Salem’s police chief endorsed the idea of peaceful community walks through neighborhoods as a strategy to fight a rise in shootings and violence targeting unhoused Salemites.
The idea, known as “community peace night walks,” was suggested by a consultant during a city-hosted forum on community violence at the Catholic Community Services building on July 19, where dozens discussed the alarming trend in gun violence, involving Salem’s unhoused community.
“I think about the idea of a preventative presence. The more involvement or presence or activity we can have in neighborhoods that are at the highest risk, it’s going to lower the risk. I think that is extremely beneficial,” Chief Trevor Womack said. “I think we need to refine that more and develop what that looks like for Salem because it’s a powerful, powerful way to come alongside the criminal justice system and drive down violence.”
The forum was the third meeting as part of the city’s Community Violence Reduction Initiative, and included discussions of police data showing the percentage of shooting victims who are unhoused has spiked over the past five years.
According to a department report, homeless people made up less than 3% of the city’s 59 shooting victims from 2018 to 2020 but nearly 20% of the 91 victims between 2021 and 2023. There was no significant increase in the share of homeless people considered suspects in gun crimes.
One reason for this trend is the changing nature of community violence directed at the unhoused, said Joaquín Lara Midkiff, a member of the city’s Human Rights Commission. Midkiff attended the forum and said he has heard troubling stories from Salem’s unhoused community during his three years involved with the city.
“When I started, the sorts of things I heard from our unsheltered neighbors were mean remarks, undignified slights, which in time turned into folks urinating on other folks sleeping on the street,” Midkiff said. “What I think that speaks to is the changing nature of violence against our unhoused … and how that violence intensified, and how that violence is largely, I would say overwhelmingly…from housed neighbors against unhoused.”
The idea for community peace walks was presented by Ben McBride, CEO and co-founder of the Empower Initiative, a California-based organization that hopes to foster stronger community relationships and a structural sense of belonging as an antidote to community violence in Salem. He’s consulting with the city of Salem as part of city efforts to reduce shootings.
McBride said the peace walks helped reduce gun violence in the streets of Oakland, California by 50% over five years.
During the forum, McBride said he hopes such events will bring personal experiences to the forefront that cut beyond what was captured in the Salem Police Department’s fall report on shootings which showed the alarming trend of community violence against the unhoused.
“The police cannot stop community violence,” McBride told the group. “The people most positioned to stop community violence is the community.”
Womack said his agency’s goal is to lower shootings with fewer arrests and less incarceration. He sees community peace walks as a path toward that goal.
Organizations like the Enlace Cross-Cultural Development Project already host community walks in Salem’s Northgate neighborhood, with a goal of building connections among neighbors.
Other community volunteers have worked to host events and have people regularly walk through neighborhood parks in an effort to reduce violence. Such efforts have been led by the Hallman-Northgate Parent Council in Northgate Park, and Northeast Neighbors Chair Lynn Takata in Englewood Park.
It wasn’t clear from the Friday meeting how the city might support such existing efforts, but McBride discussed training attendees to best approach and navigate community members who live in at-risk neighborhoods.
The city-led forums will continue into August and are part of a joint effort by Salem-area law enforcement agencies to scale back escalating deadly violence in the capital city with the help of community organizations.
As part of the effort, the Salem Police Department and Marion County Sheriff’s Office plan to combine efforts to increase check-ins with people on parole or probation about their housing and shelter needs, and add officers to patrol highly impacted areas.
In addition to community peace night walks, McBride offered other solutions and had participants gather in small groups to discuss their experiences with violence and to brainstorm ideas to help reduce it in Salem.
A second tactic included cultivating what McBride called, “credible messengers,” or individuals uniquely positioned to detect and prevent violence before it happens. These individuals likely have struggled with some of the same issues members of the unhoused community face whether it is addiction or crime.
McBride told participants not to underestimate the power of showing up and building connections with people they may fear or misunderstand. He said special training would be provided to help navigate situations that require tact and sensitivity.
After the forum, Womack said he took a lot from the discussions and the possible solutions put forward by the group. While the ideas presented Friday night were not new to him, he said he considers them best practices to help law enforcement tackle the problem of community violence.
He said police and the criminal justice system can only go so far when it comes to addressing community violence and that community support is key.
“This is where the gap is, where I see it … to see people showing up sharing their experiences and talking about new ideas and how to get involved is exactly what I hoped for, and I am really encouraged by it,” he said.
“The credible messengers for me, whether you are talking about drug recovery, whether you are talking about this type of violence, youth and gang related violence. The people that have pulled themselves out of those situations with lived experience are obviously the most credible messengers. Much more than me as the police.”
Womack said he is aware of credible messengers already in the community helping address community violence, and said they are valuable partners in this problem. He said he hopes community forums like the one Friday will lead to community partners stepping up in a way that will sustain some of the solutions presented for the long term.
The next public gun violence discussion, on July 31 at Chemeketa Community College, will be conducted in Spanish with translation to English. Another discussion will be in English at Salem Alliance Church on Aug. 22, and will include neighborhood organizations, community faith organizations and other local institutions. The August event will have live translation to Spanish.
Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.
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Joe Siess is a reporter for Salem Reporter. Joe joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and primarily covers city and county government but loves surprises. Joe previously reported for the Redmond Spokesman, the Bulletin in Bend, Klamath Falls Herald and News and the Malheur Enterprise. He was born in Independence, MO, where the Oregon Trail officially starts, and grew up in the Kansas City area.
