INDIANAPOLIS — There are countless groups in Indianapolis working tirelessly to try and reduce violence.
That includes the city's Office of Public Health and Safety, who announced two new positions Wednesday, June 5, including a new chief violence prevention officer.
"They are a direct answer to what the community told us they needed," said Martine Romy Bernard-Tucker, OPHS director, announcing two new hires to help curb violence in Indianapolis.
OPHS first announced the position in January.
"I've been putting in work for a long time in order to get to this point," said Ralph Durrett, Jr., the new chief violence prevention officer.
According to Durrett, his focus is to meet youth where they are.
"My priority is engaging the youth as much as I possibly can — not just engaging the youth but engaging anyone I come in contact with as much as I can," Durett said. "I want to be a gap-filler, so wherever the gaps are, I want to fill those gaps."
"With the chief violence prevention officer, this is specifically for violence reduction but mainly for prevention, and youth, of course, is the biggest part of it," Bernard-Tucker said.
According to OPHS, Durrett will "integrate preventative measures into current and future programming" and address root causes of crime.
"There's so many people doing great work right now, and I just want to engage them as much as I possibly can and help them out, but the kids need representation. They want to see somebody that looks like them in these positions," Durrett said.
The second position filled was assistant director of social determinants of health. According to OPHS, the person in that position will ensure all five divisions at OPHS have a prevention component.