We'll know soon enough whether the Pittsburgh Initiative to Reduce Crime is having the desired effect. After more than a year of delays, the program was rolled out last week at the Federal Courthouse, Downtown.

Counselors, social workers, grieving mothers, ex-gang members and cops took turns addressing 55 of the most influential members of nearly 40 active street gangs in Pittsburgh, young men who had already proven themselves willing to take disputes with rivals from other neighborhoods to tragic heights.

The gang members were treated to tears, admonitions, words of encouragement, appeals to conscience and blunt warnings. They were promised opportunities for job training, drug rehabilitation and access to life skills they will need to grow beyond their limited opportunities in gangs.

Mostly, they were given straight talk about what is likely to happen to them if the shooting doesn't stop.

Fifty-five gang members now know that the community has officially run out of patience with them. They understand that they will be scrutinized like never before when the next body drops.

These young men also have an inkling of what it will mean to be hit with both federal and local charges. Those convicted will be sent to prisons far from the social networks they depend on. They will be effectively isolated from friends and loved ones for years.

The homicide rate fell more than 45 percent between 2008 and 2009 in Pittsburgh, but the shooting hasn't stopped. Because it is based on successful programs in other cities, the Pittsburgh Initiative may be the final element needed to make gang violence and murder the least appealing option available to young men with guns.

It may take a few weeks for word to spread, but it will. Once it does, those who choose to ignore it will have no one to blame but themselves. The Pittsburgh Initiative brings much-needed focus to the goal of eliminating destructive gang warfare in the city. It is our best tool in decades to deal with the problem.

Cartoonist Rob Rogers does "Rob's Rough," an early look at his work and his creative process, exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.