UCLA Luskin Social Welfare’s Jorja Leap commented in a Truthout article on various efforts to reduce and prevent gun violence in communities throughout the United States. The article details approaches taken in communities including violence interruption, a nonpolice model of combating gun violence, which has become a leading cause of death of young people in the U.S., according to the article. All programs are not the same, with some focusing on community members who serve on the street-level as “interventionists, intermediaries, interrupters and even innovators.” Some work in conjunction with academic researchers, law enforcement agencies and probation departments, with other programs somewhere in between. Leap, who evaluated a program based in New Jersey in 2020, said community violence intervention is “at a very meaningful inflection point,” explaining that the practice has not yet reached full maturity but is becoming more accepted, studied and understood as a component of public safety and community well-being.