EP 45: Crime as a Public Health Issue

Municipal Equation Podcast

When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) looks into the ailments of a particular community, it’s safe to assume the concern is infection or some similar local threat to human bodily health. So when the CDC started investigating the youth violence plaguing Wilmington, Del. -- a first-of-its-kind study -- it was different. But not inconsistent. Increasingly, communities and their governments are reframing their approaches to crime, by considering it a treatable public health issue before one of criminal justice. On this episode we delve in with several voices from the conversation. A portion of it comes from a session of the National League of Cities' annual conference held late last year in Charlotte. CDC report on Wilmington, Del., firearm violence and prevention - Southern City magazine, "Crime as a public health issue" - CitiesSpeak, "Leaving mass incarceration behind: How cities are turning to a public health approach to violence" - Daniel Latorre -