Rotary and Rotaract Clubs Host Panel Providing Perspectives on Gun Violence
RCB President Chuck Redden with Rotaract President Jessica Poor, Danny Carr, and Rotarians Chris Nanni, Dr. Mark Wilson and Prim Escalona
The Rotary Club of Birmingham welcomed a panel of experts to provide “Perspectives on Gun Violence” this week during a joint meeting with the Rotaract Club of Birmingham. Rotarians Prim Escalona, U.S. Attorney, and Dr. Mark Wilson, Jefferson County Health Officer, joined Danny Carr, Jefferson County District Attorney, for a discussion moderated by Rotarian Chris Nanni, Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham President & CEO on the public health crisis and potential community-wide solutions.
“The Birmingham Police Department reports that overall crime this year is down in comparison to last year. However, homicides have spiked to potentially all-time highs,” said Nanni. “Things that factor into the prevalence of violent crime…high rates of poverty…a system historically predicated on punishment versus restoration, a mental health epidemic, domestic violence epidemic, an immature form of conflict resolution among our young people, and—for good or bad—the prevalence of guns.”
Carr shared his personal experience of losing his brother to gun violence. He said, while it is important to hold people accountable for their actions, it is even more effective to prevent crime before it takes place. He stressed the importance of enabling opportunity, creating partnerships within communities, and keeping kids in school.
“The reality is you can’t arrest your way out of this, you can’t prosecute your way out of this,” said Carr. “You try to effect the community by changing the trajectory of their lives. That’s why we thought about doing the Second Chance Job Fair. Because people are going to come out of prison and if they get hope, they get livable wage jobs, then what happens is they become credible messengers in your community.”
Escalona explained how federal law enforcement works to support safer local communities.
“The most important thing to know is that, in any given community—and it’s true for Birmingham and Jefferson County—about 80-90% of the crime is committed by about 7% of the population,” Escalona said. ”We work with our local law enforcement partners to identify those individuals who are driving crime. We’re not here to prosecute just for the sake of prosecution numbers. We’re here to drive down violent crime.”
Dr. Wilson shared plans for the Jefferson County Hospital-Linked Violence Intervention Program to launch in early 2023, with representatives from the Offender Alumni Association trained to work with victims while they are in the hospital to prevent further incidence of crime after they are discharged.
“You’re intervening in the lives of people after they have survived a violent or assault injury, in most cases a gunshot wound, while they are still recovering in the hospital,” said Dr. Wilson. “The premise is that this is a time when people are going to be most vulnerable and most amenable to getting help and turning their lives around.”
The panelists discussed the importance of supporting victims of domestic violence, through programs like Operation Safe Families and One Place Family Justice Center, as well as holding offenders accountable with Protection from Abuse orders. Escalona shared the high rate of correlation between domestic violence and violent crime.
"It’s 74%. What we know is that if you are violent in the home, you will be violent in the community,” said Escalona. “It’s a danger to our families, it’s a danger to our law enforcement, and it’s a danger to our community.”
Bio for Danny Carr
District Attorney Danny Carr was elected in November 2018 as District Attorney for the Tenth Judicial Circuit of Alabama. Before his election, Carr became the first African American appointed as District Attorney in Jefferson County Birmingham Division and also served as Chief Deputy District Attorney. His work began as a prosecutor with his office after graduating from Miles Law School in May of 2000. Since being hired, he successfully prosecuted thousands of felony cases in circuit, district, and juvenile court in Jefferson County. Carr has been admitted to practice law in the Alabama Supreme Court and United States Supreme Court. He has also been admitted to practice law in the Federal Courts in the Northern and Middle Districts of Alabama.
Carr has lectured and trained local police officers and sheriff deputies in the area of courtroom procedure, victimless prosecution of domestic violence cases and the Criminal Code of Alabama. He has served as an adjunct professor in the area of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure at Jefferson State Community College and Professor of Law at The Birmingham School of Law where he teaches Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure. Carr is also a former faculty member at the National Advocacy Center for a new prosecutor, which is located at the University of South Carolina, where he instructs new prosecutors from all over the United States in the various areas of trial work. He is a current instructor at Miles College School of Law where he teaches Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure.
Carr served as a board member at the Western Area YMCA and CITY program. He is a current board member at the Maranathan Academy (school for at risk youth) and Prescott House. Carr was selected to work with the Y Achievers program sponsored by the YMCA. Carr was featured in the Small Business Magazine regarding the opening of his barber and beauty salon in the Ensley Area along with his various other community and civic work.
Carr attended Council Elementary and Jackson Olin High School. Carr received his undergraduate degree from Alabama State University and his Juris Doctorate Degree from Miles College School of Law. Carr is also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. In 2010, Carr was selected by his peers as one of the top 100 Attorneys in the State of Alabama and top 40 most Influential Males in Jefferson County. In 2021, Carr received the Charles Colson Servant of Hope Award. Carr received the 2022 Crime Stopper of the Year Award.
Bio for Prim Escalona
Prim F. Escalona was appointed as U.S. Attorney on July 16, 2020. Prior to joining this Office, Ms. Escalona held multiple leadership positions within the Department of Justice, including in the Office of Legislative Affairs and the Office of Legal Policy. Ms. Escalona also helped establish and manage a new Department component, the State and Local Law Enforcement Coordination Section.
Prior to her tenure at the Department of Justice, Ms. Escalona served as Deputy Solicitor General in the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Alabama, was a visiting assistant professor at the University of Alabama School of Law, and worked in private practice. Ms. Escalona also served as a law clerk for the Honorable William H. Pryor Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Ms. Escalona received her law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law, where she graduated summa cum laude and Order of the Coif. Escalona received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Birmingham-Southern College, where she graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.
Bio for Mark Wilson, MD
Dr. Mark Wilson became Health Officer of Jefferson County, Alabama in 2011, overseeing the wide array of programs at the Jefferson County Department of Health. Before taking this position, he served on the Jefferson County Board of Health for three years and worked for over 20 years as a general internist in indigent health care at Cooper Green Mercy Hospital in Birmingham, including several years as outpatient medical director and then chief of staff.
He earned a Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree from Georgia Tech and his medical degree from University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. He received his internal medicine residency training at Emory University in Atlanta and Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.
Since coming to the Jefferson County Department of Health, his priorities have included advancing health equity, improving birth outcomes, expanding infectious disease control services, advocating for tobacco-free policies, addressing the drug addiction and overdose crisis, supporting the development of the Red Rock Trail System to facilitate outdoor activity, and more recently, establishing a public health strategy to help address gun violence. He has also worked to expand partnerships between the health department and other community organizations to pursue common goals related to public health.
During the most active part of COVID-19 pandemic, he co-led the Jefferson County Unified Command pandemic response along with the county Emergency Management Agency director. On several occasions he issued countywide public health orders and recommendations to help reduce community spread of the coronavirus.
Bio for Chris Nanni
Chris believes that philanthropy is an essential tool in addressing critical issues. He is interested in evolving the Community Foundation’s grant making to be proactive in resolving community problems. Given the incredible generosity of our community and manageability of our issues, Chris believes the Foundation is strategically poised to help build a more just, prosperous and equitable community.
Chris joined the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham as President and CEO in February 2014. As the largest foundation in the state with assets of more than $270 million, the Community Foundation connects philanthropists, nonprofits and engaged leaders to build a stronger more vibrant future for the five-county Greater Birmingham area. The Foundation’s mission is to, “ignite passion for transformational change.”
Chris has over 30 years of experience in nonprofit and community work and a deep-seated passion for philanthropy. Contributing to his effectiveness in the foundation realm are the many years he has spent in the nonprofit sector running organizations and programs dealing with such issues as addictions, homelessness, poverty, and education. One of the most impactful experiences was the two-and-a-half years he spent in the Dominican Republic doing mission work along the Haitian border.
Chris has a Master’s Degree in social work from the University of Chicago and a Master’s in cross-cultural theology from Catholic Theological Union. He earned his bachelor’s degree in theology and Computer Applications from the University of Notre Dame where he was a walk-on for the men’s basketball team.
Originally from Buffalo, NY, Chris met his wife, Allison, while at Notre Dame. They have three children: Marcello, Louie and Maria. They reside in Homewood and are excited to live and work in the Birmingham area.
Click here to watch a WBRC FOX 6 news story covering the discussion on gun violence at the Rotary Club of Birmingham.