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Anti-Violence Activists Call On Funding For Outreach; Turn To NYC for Help

CHICAGO  (CBS) -- A blue cross near a tree in the 6300 block of Calumet on Chicago's South Side memorializes the spot where Nykea Aldridge was shot and killed on Friday, Aug. 26.

Aldridge, NBA star Dwayne Wade's cousin, was walking with a baby in a stroller when she was caught in the crossfire. Anti-violence activists used that spot to call on the city for more money for community outreach.

"Give me the shooters in Chicago, give me the guys who are prone to violence. Give me that list and give us the resources so we can work directly with them to reduce the killings," said Tio Hardiman,  Former Executive Director for CeaseFire Violence Interrupters.

Hardiman was joined by several anti-violence activists from New York City.

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"Resources must be put on the ground to those brothers and sisters who have boots on the ground who work directly with taking guns out of people's hands, giving young people jobs and transforming mindsets so they no longer use gun violence as a solution to their problems," said Erica Ford, LIFE camp of New York City, a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing youth violence and providing empowerment opportunities for youth who are educationally, economically and socially disadvantaged, to help them stay in school and out of the criminal justice system.

Ford and others are in Chicago for the day to share how they've curbed violence in New York City.

"The Mayor and the City of New York puts in $12.8 million toward this. The city is behind it. The Department of Education, the Health Department, every single department is working together to solve the problem. If we don't support it on the ground we can't resolve it."

Recent media reports in New York highlighted how there were no shootings for over 530 days in LIFE Camp's target area of South Jamaica, Queens.

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Tio Hardiman, former executive director of CeaseFire Violence Interrupters, stands with former New York City Police Chief Phillip Banks III.

"When I was Chief, I met with clergy, I met with mothers and fathers to see how they would solve the violence problem. My advice to Chicago is this: You have to get to the men and women in the community and say 'how would you police this yourself?' You take that and incorporate into a plan and I've never seen law enforcement do that that didn't have success. That's what I can say to Chicago," said former NYC Police Chief Phillip Banks III.

Hardiman is calling for the recruitment of high-risk gang members to be hired as violence interrupters to launch an aggressive effort to stop the violence in Chicago.

"We need about $3 million to hire the people we need to do this," Hardiman said.

Banks and the others say they will provide expertise on police and community relations and remedies for decreasing gun violence.

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