LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Officials released an encouraging piece of news Monday: As of April 1, no homicides have been reported in Ingham County.

Ingham County Prosecutor John Dewane is crediting collaboration between his office, police and violence intervention programs for clamping down on gun violence.

Monday’s announcement comes after Ingham County recorded seven homicides in 2021. Numbers have been dropping since then, with four cases in 2022.

However, officials are seeing another troubling trend, with a majority of local homicide cases involving young people.

“Unfortunately, a lot of our homicides involve youthful offenders and [youthful] victims as well,” Dewane said. “And so I have made it a commitment that I will prosecute juveniles as adults if they commit gun violence in our community.”

Dewane said part of the puzzle in tackling violent crime has been policy changes in his office. He said moving to charge felony firearm counts, along with not offering plea deals on concealed carry cases, has trickled down to would-be offenders.

The county prosecutor said one of the most frustrating times was last August, when there were three homicides in just a couple of days. Soon after, he said, they took a multi-layered approach to crack down on gun violence.

“As law enforcement agents and officials, we were fed up with what we were seeing in our community,” Dewane said. “And so, we took a proactive approach to this and, again, working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Mark Totten, Safe Summer Initiative is coming up.

“Again, proactive policing with Lansing Police Department, my office holding people accountable for the crimes they commit, especially when it results in gun violence,” Dewane went on to say.

While the courts have yet to see a homicide case in the last three months, police have been busy responding to multiple shootings. Recently, a double-stabbing left two people hurt in Lansing.

“The non-fatal shootings are still a cause of concern for me,” Dewane said. “We’ve had way too many of those. However, we’re still working with law enforcement, proactively policing our community and then working with Advance Peace with recurring and retaliatory violence.”

The Advance Peace Initiative has been working in Lansing since 2022.

Paul Elam is the Chief Strategy Officer of the Michigan Public Health Institute, the organization managing the Lansing iteration of Advance Peace. He said bridging the gap between people is one part of the initiative.

“We’re taking the opportunity to bring these individuals together and let them know that, this person’s a human being, just like you. They have family members, just like you. They have a history, like you,” said Elam.

The program brings together in a “fellowship” people at risk of falling into violence. Members learn to work out their differences in a safe space.

Both mentoring and life skills training are also part of the 18-month curriculum. Monday’s milestone on Ingham County’s homicide rate comes as a current group of fellowship members wrap up their training with an experience in Paris, France.

“Our hope is that when these individuals get back home, they will see each other in a different light,” Elam said. “Maybe this individual who I have had a historical feud with, I’ll see as a brother, as another young man who grew up in Lansing.”

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