(This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.)
Keith Moore is no longer director of the Office of Violence Prevention for the City of Montgomery.
Monday morning, Cody Clark, a spokesman for the mayor’s office, confirmed that Moore no longer works for the city. Clark added that the city doesn’t comment on personnel matters.
Moore was hired as director in December 2021, according to his LinkedIn page.
The Office of Violence Prevention is charged with working to strategically reduce gun violence by promoting opportunities for at-risk young people and strengthening community-police relations. That includes working in partnership with government, non-profit, neighborhood and faith organizations utilizing data-driven programs to address community needs and implement violence intervention, the description on Moore’s page states.
More: Montgomery wants an end to violence, but new city team's work has just begun
“I’ve been at the scene of homicides, suicides, car accidents,” Moore said in a 2022 Montgomery Advertiser article. “I’ve been to everything. I’ve seen everything. It’s a lot of crisis intervention.”
Moore established the office and worked with Ro Tyus Hollyfield at an attempt to bring peace to Montgomery. In a city, where most residents hear bullets nightly, Moore was a safe haven, community members said.
Moore and Tyus Hollyfield worked together in Montgomery schools to keep students from turning to violence.
The pair led Stop the Violence walks in the community sometimes weekly. They went into poor neighborhoods offering hope and a solution, neighbors and city council members have said. “The walks are not just walks," Tyus Hollyfield said in an article naming her a Montgomery Advertiser Community Hero.
In 2023, the city saw an uptick in youth violence. The same year, 75 people died by homicide in Montgomery, former MPD Chief Darryl Albert said in February. That number was up from 62 in 2022, and it was two less than the total of 77 Montgomery police reported in 2021.
“It really saddens your heart," Tyus Hollyfield said in the article.
Several shootings by teens have shaken the community in the past year. Police charged a 16-year-old boy with murder in connection with the shooting death of another 16-year-old boy who died Sept. 10. The city has been horrified by the shooting death of 16-year-old Michael Anthony Cole Jr. Amy Dicks became paralyzed when a stray bullet hit her at a traffic stop.
During a recent city council meeting, Mayor Steven Reed upped funding for the Office of Violence Prevention . However, community members say it is not enough.
The mayor also unveiled a plan to curb violence by investing $6 million into local organizations and Live Free USA, a nonprofit whose numbers show how it has helped cities such as Baltimore and St. Louis, whose murder rates have always topped Montgomery.
But still, people hear and see violence frequently in Montgomery. Two people were arrested after reports of multiple people shooting into the air Saturday during Alabama State University's homecoming festivities, but no one was injured.
For the people of Montgomery, the Office of Violence prevention has been a godsend, City Councilwoman Julie Beard said in a recent meeting.
More: Community Hero Ro Tyus Community Hero Ro Tyus Hollyfield answers the call for city in need
Calls placed to Beard and Tyus Holyfield were not immediately returned Monday.
“We’re kind of eight to 10 years behind the curve,” Moore said, in 2022, of the city’s plan to stop violence.
“... When harm happens there should be some accountability, but public health is not in opposition to policing except where there is police violence. We should be doing more on the front end to prevent violence. It’s not rocket science. We know what the ingredients are.”
A cell phone listed under Moore's city email had been disconnected Monday.
Kirsten Fiscus contributed to this story. Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Keith Moore out as head of the Office of Violence Prevention for the City of Montgomery
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