LiveFree's Peace Needs conference will bring national experts on gun violence to OKC

A community violence intervention program headquartered in northeast Oklahoma City is preparing to host its inaugural conference in downtown OKC later this week.

The first-ever "Peace Needs" conference, drawing nationwide experts on violence intervention to the city's downtown, will be held Thursday through Saturday at Fordson Hotel. The event will include a lineup of speakers and programs focused on community-based collaboration for meaningful resolutions toward preventing gun violence in the city and the state.

LiveFree OKC, the host for the event, began piloting its community violence intervention program on the city's east side, home to the city's historically and predominantly Black neighborhoods, during August 2023. With local musician and entrepreneur Jabee Williams as its executive director, LiveFree OKC has sought to reduce violence by "interrupting" the cycles of harm and retaliation and mediating constructive dialogues to divert residents toward mental health resources.

By July 1 of this year, the nonprofit had helped 45 clients, conducted 121 interventions with 369 individuals and hired three full-time and two part-time "PeaceMakers." Jabee is hopeful the upcoming conference will shed further light on the work LiveFree OKC has done by highlighting its evidence-based approach to remedying violence as a public health issue.

“We really just wanted to educate people on CVI (community violence intervention) work,” Jabee said. “We’ll hopefully get buy-in from the city and get the city interested in this work, and also for people who are sick of gun violence in their community a way toward ending it.”

A conference pass starts at $40, which will grant the attendee entry to the event's two keynote presentations, several breakout sessions, and a concert planned for Beer City Music Hall on Friday night. Individual tickets to the concert — featuring Jabee and rappers Steph Simon, of Tulsa, and Mistah F.A.B., of Oakland, California — cost $20.

OKC Mayor David Holt, peace activists and health care workers among list of speakers

Keynote speakers for the conference include Diana Oestreich, a peace activist, veteran and sexual assault nurse, on Thursday; and Chuck D, the Public Enemy hip-hop artist renowned for his socially conscious lyricism and activism, on Friday. Jabee, a longtime rapper himself, and Chuck D had been supportive of each other through music and social media for years, and Jabee said he was thrilled when the hip-hop legend agreed to come to Oklahoma City for the conference.

“He’s been really supportive of everything I do," Jabee said. "When I texted him about coming, he was excited to do it, and he said, ‘Whatever you need me to do, I’m there.’”

Thursday's conference welcoming session will include Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt; Oklahoma County Clerk Maressa Treat; Marilyn Luper-Hildreth, from the Clara Luper Legacy Committee; and Pastor Michael McBride, executive director for the broader Live Free USA network.

In 2020, Holt and Oklahoma City Council members approved the creation of a Law Enforcement Policy Task Force and a Community Policing Working Group in response to residents' concerns about police reform. Out of that work with city officials and local stakeholders came a lengthy 21CP Solutions report of recommendations, which advised that a neighborhood safety and violence interruption program be created.

LiveFree OKC's programming and services are separate from Oklahoma City Police Department initiatives, but Holt said the work being done by the nonprofit's PeaceTeam plays a vital role in reducing violence in the community.

“We know from data and best practices, as well as common sense and personal observations, that prevention and intervention are impactful to violence reduction,” Holt said. “All the police presence in the world can’t stop two people from hurting each other if they really want to. That’s the kind of work being discussed at this conference, and it’s part of the multi-pronged approach we need to continue to pursue in OKC if we want to keep our violent crime statistics low and in decline. I am grateful to Jabee, Pastor Mike and everyone hosting this conference in OKC.”

Conference to include discussions on how gun violence and community intervention

The conference also will include various breakout sessions over three days, delving deeper into topics such as the science of community violence intervention, the impact of gun violence on families and youths, school-based and hospital-based violence intervention, and police collaboration with community-based initiatives.

Jabee and other community leaders were first introduced to the "logic model" of community violence intervention by McBride, whose nationwide organization aims to reduce gun violence and mass incarceration. McBride said Live Free USA has produced results in other major cities throughout the country by investing in public health initiatives and community partnerships, instead of harsher "tough on crime" policies that increase populations in jails and prisons.

“I have found, across the country, that the hardest support for this (approach) is usually political support,” McBride told The Oklahoman last summer. “But then to come into the city and have lots of that already aligned, it really makes me think that this has a lot of ingredients for success.”

The LiveFree OKC organization aimed for a 20% reduction in gun violence, including injuries and deaths, during its first year in the city's Ward 7. At a news conference earlier this July, staff presented data showing that, in comparison to recent years, the number of shootings in the community had sharply dropped during the first half of 2024.

But optimism for a "Summer of Peace" was tempered by a spikeof deadly shootingsin northeast Oklahoma City as the summer drew to a close. Ward 7 Councilwoman Nikki Nice, who also will take the conference main stage Saturday morning, pointed out gun violence had reached crisis-levels throughout the nation, not just the city.

"Hopefully, the outcomes will be that we'll work together with more and better resources to do the work that our community needs us to do to keep peace in our community," Nice said. "We can create better opportunities for our community to understand that this organization is here and that we are able to trust the work that they're doing in order for our community to thrive."

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Soon to be sworn in as a state senator later this fall, Nice said she planned to speak at the conference about issues with Oklahoma's "open-carry" law and how to present alternatives that might better protect residents. Nice also said recognizing and naming the recent victims of gun violence would underscore its traumatic effect on the city's youths.

"Most recently, within this past month, it's been more young people under the age of 35, and that is very disturbing," Nice said. "Really bringing a name to those stories that we have continued to see in the past few weeks should help us understand that this is impacting our future, because it's cutting off our young people at ages that they should be able to live instead of having to perish from the acts of gun violence."

(This story was updated because an earlier version contained an inaccuracy.)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Peace Needs OKC conference brings national experts on violence prevention