Flint mayor creates ambassadors to try to curb violence

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    Flint, MI (WNEM) — People in the community are coming together to curb the violence after more than 100 shots were fired over the weekend in Flint.

“There has to be some kind of structure or the house is going to fall,” said Brandan Jamison, radio personality and Flint business owner.

Jamison is just one of the people selected by Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley to be “ambassadors to the younger people.” Especially in the wake of increased gun violence in the city.

Jamison is working with city leaders and law enforcement to de-escalate tension.

“We’ve come together to kind of give them more structure and highlight the positive events that are going to be going on around here in the city to show that we can have pop-ups without there being issues,” Jamison said.

This past weekend, six people were shot at a pop-up party at Hallwood Plaza, but none of them died. About 3,000 people attended the party.

Jamison said they are working on ways to make parties safe for everyone.

“If we can set it up so that we can do these events and it’s more accessible for law enforcement to get to different areas before things get out of control, then it would be a better situation for everybody. We’ve got some ideas and techniques. For instance, checkpoints. Implement them into pop-up areas. You can’t just let anybody and everybody pull up with drugs and alcohol or things like this will happen,” Jamison said.

Jamison said by the city bringing on people like him who are in the community, hosting these events will have better outcomes.

“We can have positive events here. As long as we follow protocol correctly, we will be fine,” Jamison said.

Jamison said he and other ambassadors will also be working with local medical professionals to make sure they are also addressing protocols when it comes to COVID-19.

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