Greg Hopkins
Director, Office of Gun Violence Prevention
Address: 900 E. Broad Street, 5th Floor, Richmond, VA 23219
Hours of Operation: Monday-Friday | 8:00 AM-5:00 PM
Office of Gun Violence Prevention
About the Office of Gun Violence Prevention
Mayor Danny Avula has established the new Office of Gun Violence Prevention, a citywide leadership initiative that will unify and coordinate the City of Richmond’s (COR's) violence reduction strategies.
The Office on Gun Violence Prevention aims to implement a coordinated and holistic approach to reducing community violence by enhancing its multi-partner strategy to intentionally disrupt community violence by investing in prevention, healing, and opportunity creation. By improving communication and coordination among stakeholders and by eliminating silos across city departments and community partners, it is the goal to promote a citywide strategy that reflects the values and needs of Richmond's communities through this initiative.
The office main priority areas are as follows:
- Reduce gun violence by working in partnership with other city agencies and the community;
- Reduce the annual number of victims of violent crime;
- Reduce the annual number of non-fatal shootings; Increase community trust and engagement with RPD; and,
- Address the root causes of crime that contribute to violence.
Strategic Components:
Community-Based Programs: Develop and support small-scale, community-driven initiatives that address the root causes of violence in hotspot areas
Trauma-Informed Strategies: Implement approaches that recognize and address the impact of trauma, ensuring that support services are sensitive to the experiences of affected individuals
Rapid Response Teams: create teams capable of intervening quickly in crisis situations to prevent escalation and provide immediate support.
Mentorship & Behavioral Support: Established mentorship programs that connect high-risk individuals with positive role models and provide behavioral health support to promote personal growth.
Capacity Building & Training: Deliver long-term training and development initiatives to build leadership and resilience within high-risk communities, empowering residents to sustain violence prevention efforts.
One Richmond
A Unified Strategy for Community Safety and Healing
The City of Richmond’s Safer Communities Grant is a coordinated and holistic approach to reducing community violence. This initiative aligns with priorities in accordance with Item 394, N.4a, of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s 2025-2026 biennial budget. The FY26 Safer Communities Grant will support One Richmond: A Unified Strategy for Community Safety and Healing, A citywide initiative that unites municipal departments and community-based organizations to address the root causes and conditions of gun violence. Leveraging evidence informed, community-driven practices, the City of Richmond proposes a comprehensive public health and public safety response to reduce violence, promote healing, and invest in long-term resilience.
Through coordinated efforts, including afterschool mentoring, workforce readiness, trauma-informed care, community-police partnerships, strategic enforcement, and support for survivors, the project aims to reduce the frequency and severity of gun violence in Richmond.
Subrecipient partners will deliver programming aligned with three overarching goals:
- reducing violence through prevention and opportunity,
- strengthening trust between public systems and communities, and
- building sustainable infrastructure for continued safety and healing.
These projects might include youth clubs, conflict resolution training, and culturally relevant programming that build capacity and trust. This multi-partner strategy intentionally invests in prevention, healing, and opportunity creation.
Trauma Healing Response Network: Engages with families immediately following incidents of firearm injury or death, providing resources and support through a trauma-informed approach. The initiative collaborates with 53 community partners to address various needs, including housing, food access, menta health support and education, aiming to mitigate violence in the community.
Virginia State Police, Virginia Crime Online: Virginia State Police, The Virginia State Police offers the data portal to view and analyze crime data in the state. It is open to the public, law enforcement agencies, and internal staff, with different levels of security for each type of user.
Virginia Commonwealth University/ Medical College of Virginia, Injury and Violence Prevention Program: About the Injury & Violence Prevention Program | VCU Health,
NextupRVA: www.nextuprva.org, NextUpRva is an out-of-school time (OST) intermediary and nonprofit organization expanding access to quality afterschool and summer programs for Richmond youth ages 11 – 19. NextupRVA convene a network of partners building Richmond’s expanded learning system of youth development programs, resources, services, and opportunities.
YWCA: Home - YWCA of Richmond, The Family Justice Center is a warm and welcoming one-stop Center for people affected by domestic violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, child abuse, and human trafficking. By locating many service providers in one place, the Center helps people in crisis to find hope, safety, and healing through a single door.
Firearm Injury in Virginia (VDH): Firearm Injury in Virginia, The Virginia Department of Health monitors firearm injuries using three data sources: emergency department (ED) visits, inpatient hospitalizations, and deaths. Click on the above link to access interactive dashboards of firearm injury ED visits and firearm-related deaths or the Firearm Injuries in Virginia, 2016-2021 data brief.
Injury and Violence Prevention (VDH): Injury and Violence Prevention
