Over the past year, Lexington saw a 10% decline in homicides and a 68% decrease in reported shooting victims ages 10 to 29. It's in line with a more broad downward trend nationally since the peak of the COVID-19 crisis, but Carama said there's reason to think ONE Lexington's approach is yielding more durable results.
"While most places saw a 15% to 20% decrease in gun violence, Lexington saw about a 55% decrease. What that tells me is that it was more than just the post-pandemic leveling, that we're doing something special in Lexington," he told the Urban County Council.
Carama said his team is now working with UK to track data which could paint a clearer picture of correlation versus causation when it comes to the trend lines.
Council members also dug into audit results, specifically asking about expenditures and the use of a pro card. City officials clarified the nature of one incident that took place over the course of a few days when the city card was used improperly, self reported, and repaid.
Carama said mistakes of that kind have been found and corrected.
"If you look at the audit, the majority of those issues were 2022, and there were no perpetual issues. Everything was one offs," he said. "It was 'This happened. We learned from it, and it hasn't happened again.'"
ONE Lexington is preparing to update its strategic plan and will gather input from community forums, surveys, and a city wide planning session. The results won't be implemented until 2026.
Read the full report.
