Detroit Creates Neighborhood Safety Office to Expand Violence Prevention

New office will centralize the city's prevention strategy and focus on community-driven approaches to reduce violence

Published on Feb. 24, 2026

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Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield has signed an executive order creating the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood and Community Safety, a new city office designed to strengthen the city's violence prevention efforts through a public-health approach that centers prevention, intervention, trust-building, and long-term community well-being. The office will coordinate existing community violence intervention (CVI) programs, conflict resolution initiatives, survivor advocacy, domestic violence prevention, reentry support services, and group violence intervention efforts.

Why it matters

This new office is being created to protect the gains Detroit has made in reducing major crimes like homicides, shootings, and carjackings, which reached historic lows in 2025. It aims to further strengthen the bridge between government resources and community-based safety organizations to ensure every neighborhood has the tools and support it needs to be safe and thrive.

The details

The Mayor's Office of Neighborhood and Community Safety will be supported by a $200,000 grant from the Hudson-Webber Foundation and will be led by longtime community advocate Teferi Brent. The office will focus on strategies that are coordinated, data-driven, and responsive to community needs, with six major service areas including CVI, conflict resolution, survivor advocacy, domestic violence prevention, reentry support, and group violence intervention. A key priority will be addressing domestic and intimate partner violence, which accounted for 17% of homicides in Detroit last year.

  • The executive order creating the new office will take effect on April 7, 2026.
  • In 2025, Detroit recorded its lowest total of criminal homicides since at least the 1960s.

The players

Mary Sheffield

The mayor of Detroit who signed the executive order creating the new Mayor's Office of Neighborhood and Community Safety.

Teferi Brent

A longtime community advocate who will lead the new office as director, bringing over three decades of experience in community organizing, faith-based leadership, and business management.

Donald Rencher

The president and CEO of the Hudson-Webber Foundation, which is providing a $200,000 grant to help develop the coordinated, community-driven violence prevention infrastructure for the new office.

Negus Vu

The president of The People's Action community organization, who says Detroit is the first city to devise a comprehensive strategy from the Mayor's Office specifically designed to address domestic violence and intimate partner violence-related fatal and nonfatal shootings.

Dr. Keisha Allen

The CEO of Black Family Development International Training Institute, who emphasizes that lasting peace requires neighborhood-level tools like restorative conflict resolution, not just crisis response after harm has already happened.

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What they’re saying

“True safety starts in our neighborhoods when people feel seen, supported and valued. Our ultimate objective is to serve as a bridge between governmental resources and community-based safety organizations. We believe in a whole-of-government approach that eliminates silos and makes critical resources more accessible to our first responders and community leaders.”

— Teferi Brent, Director, Mayor's Office of Neighborhood and Community Safety

“Hudson-Webber Foundation is proud to support the City of Detroit in strengthening a coordinated, community-driven approach to violence prevention. We know that sustainable public safety is achieved when residents, community organizations and government work together. This new office represents an important step toward building the infrastructure, trust and long-term strategies necessary to ensure that every Detroit neighborhood has the opportunity to be safe, stable and thriving.”

— Donald Rencher, President and CEO, Hudson-Webber Foundation

“Detroit is the first city to devise a comprehensive strategy from the Mayor's Office specifically designed to address DVI and IPV-related fatal and nonfatal shootings. That leadership matters. It sets a precedent. It sends a message that we are not waiting for solutions, we are building them.”

— Negus Vu, President, The People's Action

“If we truly desire sustainable, peaceful, and safe communities across Detroit, restorative conflict resolution must be a foundational strategy within our neighborhoods, not an afterthought. I commend the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood and Community Safety for recognizing that real safety is co-created with the community through restoration, engagement, and proactive conflict resolution.”

— Dr. Keisha Allen, CEO, Black Family Development International Training Institute

What’s next

The judge in the case will decide on Tuesday whether or not to allow Walker Reed Quinn out on bail.

The takeaway

This new office represents an important shift in Detroit's approach to public safety, moving beyond just law enforcement and toward a comprehensive, community-driven strategy that addresses the root causes of violence and builds lasting peace in neighborhoods across the city.