Mpls. officials meeting with anti-violence group

Minneapolis city officials are meeting Thursday with members of CeaseFire, an anti-violence group from Chicago.

The group trains and then pays community activists and ex-gang members to work as so-called 'violence interrupters' in troubled neighborhoods. Outreach director Frank Perez said the program has helped reduce violence in parts of Chicago, but he said local community groups and city leaders will have to decide if CeaseFire's model will work in Minneapolis.

"We're just here to try to impart some wisdom or some knowledge of something we've been doing for a few years that's working for us and share it with you," Perez said. "And of course, your city is different from another city so I expect you to tweak it and twist it the way you want."

Minneapolis officials invited CeaseFire to come to the city. There have been 31 homicides in the city so far this year, most of them shooting deaths.

The city had 19 killings in all of last year.