BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — With homicides dropping sharply and a new grant proposal underway, Bakersfield officials say they are working to strengthen prevention programs for at-risk youth and continue the city’s fight against gun violence.
For Alicia Davidson, that effort is personal. She turned to the Wendell Davis Foundation to help guide her teenage son, Zevin, away from negative influences.
“My son really doesn’t have a lot of positive male role models in his life,” Davidson said. “I wanted him to see something different — to experience positive figures who could guide him.”
Davidson said Zevin was arrested earlier this year, though he was not the one who committed the offense. She worried he was starting to glorify street life, but said she noticed a shift after just one mentoring session.
“At first, he resisted it,” she said. “But then he realized, it opened his eyes. I see the difference in him — it’s like he’s waking up.”
City Manager Christian Clegg said Davidson’s story reflects a larger community effort to save lives and reduce gun violence.
“The value of a life is unquantifiable — saving lives is priceless,” Clegg said.
According to city data, a single deadly shooting costs taxpayers more than $4 million on average. That includes over $15,600 for crime scene response, $88,500 in hospital and emergency care, nearly $200,000 in court costs, and $3.5 million in incarceration, in addition to victim support and lost tax revenue. Non-fatal shootings cost about $1.5 million each.
“If we’re able to prevent one homicide, that’s a savings of $4 million,” Clegg said. “If you’re able to prevent 20 homicides, those are enormous savings.”
The city credits its Office of Violence Intervention and Prevention, along with partnerships with the Wendell Davis Foundation, Garden Pathways and Community Action Partnership of Kern, for helping drive a drop in homicides from 50 three years ago to less than half that today.
Those partnerships began in 2022, when Bakersfield received more than $3 million from the state’s Board of State and Community Corrections. To continue the progress, the city is applying for a new $5 million California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) grant.
Officials said the funding would expand outreach, strengthen partnerships and target individuals most at risk for gun violence. Clegg said the city also hopes to address other growing concerns, including domestic violence, robberies and homicides among the homeless population.
For Davidson, the measure of success comes down to her son’s future.
“They showed him people care — that he has options,” she said. “It’s changed him, and it’s given me hope.”
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