-
Login
-
Digital Edition
-
Print Edition
- Most Commented
- Most Commented
- Most Emailed
- Most Emailed
- Popular
- Popular
« News Home
Operation Cease fire offers Youngstown citizens hope
TweetEven though a small minority of the city of Youngstown’s population is responsible for the seemingly intractable crime wave, the impact on the community has been devastating. There are neighborhoods where gun battles between gangbangers is common place, while Youngstown’s national reputation continues to be defined by the comparatively high homicide rate.
But there is hope today — in the form of a crime-fighting initiative that has shown great success in cities such as Boston and Cincinnati. At the heart of the approach is the admission that “traditional law enforcement techniques aren’t working,” as city Prosecutor Jay Macejko said during a recent seminar on Operation Cease Fire. “We can’t arrest our way out of it, and we can’t incarcerate our way out of it.”
Or as Mayor Jay Williams told the gathering of 70 law enforcement personnel, neighborhood leaders and community activists, “It is painfully apparent that there are no quick and easy solutions to crime and violence.”
Which is why city government has turned to Dr. David M. Kennedy, director of the Center for Crime Prevention and Control at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City and one of the founders of the crime-fighting program that was launched in Boston 15 years ago.
The bottom line of Kennedy’s presentation: If you give people a sane way out, a majority of the hardcore population will take it.
How does a community do that with individuals who live by the gun? The answer can be found in the approach developed by Kennedy and others that has three components: the role of law enforcement; involvement of social-service professionals; and the participation of community leaders.
Face-to-face interaction
The strategy involves face-to-face interaction with offenders. The key is to let them know that individuals and services are available to help them change their behavior, while emphasizing that their actions have consequences.
One of the most attractive aspects of Operation Cease Fire is the way law enforcement deals with criminal situations. If a member of a street group or gang shoots someone, police not only pick up the shooter, but every member of the group who may be wanted on warrants, nonsupport of children or other charges.
“This is not negotiable,” Kennedy said. “Law enforcement needs to say, ‘You’re going to put your guns down. When a body goes down, go after the entire group from which the shooter came.”
In Youngstown, there are about 28 street groups with a total of 500 members.
The city hopes to launch Operation Cease Fire — the formal name is Community Initiative to Reduce Violence — in the spring.
Along with this initiative, the city needs some help from Washington.
We believe the community-oriented policing program, which was in effect during the Clinton presidency, should be resurrected by Barack Obama next year.
Indeed, Vice President-elect Joe Biden was the architect of the COPS program which put 100,000 police officers on the streets of cities such as Youngstown.
The program was dismantled by President Bush, but come January, President Obama should move quickly to restore funding.
Comments
Youngstown had their highest per capita murder rates ever during Clinton's administration.
We'll see what Obama does for the Valley.
The challenge is to remove the thugs from the streets while NOT infringing on everyone's 2nd Amendment Rights. The fact that there are gun-toting criminals out there should make honest people who are interested in protecting themselves want to carry their own gun.
The way to handle the gun-related crime here (or anywhere) is to focus on the crime and the criminal, not the fact that the criminal had a gun. Yes, the sentence can be stiffer if a gun was used in the commission of a crime, but to simply strip honest people of their means of protecting themselves against armed criminals (who will never surrender their guns) is the wrong way to approach the situation. One has only to look at Chicago, where even owning a gun is banned. Yet their homicide by firearm rate is higher than many cities that recognize the 2nd Amendment. It's obvious THAT's not working.
The Vindy wrote: "Indeed, Vice President-elect Joe Biden was the architect of the COPS program which put 100,000 police officers on the streets of cities such as Youngstown."
Didn't Youngstown get caught not using the COPS money properly? Hmmmmm...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washingt...
“We can’t arrest our way out of it, and we can’t incarcerate our way out of it.”
With that attitude then we have no need for police forces!Alternative lifestyles gain legitamacy! Now we will negotiate with them? Criminal behavior is learned behavior. They need to be taught that their ways will cause them pain. Lets stay heavy on the consequences!
Not that I disagree with you Stan, but where exactly will we put them?
I read every day about jail overcrowding and inmate law-suits, etc. They seemed to have completely clogged our legal system with complaints that may be frivolous, but have to be answered and dealt with anyhow.
Seems to me that one of our biggest problems, not only in Youngstown, but nationwide is that we scream "Jail Them!" for everything from J-Walking to Murder, but ignore the practical realities of what it actually takes to incarcerate a person. Unless we are willing to hire someone like Joe Arapaio (sheriff of Maricopa County / Phoenix Arizona), I don't see this situation getting better any time soon. I dont really care for Sheriff Joe's methods, but I gotta admit - he does get the job done.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Arpaio (check out the section on "Changes to Operations").
I believe we need to either get the costs and overcrowding problems under control or more carefully choose what we consider to be offenses that require jail time.
One Who Stayed, I see nothing wrong with taking the Sheriff Joe Arpaio approach. The former South High School field house and football stadium would make a great place to set up a minimum security 'tent city' with the field house providing the cafeteria, showers, medical facility, offices, etc.
I don't think violent or repeat offenders should be in such a facility (because they require a higher degree of security), but the non-violent ones who should be incarcerated ought to be fine there.
My feeling is that if we can make prison an even more uncomfortable place than it already is, maybe the criminals will try harder not to end up there.
If they aren't jailed then they get bolder and they murder at will. Crime is a learned vocation. They have to be taught that their ways will cause them a loss of freedom! Put them in prison and have them make license plates and other things. Teach them how to work and make them earn their keep. Most criminals have never filled out an application for employment and have just roamed the streets to do their thing.