Ex-con “violence interrupters” hired in some of the Big Apple’s roughest neighborhoods to stop crimes before cops get involved are getting millions of dollars worth of free therapy, The Post has learned.
NYC has shelled out $1.2 million of a $6 million contract with Agape Moments LLC to create the “Strong Messenger Program,” providing counseling to the interrupters, often ex-cons with violent histories dispatched to quell tensions between gangs they may have once belonged to.
So far, 18 therapists have provided 1,100 hours of group therapy to 32 non-profit organizations, reaching 360 individuals. The contract is funded by the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene until 2030.
Clinicians provided more than 390 hours of individual therapy sessions to the violence interrupters upon request, according to Agape, whose name comes from the Greek concept of “unconditional love.’
Individual violence interrupters can receive up to 24 therapy sessions per year,” according to the contract, inked in 2024 under former Mayor Eric Adams.
“Investing in the mental health of our community workers is a direct investment in the long-term success and stability of New York City’s public safety infrastructure,” insisted the New York City based group.
Critics bashed the lefty program is siphoning money away from the NYPD and achieving very little.
“What the f–k do they need therapy for?” a police source raged about the program. “The majority of violence interrupters have criminal pasts.”
The city shells out nearly $100 million annually for its Crisis Management System, which includes more than 20 non-profit Community Violence Intervention groups, according to a city comptroller’s report last year.
One community violence intervention group that receives city funds employed an ex-con killer who cops say slashed a man in the Bronx last month, The Post revealed.
The Bronx Rises Against Gun Violence worker — Mario Munro — allegedly attacked a stranger around 3 p.m. May 5 near the nonprofit’s Boston Road office, police sources said. He was arrested May 28, according to court records, and charged with assault, weapon possession and menacing. He pleaded not guilty and bail was set at $40,000 cash or $100,000 bond. He was sent to Rikers Island jail.
Supporters say interrupters are better able to communicate with potential trouble makers and defuse disputes before they escalate because they share similar backgrounds to the offenders. They point to city data that shows shootings and crime are down in some of the city’s most notorious crime hotspots.
A Health Department spokesman said, “Violence interrupters are a vital part of the Mamdani administration’s response to conflict.”
The Strong Messenger program “supports the mental and emotional health” of the violence interrupters “as they handle stressful and violent conflicts,” the statement said. “This program helps make violence interrupters more successful, creating a safer city for New Yorkers.”
John Jay College of Criminal Justice adjunct professor Michael Alcazar, a former NYPD detective, said the counseling services for violence interrupters were redundant because police already deal with violence and have counseling services available to them.
“I think it’s just an extra bankroll,” said Alcazar. “It’s just something they’re adding onto the city’s budget when they could get it on the cheap because cops are already doing it.”
Additional reporting by Nick Labbat