What if gang violence in America could be reduced just by talking? Professor and activist David Kennedy talks with Ben Crair about his new book, Don’t Shoot, criticism of his plan, and the economics of gangs.

In 1995, David M. Kennedy went to Boston on behalf of* Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government to study violent crime. Like many American cities at that time, Boston was suffering a wave of homicides. After linking up with a special Boston Police Department task force, Kennedy and his team recognized that most of the killing was the work of a small handful of identifiable gang members. Rather than locking them all up, they tried something new: They met with the gang members and community leaders, offered them assistance in getting off the streets, and warned them that, if any single gang member committed another murder*, they would crack down* on the entire group. Crime dropped almost overnight, and Kermedy’s “Operation Ceasefire,” as it has come to be known, has been implemented in more than 70 cities, addressing issues from gun violence to drug markets to juvenile robberies. Now, Kennedy recounts his experiences in a new book, Don‘t Shoot: One Man, a Street Fellowship, and the End of Violence in Inner-City America.

_{(Newsweek. 14.10.2011. Adaptado)} 

*on behalf of: em nome de
*murder: assassinato
*crack down: usar de repressão com punição severa

De acordo com o texto,