In 2019, a year when Greensboro had 44 homicides, which is the most murders Greensboro has ever had in a year, the first homicide was reported on Jan. 16, 2019.

The first homicide for 2020 was reported on Jan. 1, and it was a triple homicide.

The triple homicide on Sweet Birch Drive appears to be a case of domestic violence, and Brittany Christina McKinney has been arrested and charged with the three counts of first degree murder. The three victims have been identified by the Greensboro police as Jerry Griffin, 61, Mkenzie Denise McKinnery,10, and Taliem Rose, 2.

The Greensboro City Council in 2019 signed a contract to start a Cure Violence program in two neighborhoods that have historically had the most murders. The program will be run by City Councilmember Yvonne Johnson through the nonprofit One Step Further where Johnson is the executive director.

Cure Violence is a program that makes a point of hiring convicted felons and people formerly involved in gangs to go out on the street and try to stop violent crimes before they happen. Cure Violence does not work with or share its information with local law enforcement.

According to Cure Violence, it has had success in reducing murders and violent crimes in the neighborhoods in which it operates. One of the complaints about Cure Violence is that while it may reduce violent crime in the chosen neighborhoods, it often doesn’t affect the violent crime rate in the city itself. Detractors claim that Cure Violence moves violent crime out of one neighborhood and into another.

Proponents of Cure Violence claim that the violent crime rate in the cities where it operates, like Chicago, would be higher if Cure Violence were not there, but it is an impossible claim to prove.

The Durham County Health Department runs a Cure Violence program in the City of Durham and, despite the fact that the health department says the program is successful, the number of murders has increased the past two years.

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