Operation Peacemaker Fellowship
The Operation Peacemaker Fellowship was established to reduce the number of young men involved in gun-related violence in the City of Richmond and North Richmond. Partners include the City of Richmond, the Richmond Police Activities League and the Office of Neighborhood Safety. RCF administers the grants for Operation Peacemaker Fellowship from funders like Kaiser and the California Endowment.
Operation Peacemaker Fellowship is designed to expose and provide recipients with considerable opportunity for personal, social, educational, and vocational growth and development. The Office of Neighborhood Safety assists each Fellow in focusing on building skills, credentials, experiences, degrees, and networks in an effort to enhance the future economic opportunity of the Fellow.
Operation Peacemaker Fellows are committed to promoting and advancing peace, non-violence and healthy resolutions primarily in the neighborhoods that they represent, and secondarily between and amongst those in other neighborhoods. The Operation Peacemaker Fellowship has induced 84 of those suspected to be the city’s most lethal individuals to become Fellows. For these Fellows: 79 remain alive; 69 have not suffered from injury associated with a firearm; and 64 remain free from custody for a new firearm offense. In 2014, the City of Richmond experienced a 31% reduction in firearm related homicides and a 21% reduction in firearm assaults from the previous year, marking a 4 decade low.