Community trouble-makers are cowards, federal prosecutor tells Youngstown residents

YOUNGSTOWN

Collaboration was the word heard over and over again at a safety summit held on the city’s South Side.

Various law enforcement agencies and community members came together Saturday to discuss ways to combat crime and get criminals off the street.

The event, at St. Dominic Church, was meant to bring together neighborhood block watch members and law enforcement officials to help facilitate communication among the groups and to talk about specifics of crimes, said Jon M. Holloway, head of the Mahoning Valley Violent Crimes Task Force and FBI supervisory special agent.

The FBI is an organization focused on long-term investigations, Holloway said, but noted it is working on a strategy to address issues in the short-term.

Councilman John R. Swierz, D-7th, now that law enforcement officials have trust in residents in the neighborhoods, the residents "have to step forward and realize that there is some risk. However, the benefits outweigh the risks.”

David Toepfer, a federal prosecutor, agreed.

“I understand fear,” he told attendees. “But the bad guys in a community are more afraid of you than you are of them. They are cowards.”

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