The city of Greensboro is expanding its Peace on Purpose program with help from a nearly $2 million federal grant. The money will help support Greensboro’s violence prevention efforts.
In 2023, Greensboro had 74 homicides, the most in the city’s history. That dropped by about 40% in 2024.
But this year started off with six killings in the first two weeks.
Latisha McNeil is director of Greensboro’s Community Safety Department. She says the goal of Peace on Purpose is to involve the community in solving problems before police intervention is needed.
“We are working together to implement strategies that can feed off of each other," she says. "And that can really help us to address violent crime holistically.”
The methods include assisting individuals at the highest risk of becoming victims and building a coalition of public, private and community groups to identify prevention and deterrence strategies.
Greensboro’s Peace on Purpose program launched in 2023.