YOUNGSTOWN — On a computer monitor in Youngstown Municipal Court on Tuesday, about 20 men in danger of being in prison some day or recently released from prison were shown a video taken in 2022 from an Ohio State Highway Patrol aircraft in Youngstown.

It showed males running through neighborhoods while fleeing from officers on the ground during one of the saturation patrols that have been conducted for several years to address violence in the city.

It showed how effectively an officer in the air can track a fleeing suspect and relay information to officers on the ground and make an arrest.

Guy Burney, executive director of the Youngstown Police Department’s Community Initiative to Reduce Violence, was lead organizer of the event, referred to as a “call-in” because young males who have been referred to him for the program are called in to hear a message about opportunities to get out of the criminal justice system and get their lives on track.

Burney recruited city law enforcement officers, prosecutors, members of the Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force, clergy and community-resource advocates to give presentations.

“We have a lot of help for you,” Burney said of the main message given to the participants. “But if you choose not to take the help, then the other alternative is being involved in saturation patrols, the judicial system. The things that are not good for your life.”

Burney said the participants will get choices.

“We want to provide the resources and help for your family and turn your life around and live a nonviolent life. But the alternative is law enforcement and prosecution that make sure our streets stay safe,” Burney said.

The program has been shown to be 80% effective in keeping young men out of trouble and out of prison. The programs have been held a couple of times per year in Youngstown for many years, Burney said.

He estimates that a “couple hundred” people so far have gone through a call-in. “It works if they work it,” he said.

Among the people who are called in are people with a violent offense in his or her background, or connected to the Adult Parole Authority because of an earlier prison sentence, and they may be coming home from prison, “and this is a second chance. So we want to catch them before they make the decision to be separated for a long time,” Burney said of family members and other loved ones.

“The best thing is they are able to access the resources on site” on Tuesday when they are at the municipal court, Burney said. They were able to enter a second room containing personnel with the community organizations providing help and sign up Tuesday for an appointment.

Among the groups there to offer help were United Returning Citizens; Home for Good; the Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board; Mahoning County Department of Job and Family Services for help with child support issues’ and Flying High, which provides help with jobs and skills development.

Got an interesting story? Email Ed Runyan at erunyan@vindy.com.