Portsmouth police took a look at crime prevention this week.
That’s why News 3 stopped in first to talk to Eugene Swinson, co-founder of Big H.O.M.I.E.S. Community Outreach, at his community center Wednesday.
Swinson is just one of many people in Portsmouth who wants to help kids thrive. He does that by keeping his ears to the ground, mediating issues and building relationships.
Watch: Portsmouth leaders looking at long-term plans to address crime
Portsmouth leaders talk crime prevention efforts
“A lot of is it through opportunities. Sometimes it’s just being an ear for them, someone to call,” explained Swinson.
He elaborated, saying he’s not a certified ‘violence interrupter’ but much of what he does is the same. He knows that providing kids resources and support makes a difference when it comes to crime reduction.
“When we first started, especially for me specifically focusing on youth gun violence, they were shooting every day. Eight o’clock in the morning, nine o’clock at night, know what I’m saying? . . . Of course some of that stuff still happens but not as frequent. For us, that’s how I measure it, the frequency. And the fact that we’re in the neighborhood and we know which kids were showing signs of going that way and if we’ve been dealing with them, we know we don’t have to worry about them,” said Swinson.