April 28, 2026
The Michigan State Police (MSP) today announced that it held its final Youth Violence Prevention Summit in Alpena, marking seven total summits held since last April, reaching nearly 800 high school students across the state. In addition to today’s summit in Alpena, summits were held in Warren, Flint, Grand Rapids, Livonia, Lansing and Detroit.
Organized and hosted by the Office of School Safety, this one-day collaborative forum provided high school students with the opportunity to interact with law enforcement, mental health professionals and others for student-focused lessons and discussions on violence prevention, digital safety, mental health and leadership.
Results from post-event surveys show that 100 percent of students who completed the survey said the youth summit was helpful to their understanding of school safety, youth violence and/or mental health, and 99.5 percent of students said they learned something new at the youth summit. Further, most students identified suicide prevention themes as the most meaningful takeaways from the summit.
"Ensuring the safety and well-being of our young people remains one of our highest priorities," said Col. James F. Grady II, director of the MSP. "I attended each of these summits because I feel strongly we must involve students and give them a voice when it comes to developing solutions for safer schools and communities.”
Funding for the Youth Violence Prevention Summits came from an FY23 appropriation to the School Safety and Mental Health Commission.
About the MSP Office of School Safety: The Office of School Safety is part of the MSP Grants and Community Services Division. The OSS is committed to delivering quality services to schools that promote safe and secure learning environments to reduce threats, build trust and improve the quality of life for K-12 students. Created under the authority of Public Act 435 of 2018, the OSS works in partnership with the Michigan Department of Education.
