Silencing the Sirens: Voices That Save Lives

In this episode of the Smart Justice podcast, we sit down with Reverend Kevin Crumpton, pastor, community leader, and project manager for Pine Bluff’s Group Violence Intervention (GVI) strategy. Crumpton has worn many hats throughout his career—from probation officer and jail lieutenant to school PTO president—but his lifelong passion has always been serving young people and families in crisis.

As a trusted voice in his community, Crumpton plays a unique role in bridging law enforcement, schools, social services, and families impacted by gun violence. He shares how Pine Bluff went more than 550 days without a homicide, what it means to respond to families within hours of a tragedy, and how wraparound resources like grief sessions, school counseling, and even emergency relocation funds help prevent cycles of retaliation.

Crumpton also emphasizes that GVI isn’t a program—it’s a strategy rooted in relationships, accountability, and hope.

Chapters

• 0:01 Community Voices in Violence Prevention
• 0:30 Understanding Group Violence Intervention
• 0:59 Reverend Crumpton's Journey
• 3:45 Success in Pine Bluff
• 6:18 Building Trust and Prevention
• 10:13 The Strategy That Saves Lives

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

In neighborhoods where crime is high, trust in law enforcement and government often runs low. Over time, violence can start to feel normal and even inevitable. But when trusted community voices step in and take part in violence prevention, something powerful happens. They change the narrative. They set a new standard, sending a clear message In this community we protect life, we don't take it Around the nation.

Speaker 1: 0:30

Gun violence is destroying families and weakening communities, and it's becoming a leading cause of death for young people. We know that in nearly every city, only a small number of people are driving most of the violence. An approach called group violence intervention or GVI, identifies those individuals and engages with them directly, trying to offer them a way out before the violence occurs. It's not just about stopping the shootings. It's about building a community where everyone feels like they have a shot at hope. Reverend Kevin Crumpton is a pastor and a community leader in Pine Bluff, arkansas. His city is one of several around the nation that has seen a sharp drop in homicides after the implementation of group violence intervention. His role as a trusted voice in the community made him a good fit to serve as GVI project manager made him a good fit to serve as GVI project manager. His story shows how trust, compassion and strategy can come together to save lives. Reverend Crumpton's journey into violence prevention began long before he held an official title.

Speaker 2: 1:49

My whole life has been tied around youth. I started out by being a probation officer. I was sixth division for the high risk and I was there for about nine years and so I decided to also work on the county side. I was a lieutenant on the night shift at the jail so I had a lot of opportunity to meet the Perrys and the children when it came to people being incarcerated. But I have a deep passion for youth. I was a PTO president for seven years through the Pablo School District.

Speaker 1: 2:23

He shows up when families are hurting the most. When tragedy strikes, he's ready Within 24 hours of any homicide.

Speaker 2: 2:34

I usually go to their home the next day. That particular night at the scene is really not a whole lot you can offer, because they're dealing with grief, and grief is just like a tsunami wave when death hit them. They really don't want to hear a whole lot because they're trying to receive what just happened. So the following couple of hours I go over and we are introducing to a care pack Some families. They actually don't know what to do. So what I do is provide them the services to help them to get over that next little harm. Even when it comes to funeral arrangements, sometimes we have victim relief funds. I try to introduce them to people that can help them to assist them with paying for the funeral. So what we try to do is provide them wraparound resources. That also is there for the whole family, not just one particular individual. But we do follow up at the school. We try to talk with the counselors and let them know that this child has been affected by gun violence. Just be on the lookout because his behavior may change.

Speaker 1: 3:45

The work has paid off. For more than a year and a half, Pine Bluff saw no juvenile homicides. Reverend Crumpton says every single day mattered.

Speaker 2: 3:55

We are so pleased because we made it to 553 days and at any time the scenario can change with just one bullet, and it did. But that was 552 days of family of a youth didn't have to plan a funeral, so that's success. Most funerals are on Saturdays and it's a little bit peaceful when you don't hear the police siren escorting the family, and so we have silenced a lot of things and you know I always try to let people know that when good things are happening, you got to let people know they're doing great things. Now we're at 27 days so we had to start over. So I've been going to the schools talking to some of the kids, letting them know that our account had to start over.

Speaker 1: 4:47

He describes himself as a bridge, someone trusted by the community, but also working hand-in-hand with law enforcement.

Speaker 2: 4:55

And so what I am? I am the Cadillac seat for law enforcement, the community and the social services. They have gotten me to the point where I'm on an app where if someone gets shot, if they have a motorcycle accident, anything, they'll give me an alert on my phone and then it's up to me to go and respond at that hospital. The trauma surgeon, leanne Robinson she is outstanding at Jefferson Medical Hospital she reached out to me, got me plugged in. Usually, if it's a gunshot, when the ambulance service get there, they start uploading information, and so that gives me an opportunity to meet them at the hospital. And the reason why is because most people that have been shot really don't like talking to police officers, and I'm the community guy, and so what they do? They may just tell me hey, man, this guy shot me, can you go get my mom or wife or kids at the house? They may try to retaliate by shooting up the house. And so what I do? We encourage people to donate most churches and give funds to where we have emergency funding, and I can move them to another location for a couple of days until things settle down. Location for a couple of days until things settle down. Majority of the people that end up at that hospital. I've already dealt with two or three generations of their family and so a lot of times when I go in they're automatically saying hey, ralph. And for the ones that don't, I introduce them. Let them know that you know he's not in any trouble. I want to make sure that you know if a kid got shot and he's in the hospital, I want to make sure he still graduate, you know. So I build my relationship, then go to their home and visit them when they get out of the hospital. So those wraparound resources and notifications that we do really help Even the police officers that are coming on now. I used to be their mentors when they were playing Little League football, and so it have to be somebody that can have access to be able to go into the adult jail and juvenile detention center and they'll pretty much say you're welcome in, but if they don't know you, it's going to be hard for you to really, you know, get past those barriers. So you got to be a person that's well-grounded and people know you in that community for you to get those kind of you know treatments, starting with the sheriff. The girl says crumpets, anything you need. I said well, you know, I used to be a lieutenant on a night shift, so I know how the jail laid out, so I can walk around going to all the courts with the judges and they're just glad to receive GVI.

Speaker 2: 7:46

There are a lot of family members that have lost children to gun violence, that may not have had their case solved, and you cannot forget about those that have lost.

Speaker 2: 8:00

A lot of times the problem is that maybe a detective is assigned and if that detective relocates and moves, the communication can get dropped, and so I try to encourage them to follow all the way through Fifteen particular families. They come out out and we call it our grief session and they come and they share their testimonies about how it feels not even to have phone calls for people to follow up. We've already discovered that it's about 5% of people that live in Pine Bluff that's causing all the havoc. And then the partnership with me and the judges. If I go out and talk to them and tell them okay, if you don't stop, then this is what's going to happen, and if you get caught with a firearm, the judge may have a $50,000 bond on you. So everybody can't get out on that. So sometimes they got to sit five or six months, and so what happens is that the shooting now starts to decrease. We got the main hitters locked up.

Speaker 1: 9:09

Beyond responding to violence, gvi and PANBLA focuses on prevention, planting seeds of hope before violence ever takes root.

Speaker 2: 9:18

You can start as elementary schools, middle schools and work your way in. If you work together I meet with the dean of students Then that ties you in with the connection with you can have a bouncy house and water slides through the police department and that ties them into the school. So if they do a fun day, you know you got law enforcement that's there to assist you and you got all the community support coming. So what I try to do is just let them know. The prevention side is so important. Everything is coming together the communication with the schools, the superintendents and law enforcement. Everything is working.

Speaker 1: 10:02

For decades, reverend Crumpton has seen his city's struggles and its potential Through GVI. He believes that Pine Bluff is now turning a corner.

Speaker 2: 10:13

Well, I have seen some changes where, even with law enforcement, to whereISGVI has come to be in partnership, they have beefed up their patrolling in areas where there used to be a gunshot in different areas. Now we've considered them hot spots and we have police officers on every shift riding through with their blue lights on, and then we'll clean up 40 blocks at a time. And so we clean up and now we just relocate to another section that we just finally moved from, and that's very successful because we're targeting the areas where people are shooting, but we're also encouraging the people in the neighborhood If you hear some shooting, don't be silent about it, call it in so we can get that patrols over in that area. I'm very thankful for the role. I believe that it was a calling and I enjoy doing it, because that's all I do is try to be there to help people during their toughest time.

Speaker 2: 11:20

And we're on the move here in Pine Bluff, we're working together and we're, you know, just doing things out in the community and we're visible, and so when we see the little orange shirt, it means cease fire. Bodies are dropping and kids are dying. So I encourage any city, any town that's local, anywhere, to get involved with group violence intervention. Gvi is not a program but it's a strategy and if you trust the strategy, it will reduce the numbers of homicides and violence in your community.

Speaker 1: 12:01

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