LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Each and every shooting in Louisville is a painful trip down memory lane for Nicole Cowherd.
"Every time that another murder occurs, it just takes me back to the day that I lost my son," she said Monday.
Cowherd lost her son, Richard Harper, Jr., in a January 2019 shooting.
Since his death, Louisville's violent trend has only gotten worse. Now, as the city tries to reverse it, one answer is taking shape.
In a forum on KET Monday night, the Louisville Metro Police Department's deputy chief, Mayor Greg Fischer, former U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman and others all praised GVI, or Group Violence Intervention. It's a program thought up by David Kennedy, a professor who's helped other cities and is now helping Louisville.
Councilman Anthony Piagentini is a believer in GVI.
"GVI, wonderful program," he said. "Very excited to see it fully implemented here in the city."
Piagentini says the simple program identifies the community's most violent offenders and gives them a choice.
"You literally bring them into a room and you have both law enforcement and local social support programs, and you say, 'Look, we're going to give you two options. We could arrest you. We could take you to federal prison right now. Or, we want you to take a different path,'" Piagentini explained.
Right now, councilmembers are considering the mayor's budget request which includes $550,000 for GVI.
Monday, after a budget hearing for the Office of Performance Improvement, where the funding for GVI will be housed, Councilman Bill Hollander, D-9, echoed others' praise for the program.
"If we can cut this rate of violent crime with $550,000, it's a bargain," he said.
Councilman Anthony Piagentini, R-19.
Piagentini, however, is concerned. At least part of the program is already funded privately, so Piagentini says he isn't sure why the mayor is asking for the additional $550,000 in funding.
Piagentini, along with multiple sources close to the program, told WDRB News they have questions about how the money, if approved by council, would be spent.
"There is no councilmember that I know of that has these plans and these details," Piagentini said Money.
In a letter from mid-May, Mayor Fischer wrote the $550,000 will help "for staffing of the initiative," to invest in a "victim of violence support fund" and "other costs associated with providing support to the individuals we hope to deter from future violence."
"I am committed to seeing GVI be successful here in Louisville," the mayor concluded. "We must reduce the violence and GVI is one valuable tool to do that."
Piagentini, however, hopes for more specifics before voting on the city budget and the funding for GVI therein.
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