While the weight of the police force can put a stopgap to gang culture that leads to arrest, the agency has expanded its use of anti-gang groups that, while not necessarily falling under the NYPD, have been given carte blanche to stymie gang violence. And they’ve begun to make their way to the 52nd Precinct.

David Caba, program director for Bronx Rises Against Gun Violence (BRAG), falling under the umbrella of Good Shepherd Services, leads the newest anti-gang initiative within the precinct’s borders. Introducing the group at the 52nd Precinct Community Council, Caba said his group will be omnipresent in the Kings- bridge Heights, Fordham and Univer- sity Heights sections of the precinct, known to the Five-Two as Sector B.

“You’re gonna see us walking around, up and down, mediating conflicts, stopping the violence. Yes, we’re going to work with the crews on this side, that side, the other side,” said Caba of BRAG employees at a 52nd Precinct Community Council meeting on March 28. “You will see that we’re supported in a major, major way.”

BRAG embraces the Cure Violence model, created by a Chicago-based epidemiologist who treated gun violence as if it were a disease, identifying carriers that can spread its gang message.

As they’ve done so across the Bronx, BRAG’s role largely involves reading the terrain, catching any hint of any reprisals shortly after a gang-related attack has occurred.

Hitting the pavement around some gang hotspots is one aspect to the initiative. Much of BRAG’s success—which worked well in the 46th and 47th precincts in the last few years—is credited to so-called “credible messengers,” once hardened gang members who have reformed, sharing the consequences gang life has left on themselves and the communities they live in and building trust. It’s that hallmark that sets it apart from the Police Department, taking an outsider’s approach to ridding street gangs.

“They’ve been shot and sent to the hospital, almost died. Some even on our team have flatlined and came back twice,” said Caba, whose office within the 52nd Precinct will be opened at 1 E. Fordham Rd. this month.

Stopping beefs from touching off is delicate work. For Caba, recruiting from within the community is an essential component to their success. Their firsthand experience in gang culture, and the understanding into the mindset of that culture, serves as major tools toward quelling any violent encounters. BRAG staff usually adapt their hours according to when gangs usually operate—mid-afternoon into the late evening. Caba and his team usually adjust their hours during the weekend, operating from 4 p.m. to midnight.

Being proactive is the preferred method for BRAG, which has established anti-gang programs at MS 15, East Fordham Academy of the Arts and Walton High School. Should a gang-related shooting happen within its catchment area, BRAG enters into first responder mode that lasts three days.

BRAG dispatches “violence interrupters” to the scene to assess the crowds, identify any known gang members that can share information

to determine any hints of retributive action by a rival gang. Specially- trained responders are then sent out to the local hospital (for BRAG, it’s St. Barnabas Hospital), where they interact with families and offer serviices depending on several factors. This can include whether the victim is a gun owner, affiliated with a gang, or had done time for gang-related activity. Not all gang members take BRAG’s offer, which includes help in obtaining employment, education, job training, or mental health services either in the office or off-site.

The third day following a shooting, BRAG holds a demonstration with community stakeholders equipped with signs and a bullhorn as a way of calling attention to the violent incident. “The community has the full power to stop that, to reject that, to make sure that disease of violence does not spread,” said Caba.

In steering young people away from gangs and guns, BRAG also offers a free, 12-week recording studio program funded by Councilman Fernando Cabrera where young people learn the inner workings of the music industry.

As BRAG hits the streets hoping its message of reform resonates with gang members, Rev. Loren Russell is taking on a different tact similar to BRAG, relying on a contingent of federal authorities, prosecutors, and community-based groups to spread an anti-gang message to the city’s more high-risk offenders.

The program, dubbed “Ceasefire,” is a variation to the cure violence embraced by BRAG. For Ceasefire, that involves convincing gang members to reform or face stiff consequences, including serious jail time if convicted by a federal grand jury.

Drawing gang members into the program usually happens during a “call in,” where local precincts reach out to gang members on parole and probation and ask them to arrive to a meeting. The presentation, usually organized every three months, often involves a forewarning on the consequences to gang violence.

“The choice is up to them whether or not they will take it. It is up to them. I ask them and I encourage them. I said look, ‘I am out here not because I get paid. I am out here because I love