Summertime brings violence

Summertime brings violence

The Youngstown Police Depart- ment will launch its campaign against violent crime on Tuesday, a week before the official start of summer and not a day too soon.

The city already has 12 homicides this year, which is more than some years at this time, less than others. But one thing that can be counted on from year to year is that summer is a dangerous season in the city. Even in years when special efforts are made to discourage gang activity, eight or nine people, disproportionately young, black males, die violent deaths in the city between mid-June and mid-September.

In a city that has seen 23, 21, and 24 murders in 2011 2010 and 209 respectively, that means slightly more than a third of the homicides occur in the summer months.

Stepped-up patrols

Police Chief Rod Foley says the Violence Interruption Patrols will include city, Mahoning County, state and federal law enforcement officials and will target high-crime areas. Officers will be on the lookout for probation violation, illegal weapons possession and gang-related activity.

While the summer months account for about a third of the homicides, about half — regardless of the time of year — are gang-related or retaliatory.

That suggests that no matter how much policing is involved, there is a larger need to break the cycle of violence that is tied to gangs and drug trafficking. That cycle is not broken on the street, it is broken at home.

No child is born into a gang. At some point, he made a choice to join, and no elder was in a position to stop him.

When there is no structure of discipline at home, schools and churches and social service agencies provide the best level of support that they can. But it is at best only a substitute for family support.