Hot spot cards are available in Youngstown

YOUNGSTOWN — Community leaders announced a partnership Tuesday with the Youngstown Police Department to provide “hot spot” cards to the public to address crime.

“This card was initiated to let a focus be on what is going on in our community,” community leader Bobbe Reynolds said during a news conference in front of the Youngstown Police Department.

“It’s an opportunity for our residents to report any type of suspicious or what they may consider illegal activity anonymously,” she said.

“The cards are to help the community, along with the police, address and cooperate with any type of activities that would bring harm or unsafety to our community. It is to reduce violence, create safety and it’s an opportunity for you to do it anonymously.

“You don’t have to be concerned with … your name being out there,” Reynolds said. “There are times when you feel like, ‘I can’t report something,’ and we don’t want that to happen. Too often we are too afraid to speak up, and we shouldn’t be. We should come boldly to speak up, and this is a way to do it without any type of repercussion with your name being out there.”

The cards will be distributed to various organizations, such as Youngstown City Council, the police department, libraries, neighborhood organizations, churches and even laundromats.

“Trust me, we are taking an active interest in making sure your concerns are being addressed,” she said.

The cards can be mailed to the community group ACTION (Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods) Community Task Force or emailed to actionoh@aol.com. Additional cards can be obtained by calling 330-775-9884.

This is the second time ACTION has deployed these cards. This time, it hopes to make the program available countywide.

Police Chief Carl Davis said the cards are one of several outreach efforts involving the police department.

“One thing I hear in the community is, people are afraid to come forward out of fear of retaliation, retribution. But these hot spot cards are another tool to have people voice their concerns or report problems. Our role in the police department will be to scan the cards … then assign it to the proper agency in the police department.”

Community liaison Malik Mostella of the Youngstown Police Department said his position is designed to “interact directly with the community so the community has direct access to us in a different way than what it has had in the past.”

He said the police department does a lot more than arrest people.

“We spend a lot of time in the community. We coach. We donate things … but we do it quietly,” he said.

Bishop Alice Hartman, pastor of Christ Dwelling Place Church in Youngstown, said: “Basically we need to go back to old school, where if somebody walked on your neighbor’s porch, and you know they weren’t there, you need to call.

“You need to take back your own homes. You need to know what’s inside your home, who’s coming in your home, who’s going out. Because if we can take back our homes, we can start with our neighborhoods,” she said.

“We all know what’s in our neighborhoods. All you have to do is take that card and tell. Then your kids can walk the street and go to the grocery store and come back alive. It’s up to us. It’s our city.”

erunyan@tribtoday.com