Gunfire pledge earns DeKalb national recognition

Marquel’s Pledge, a community initiative to raise awareness of the dangers of celebratory gunfire, has earned DeKalb County a national award.

The National Association of Counties honored DeKalb with its 2011 Achievement Award for the effort. The initiative was created last year after 4-year-old Marquel Peters was killed by a stray bullet as he say in his church on New Year’s Eve.

This year, DeKalb saw 47 percent drop in the number of 911 calls for gunfire during New Year’s Eve.