![\"Justin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/95ffa778-5e95-4091-a1d0-21b59f3a8f6f_1727473118.png\")
<\/a>ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014<\/p>\nWESH 2 Investigates is learning of a major shakeup at the City of Orlando\u2019s Community Violence Intervention (CVI) program. <\/p>\n
The CEO of the nonprofit Operation New Hope sent a message to community partners on Thursday saying they have \u201csuspended operations\u201d and \u201cterminated all program staff, including leadership, field coordinators, neighborhood change agents, peacekeepers, mental health therapists, and job coaches.\u201d <\/p>\n
“Since assuming responsibility for the contract in January, we have encountered numerous employee arrests, significant breaches of trust, and a lack of accountability that have compromised the integrity and effectiveness of the program,” Operation New Hope CEO and President Reggie Fullwood said. <\/p>\n
A source close to City Hall said there was a meeting on Friday to discuss this situation. <\/p>\n
WESH 2 Investigates went to the nonprofit\u2019s Orlando office on Friday afternoon. <\/p>\n
Fullwood declined to speak on camera, but he said that, in total, 12 full-time and 5 part-time staff were let go on Thursday. <\/p>\n
Fullwood also confirmed 32-year-old Crystal Lawson had worked for the gun violence prevention group as a neighborhood change agent. She is the former state juvenile justice probation officer accused of leaking confidential information to drug traffickers. <\/p>\n
It is unclear how Lawson\u2019s arrest might connect back to CVI, but the state fired her in 2022 after eight months on the job because of a battery arrest. <\/p>\n
Her new arrest report from the Orange County Sheriff\u2019s Office states, \u201cthe Department made a clerical error upon her termination and did not terminate her CCIS access or notify CCIS of her termination.\u201d <\/p>\n
CCIS is the Comprehensive Case Information System that tracks court records, criminal histories, and inmate information. <\/p>\n
Investigators said Lawson continued to access the sensitive court database and then used information she uncovered to tip off a group trafficking fentanyl. Lawson posted her more than $1 million bond last Sunday. <\/p>\n
She\u2019s now facing more than 100 felony charges of unauthorized access to a computer system. Again, it is unclear how Lawson\u2019s alleged crimes could connect to CVI. <\/p>\n
WESH 2 Investigates has no other details on other employee arrests that the Operation New Hope CEO referenced in his statement. <\/p>\n
Since launching in 2023, WESH 2\u2019s “Saving Our Streets” has highlighted CVI\u2019s mission to save lives and make Orlando neighborhoods\u2019 safer. <\/p>\n
“We’re dealing with the guys that are committing the gun violence or most likely to be the victim of gun violence,” the program\u2019s strategy manager Raysean Brown said in a 2023 story. <\/p>\n
The city launched CVI in November 2022. <\/p>\n
Then in 2024, the program expanded from five neighborhoods to eight neighborhoods after the city accepted a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. <\/p>\n
Now, there are many questions about what\u2019s next for CVI. <\/p>\n
“We appreciate the opportunity to serve the City of Orlando and remain committed to restoring this program in a manner that reflects the highest standards of integrity, accountability, and impact,” Fullwood said in his message to community partners. <\/p>\n
A spokesperson from Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer\u2019s office sent WESH 2 Investigates the following statement: <\/p>\n
\u201cThis city has been made aware that Operation New Hope, our contract partner for the Community Violence Intervention program, has temporarily paused its Orlando program while it reorganizes its operations. City staff remain in close communication with the organization to determine next steps for relaunching the program. <\/p>\n
The city remains committed to supporting at-risk youth and strengthening the safety and well-being of our community. Through initiatives such as the Community Violence Intervention program, we continue to focus on reducing gun violence, enhancing public safety, providing wraparound services and investing in youth who are at the highest risk, helping them access the resources and opportunities they need to succeed.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Orlando gun violence prevention program suspends operations as entire staff is terminated ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 WESH 2 Investigates…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351667,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[143813,187,119869,143812,60025,130111,143808,143811,143810,12115,143809,139,141,35797,140,12841,918],"class_list":["post-351666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-ccis-access","tag-city","tag-community-partner","tag-community-violence-intervention","tag-confidential-information","tag-crystal-lawson","tag-cvi","tag-fullwood","tag-gun-violence-prevention-group","tag-investigates","tag-nonprofit-operation-new-hope","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-neighborhood","tag-orlando-news","tag-program","tag-wesh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}