Homicides in Youngstown demand public discussion

Two headlines in Tuesday's edition of The Vindicator make clear why crime should be the top issue in this year's mayoral race in the city of Youngstown. On page 9 of the first section, under the label "Across the nation" there was this: "Murder rate drops to lowest level in 40 years, FBI says." Then on the front page of the Local Section, under the label "Youngstown" the headline read: "Banquet addresses high homicide rate."
Although the national story was based on the FBI's crime statistics from 2004, the overall decline in the nation's murder rate was not a reflection of what occurred in Youngstown. Last year, the city recorded 22 homicides -- three more than in 2003. By comparison, the national rate dropped 3.3 percent from the year before.
In other words, the city bucked the trend in 2004. And that bucking has continued this year.
On Oct. 20, Youngstown recorded its 30th homicide -- twice the number at this time in 2004.
What is causing the crime epidemic? What should be done about it?
Those two questions should frame the debate in the mayor's race, which features front-runners Robert F. Hagan, the Democratic nominee, and Jay Williams, a registered Democrat running as an independent, and four lesser candidates. It isn't enough for the person who would succeed Mayor George M. McKelvey to speak in generalities.
If, as law enforcement officials contend, the root cause of the murders in Youngstown is the illegal drug trade, what steps would the next mayor take to make the city drug free?
'Connect the dots'
On Monday night, during the Peace Award Recognition Banquet sponsored by the Mayor's Task Force on Crime, Hagan, a state senator, expressed concern about the violent crime rate and added, "We need to connect the dots." He noted that some agencies are not connected, which creates a gap that results in duplication of services.
But is the consistently high homicide rate in some areas of the city the result of agencies not communicating as well as they should, or is there a deeper reason for some neighborhoods being taken over by drug gangs and becoming war zones?
The rising homicide rate in Youngstown feeds the perception of the public, especially in the suburbs, that the city is unsafe and should be avoided. If that perception is allowed to grow, the results could be devastating -- especially with regard to the new convention center downtown.
The success of the center depends on suburbanites attending the concerts and other events and supporting the SteelHounds hockey team.
That is why the mayoral candidates should be taking about crime in detail. At the very least, such discussion sends a message to the residents of the Mahoning Valley that whoever succeeds McKelvey will move quickly to not only put an end to the killings, but will deal aggressively with the underlying illegal drug activity.