote on any proposed changes to our current policies.  This takes these important policy decisions out of the hands of any one individual and ensures that the community has a direct voice in the law enforcement process. 

Community Partnerships – Preventing the spread of violence

For GVI to be effective the government needs to facilitate the creation of community partnerships that allow the police to directly refer people to organizations that can help them.  As Mayor, David Kloiber intends to create robust partnerships with nonprofits, social service providers, and community leaders so that these groups can work hand in hand with our law enforcement officials to help those who are stuck in patterns of violence.  

While the reasons for violence can be many and varied, this initiative aims to reduce violent crime by preventing the second, third, and fourth incident of violence that happens in response to the first.  By identifying groups that have been involved in incidents and working with communities to monitor these activities we can prevent violence that stems from an initial altercation.   

IPVI – Addressing Domestic Violence  

While GVI is one of the most talked about initiatives that the National Network for Safe Communities advocates for, there is another equally valuable program that David Kloiber intends to bring to Lexington as Mayor. Intimate Partner Violence Intervention (IPVI) follows the same structure as GVI in creating partnerships between law enforcement, community members, social service providers, and victim’s advocates, but the focus of these partnerships is to remove the burden of preventing violence from the victim.  Strong enforcement actions are used to deter and incapacitate the most dangerous offenders, while close partnerships with victim’s advocates ensure victims have access to support structures to prevent further harm. 

Conclusion 

Our world has changed greatly in the last few years and we must change along with it.  As Mayor, David Kloiber will bring in new prevention models like GVI and IPVI while creating a steering committee to oversee the programs into the future.

This model of public safety is a shift away from policing strategies that lead to the over-policing of minority and lower-income communities.  So while we cannot expect to end all violence, implementation of this program is the first step towards building a community of greater trust between residents and police, while creating robust partnerships that will reduce the bloodshed. 

Group Violence Intervention

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Intimate Partner Violence Intervention

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Deborah Slone

Campaign Manager

David Kloiber for Mayor