A gun violence prevention program in Orlando, Florida, that received $1.5 million of federal funding abruptly closed down on Thursday after several controversies, including the arrest of a “neighborhood change agent.”
Operation New Hope CEO and President Reggie Fullwood said in a message to the group’s community partners that it had “suspended” operations and terminated all “neighborhood change agents,” as well as peacekeepers, mental health therapists, and job coaches.
Prosecutors said the leaks resulted in lost evidence, unrecovered assets, and at least one suspect fleeing arrest.
A source told WESH-TV that the situation was discussed on Friday at the Orlando City Hall.
“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,” Fullwood said.
He confirmed to WESH that a former state juvenile justice probation officer who was arrested for allegedly leaking information to drug traffickers worked for the organization as a change agent.
Crystal Lawson, 32, was fired by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice in February 2022 over a battery charge. Lawson had been given access to the state’s court records database at her job, and that access was not shut off after she was fired.
An arrest warrant indicated that Lawson was making dozens of unapproved searches on the database and that secret search warrants from the database ended up in the hands of fentanyl traffickers.
Investigators traced the leaks to a person nicknamed “Mel Baby” — and identified him as Melvin Lawson, the father of Crystal Lawson. He allegedly bragged about having the unauthorized access to the state records.
Prosecutors said the leaks resulted in lost evidence, unrecovered assets, and at least one suspect fleeing arrest.
Lawson could face up to 560 years in prison over the 113 felony counts of computer crimes and one other felony count.
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Lawson was given a bond of $10,000 per felony count, which added up to $1.14 million.
She posted bond and was released.
WESH indicated that it was unclear whether the allegations against Lawson were connected in any way to the Community Violence Intervention program.
The city launched the CVI program in 2022, and Saving Our Streets began operating as part of that mission in 2023. In 2024, the program expanded after receiving a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Dept. of Justice.
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