HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanting Peace Report to GVPCPlanting Peace
Report to Gun Violence Prevention Commission
December 17, 2024
When gun violence homicides go unsolved, it creates a rift of recrimination between victims’
family members and the police, making solving future shootings more difficult. Planting
Peace is a project that aims to healthily reconnect families of unsolved shootings with the
police department by offering commemorative tree plantings in honor of victims whose
shootings are unsolved. These plantings and the ongoing effort to water the trees through
their first two years of life will reconnect the unsolved gun victims’ family members with the
police department and city in an intentional act of remembrance and recommitment.
Publicity around the plantings will also allow the police department to remind the public
about a particular victim and that cooperation from the public with the police department is
how unsolved homicides are solved. This program also serves to encourage trauma-
informed mental health care with the public acknowledgement of the mental distress
burden faced by families of unsolved shootings and a chance to offer mental health and
other services to the family. Families of shooting victims who have planted commemorative
trees report that their commemorative tree is a place of healing remembrance and
reconnection. Trees themselves also have a direct anti-violence effect as they lower ambient
temperatures and urban heat island effects. For every degree decrease in peak temperature,
a corresponding decrease is seen in gun violence rates.
Background
• The significance of ritual and remembrance services in healing trauma:
www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.623835/full
• The impact of tree canopy on crime reduction:
https://www.americanforests.org/article/can-trees-help-stop-crime/
• Impact on high temperatures on violent crime:
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/news/how-volatile-temperatures-shape-violent-crime
• In Bleeding Out, Thomas Abt notes that “environmental factors are secondary to actual
interactions between people” (119) but, when combined with other direct, relationship -
based approaches, place-making approaches to crime reduction offer a “high potential
return on investment” at a low cost (125).
Progress
1. Contract with non-profit to find sites, plant and water 10 trees with commemorative
plaques. (Grant Request = $10,000)
a. The Education and Research Committee met with Sam Matson (Roanoke Urban
Forestry) and Chris Bryant (Tree Stewards) on November 22, 2024 to discuss the
project and plan next steps.
i. The tentative conclusion is for Roanoke Urban Forestry to identify the tree
planting locations, noting that planting the trees in the same general area will
facilitate watering.
ii. Trees would be planted sometime approximately mid-February – early May
2025.
b. Received contact information for a source of memorial plaques from Chris Bryant
on November 23, 2024.
2. Advertise tree planting program and encourage public to help solve unsolved cases.
(Grant Request = $5,000).
a. Received 33 names of persons with open homicide cases from Deputy Chief
Puckett on November 20, 2024. Next steps are to work with FEDUP to identify 10
families whose loved one would receive a memorial tree.
b. While we anticipate the trees will be planted at the same time, the plan is to
dedicate the trees one at a time, with appropriate family involvement, media
presence, etc.
c. Advertising memorial events would be coordinated through Roanoke City (Carol
Corbin) and RPD.
3. Ten tree planting events food (Grant Request = $2,000)
a. No progress to date.