Mayor Andre Dickens announced the appointment of Marcus Walker as Director of the Office of Violence Reduction. The Mayor’s Office of Violence Reduction (MOVR) serves as the City’s staff resource for violence reduction and community-based intervention and coordinates a comprehensive effort to reduce violence—especially with guns. As Director, Walker will ensure MOVR expands the Mayor’s efforts to address the interruption and disruption of violence as part of his whole of governmentOne Safe City initiative.

“From the onset of our Administration, we have invested in policies and initiatives like Policing Alternatives & Diversion (PAD), Midnight Basketball, our Year of the Youth, School Break Safe Spaces, stood up the City’s Nightlife Division and broke ground on Atlanta’s first ever Center for Diversion and Services to make sure there are alternatives to address the systemic issues that can lead to criminal activity,” said Mayor Dickens.

“The Office of Violence Reduction will complement these initiatives and implement proactive data-driven, community-based programs to address the root causes of violence. Marcus is a trust builder, he’s a worker and together, our Administration will continue to bring down crime and keep our streets safe.”

Marcus Walker brings experience in violence reduction model implementation, project management experience, community and organizational development and more.

Most recently, Walker served as the Violence Reduction and Public Safety Policy Advisory for the Kansas City, MO Mayor’s Office. There, he led the Public Safety policy advisory team for the Mayor and oversaw the implementation of their violence reduction model. Through programs like CeaseFire and Cure Violence, data and research were used to develop objectives to advise the Mayor on criminal justice and public safety matters that build coalitions and relationships with the community—including faith-based organizations and advocacy groups. He also developed public safety community law enforcement models and methods to re-imagine policing policies.

“Atlanta’s integrated community-based focus to reduce violence offers the opportunity to utilize best practices and innovation as part of the violence reduction strategy. I look forward to working with the Administration and Atlanta community,” said Walker.

Prior to serving in Kansas City, Walker was an Executive Fellow for FUSE Corps in San Francisco, CA, the Executive Director of a violence reduction non-profit in Austin, TX, and has consulted and organized violence reduction efforts in numerous cities.

Walker’s Appointment is effective August 17, 2023.

To learn more about Mayor Dickens’ public safety initiatives, visitOneSafeCity.com