WASHINGTON (DC News Now) -- The back-and-forth over violence interrupter programs in the District is continuing, after the DC Police Union called on the council to stop giving money to the programs. At the same time, Peace for DC is pushing back, citing the importance of the program. The looming question is: how effective are these programs? There currently is a duo of researchers hoping to answer that question. Daniel Webster of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions and Joseph Richardson of the University of Maryland are in the midst of a lengthy study aimed at figuring out the efficacy of DC violence interrupters. Former DC special police officer indicted for using unreasonable force in arrest Webster spoke with DC News Now and said broadly, these programs do appear to work, though they need to be handled properly. "What the District of Columbia needs to think about is how you can get the best impact from these programs," he said. "You see significant reductions in homicides and in some cases in non-fatal shootings as well. But I'll also say that the reductions are not seen in every single neighborhood." Webster said previous research over more than a decade-and-a-half in Baltimore has shown there is a high upside to these programs -- if done correctly. "These programs can work. It doesn't mean they will always work. You have to do them right," he said. "This work is really hard. It's really dangerous. You have to get the right people. You have to train and support them appropriately." In the DC Police Union letter, in which they call for the cease of funding for all violence interruption programs, it called the programs "another failed concept." 2 DC gang leaders convicted of drug trafficking, gun charges "In funding violence interruption organizations, the Council chose to give millions of taxpayer dollars to shady businesses touting unproven approaches to improving public safety," it says. Meanwhile, Peace for DC Executive Director Marcus Ellis said the programs are "effective and necessary." "We can actually show how our work is, to an extent, complementary to what the Metropolitan Police Department is doing," he told DC News Now. Webster said he is hopeful some early findings from the study will be released by the end of the year. Among the things he has noticed is that there are staffing shortages in some of DC's violence intervention programs, as compared to other cities.