ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County leaders and the county’s Citizens Task Force met to talk about how to best keep the area safe amid recent gun violence in the community.

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The task force is made up of 37 people.

The last time the task force met, they produced a 56-page report, putting $2.5 million toward supporting the recommendations.

However, after more violent crime in the community, the mayor said there’s a lot more work for this reconvened task force to do.

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“The takeaway could be that there have been modest reductions in violent crime,” Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said. “The other takeaway is there still is violent crime.”

The group was first convened in 2020 after Orange County experienced seven shootings in three weeks.

Most of the funding approved after the task force met in 2020 went to prevention and intervention including programs like credible messengers and the YMCA Boys and Girls club were boosted. The county realized the need for more structured activities for at-risk kids.

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“We need people with live experience, the former gang members, the former prostitutes, the former crack heads,” said Ruben Sadaña, a consultant with the Orange County Credible Messengers Movement. “Those are the people that the shooters will listen to because they know they can relate to them. and then we have to create the narrative to put the guns away.”

The next task force meeting will take place on April 18 at 10 a.m.

See the full story in the video above.

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