TREAT MURDER RATE AS HEALTH ISSUE

DreShawna Davis was a trooper. A healthy child who hadn't lived long
enough to believe she wasn't supposed to thrive amid such unhealthy
circumstances.

Her mother was serving time in prison on a kidnapping conviction. Her
grandmother was struggling to rear her in a neighborhood where random
gunfire often creates a macabre symphony that sends children her age
scrambling beneath the bed. Yet the plucky 8-year-old became one of
the top readers at Lola Culver Elementary School; she read enough
books to win herself a bicycle.

But in July, the sick atmosphere claimed her by way of an errant
bullet - an all-too-common carrier of the epidemic that has claimed
more than 100 lives this year.

Which is why I've always believed that violence ought to be seriously
treated as a plague. As a public health problem. As something that a
child like DreShawna can "catch," without having done anything to cause it.

As something that people like the killers who sprayed DreShawna's home
with bullets spread without any understanding about their risks for
spreading it.

And I'm glad that Bob Harmon, the head of the Duval Health Department,
believes that as well.

"What we would like to do is help in collecting [crime] data," Harmon
told me. "Not the typical kind of police data, but on victims, the
suspects, and the kinds of things connecting them."

Harmon told me that the department, which is working with the
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, will create a violent death review
team, which would take a deeper look at circumstances surrounding
homicides and suicides.

That means studying the relationships between victims and
perpetrators, as well as looking at the social context that led to the
slayings.

"We'll look at how a history of victimization, substance abuse,
learning defects and disorganized neighborhoods all play into this,"
Harmon said.

Their findings will be fodder for solutions.

If, for example, a hospital treats a disproportionate number of young
people from a certain community for gunshots and stab wounds, that
indicates a high likelihood of homicides.

If the health department has that data, it might be able to develop
some sort of intervention program that deters them from such a fate
- -or identifies those who are at risk for embarking on the kind of
grudge-driven, random shooting spree that killed DreShawna.

Or, for instance, let's say that people are getting shot and killed
over grudges that stem from feeling disrespected. Maybe someone builds
a case for more esteem-building programs and mental health
intervention in stressed communities; the kind that show people that
it isn't worth it to kill -or to risk being killed - just because they
had a bad breakup.

Broken hearts keep beating. Dead ones don't.

"I like the idea of trying to deal with crime through the lens of
public health," University of North Florida criminologist Michael
Hallett told me. "Because when you see profoundly high
disproportionate rates of violence in certain areas, that means it's a
public health issue."

But Hallett said ultimately, what the health department will find is
that much of the violence, especially the violence in Northwest
Jacksonville, is related to stresses that are piled on by poverty and
low self-esteem.

"They're [people who struggle against violence] less likely to form
strong social bonds, which are indicators of wellness," Hallett said.
"Folks who have resources have more stability ... they're able to have
a long-term agenda."

While I like what Harmon is doing, I worry whether the community will
have the will to follow. Because it will take money.

Usually, this is the part where the callousness and hypocrisy comes
out; folks cringing at the thought of more government "programs," and,
at the same time, scoffing at any suggestion that the private economic
sector has any responsibility toward combating the social and economic
maladies that often feed the violent culture that killed DreShawna.

In their minds, black children like her are collateral damage.

Yet, no one should have a problem committing money toward helping the
health department battle violence. For one, its results will be
scientifically measured.

Gun buybacks, for instance, may take some guns out of the hands of
peaceful people, but they do little to take the urge to kill out of
the hearts of people who are on the edge.

Anti-violence marches and rallies only mean something to those who
attend - which means that the organizers often wind up preaching to
the choir. And the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is geared more toward
reaction, not prevention.

That's why I like this idea of treating violence as a sickness. In the
end, they ought to find answers for an epidemic that has claimed
children like DreShawna.

And leave little room for excuses not to.