In a unanimous 4-0 vote yesterday, San Diego County supervisors committed $250,000 a year to bring the No Shots Fired violence-prevention program to Spring Valley. The board directed the county’s purchasing department to start single-source negotiations with Shaphat Outreach and cleared the way for an initial one-year contract that could be renewed for up to five additional one-year terms, plus a possible six-month extension. The goal is to place credible messengers and rapid-response outreach teams in the East County community to narrow the window after a shooting and head off retaliatory violence before it spreads.
What No Shots Fired Does
According to the County of San Diego agenda packet, No Shots Fired, launched in 2021 in partnership with the City of San Diego, blends street outreach, hospital-based intervention, gang-conflict mediation, wraparound case management and cognitive behavioral therapy-based journaling. Shaphat’s credible messengers serve as violence interrupters, mentoring young people and steering families toward services at county Achievement Centers in Downtown and Spring Valley. County staff said the single-source award would cover personnel and participant costs, a Train-the-Trainer model and program supplies designed to professionalize and sustain the work.
Supervisors And Community Weigh In
Vice Chair Monica Montgomery Steppe, whose district includes Spring Valley, told colleagues that working with organizations residents already trust is key to stopping shootings before they escalate. "By partnering with trusted community organizations, we can interrupt cycles of violence before they escalate and provide meaningful support to those most at risk," she said, as reported by KPBS. Shaphat CEO Cornelius Bowser told supervisors the program has led to "fewer shootings, safer neighborhoods and lives transformed," while frontline interrupters who spoke during public comment described themselves as the boots on the ground already working in Spring Valley.
Costs, Grants And Capacity
The county packet estimates that a single fatal shooting in San Diego County carries a taxpayer cost of about $4.05 million and a nonfatal shooting about $1.3 million, figures officials used to cast the $250,000 annual investment as a cost-effective prevention strategy, according to the County of San Diego. The same documents state that, if negotiations are successful, the funds will be built into the FY 2026-27 CAO Recommended Operational Plan.
Shaphat has also drawn outside support, including a $100,000 grant in 2023 from the Everytown Community Safety Fund that helped stabilize and grow its gun-violence intervention work, according to Everytown.
What's Next
With the board’s blessing, the Department of Purchasing and Contracting will now hammer out terms with Shaphat and return to supervisors with a proposed contract. Board members signaled that if the Spring Valley expansion reduces shootings, it could serve as a template for other parts of the county. Program staff and public commenters said they hope the county’s backing will let No Shots Fired expand and deepen services in neighborhoods most affected by gun violence.
Supervisor Joel Anderson was absent from Wednesday’s meeting, and supporters told reporters they plan to closely follow the contract negotiations, as reported by KPBS.
