Demonstrators protest city's crime rate
The mayor said he shares the protesters' frustrations.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- About 25 residents, mostly from the city's East Side, picketed along Boardman Street to protest the city's crime rate, with signs reading "Quality of Life?" and "More taxes, less protection."
"I don't feel safe because of the shooting," said Jackie Adair, an East Sider, referring to a June episode when a man inside of his house was shot in the leg. Much of the problem stems from one house in the neighborhood, she said Wednesday.
Maggy Lorenzi, a community activist and member of Southern Block Watch, believes it's an issue of the city's priorities.
"They're not prioritizing," said Lorenzi, referring to the city administration. "The main priority to them is business, but substantial, private businesses will not come to a city with crime like this."
Lorenzi ran for mayor in 2005.
Adair said that she and neighbors have gathered license plate numbers of vehicles they suspect of being used in criminal activity and that she even called police when a man with an outstanding arrest warrant was at a neighbor's house, but that police didn't respond.
"I want federal officials to come in here and help us clean up things," Adair said. "This is nothing different than when the mafia was running things."
She said she's met with police Chief Jimmy Hughes and Mayor Jay Williams about the problems.
Mayor's top priority
Williams said he shares the protesters' frustrations.
"Every day when I come to work and even on weekends when I'm not at work -- and I think this is true for the police chief too -- it's my No. 1 priority," he said.
That's part of the reason he and Hughes attended a summit on crime Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington, D.C. Williams said he's also spoken with Greg White, the U.S attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, about federal assistance.
White asked Williams to provide data about crime and other information, which White will review. Williams said that he couldn't go into specifics about the possible assistance, but that manpower is something that is on the table.
Williams also said he believes the city and Mahoning County are close on working out an agreement on space at the Mahoning County Justice Center.
The city is also conducting background checks and plans to hire six additional police officers, the mayor said.
Calls for community effort
"To a certain extent, this is a community problem and it's going to take a community effort," Williams said.
He referred to the Aug. 19 peewee football game, attended by hundreds of people, where a man was fatally shot. Witnesses were slow to come forward.
No matter how many police officers the city has, employing whatever innovative investigative strategy, it's limited by people's apathy and unwillingness to step forward, Williams said
He said he believes a multitude of factors figure into the city's crime problems including economics and blight, and the city is working to address those as well.
"If it was just one easy solution to the problem, it would have been done decades ago," the mayor said.
Lawrence Underwood, another protester, said that when police do respond to calls, it's not enough to address the problems.
"It's not adequate simply because in order to stop the big things, they have to deal with the little things first," Underwood said.
He cited driving without licenses and other offenses that may be perceived as minor. Often, the same perpetrators of the smaller offenses are committing the major crimes, he reasoned.
Underwood said he was also frustrated with what he sees as a perception in parts of the public that the minority community doesn't care about crime and other problems in the city. "We do care," he said.