Saving our young people
After the murder of multiple teenagers this past week, several families are reckoning with the terrible burden of burying a child. Unfortunately, they’re not alone. As of June, half of this year’s homicide victims were 18 or younger.
Our community is all too familiar with the pain of losing our loved ones to gun violence. For decades, far too many men, women, and children have been taken from this world by these acts.
I know the community is ready to end the violence. In order to do so, we must bravely confront the root causes. What spurs people to take a life? How can we reverse it?
We know that law enforcement is one component. We must have a proactive, well-trained, and high-functioning agency. That’s why the city has raised salaries for police officers and fire fighters. This makes our salaries more competitive with other departments across the state, helping us recruit and retain officers. We have also invested in signing bonuses for first responders. New hires receive a certain amount for joining the department along with additional funding for every year they remain on the force. This also boosts recruitment and retention.
In terms of training, the city is currently renovating the old library building at the Civic Complex, now known as the Detective Kevin D. Collins Center. With these renovations, we’re building a new police training center. It will offer classroom spaces that enhance the way Pine Bluff trains and prepares its officers for the challenges they face. Additionally, we’ve invested in FLOCK cameras that have allowed the department to solve crimes that otherwise may not have yielded enough evidence to be resolved.
Yet while strengthening local law enforcement is necessary, it’s still not enough. We can’t police our way out of crime. We must also transform the hearts and minds of people who are at risk of engaging in violence.
That’s why the city is investing in the Group Violence Intervention (GVI) Program. It’s a partnership with the Pine Bluff and Watson Chapel school districts, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Sixth Division Juvenile Court, Southeast Arkansas Behavioral Health, and the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. A director was hired in January, and is now in the early stages of building the program.
Now, one may ask, what will the GVI Program do? It’s responsible for going into our schools, juvenile court, and streets to connect with young people. In those interactions, GVI workers and volunteers must find out the needs of youth on a personal caseby-case basis, and guide them to resources they need to walk the right path.
Resources include mentors, jobs, workforce training, and even mental health services. This program is about going directly to young people at risk of either committing violence or being victimized, and connecting them with the help they need. The program is an evidence-based strategy that has reduced crime in other communities.
In fact, as members of the GVI Team, we visited several communities earlier this year to learn from their experiences with GVI strategies as we build our own program. Their programs have experienced encouraging success.
GVI is the first program of its kind that we’ve implemented, but we need these new strategies. Because the truth of the matter is that young people are crying out for guidance and resources to navigate the difficult situations they face.
To reduce violence, we must also equip young people for opportunities that exist. When kids graduate without knowing how to read, do math, or operate in the labor force, their options in life are limited. They’re more likely to join violent groups in search of purpose, survival, or even a livelihood.
To reverse this, we must boldly transform the educational experience in Pine Bluff. Schools must be orderly environments where students are safe and where they are learning. At the same time, we must do more to prepare students for the workforce, from giving them the support they need to earn advanced degrees to teaching special skills like welding, engineering, and plumbing for those who don’t attend college. It also means teaching them soft skills like how to dress for work and show up on time.
The city has worked to do its part in this by partnering with organizations that build young people up, like the Boys and Girls Club of Jefferson County. Last year, we enacted an agreement that has allowed the club to conduct youth programs in the Pine Bluff Community Center, expanding the number of kids we’ve been able to reach. We’ve continued the Summer Youth Employment Program as well. This summer we placed 100 young people in worksites around the city. Our goal is to increase this number next year.
We know the city must do more, but we’re also keenly aware that local government alone can’t save our children. Parents, guardians, mentors, pastors, and neighbors must also act. Saving our children ultimately requires that we transform our culture, and instill in young people the knowledge, values, and work ethic they need to thrive.
In closing, my heart breaks for the lives we lost this past week as well as those before them. We all have work to do. To hear more about the city’s plans for the future and to speak out, I invite everyone to attend a special town hall on the GVI Program and how it connects to law enforcement and the community at 6 p.m. Aug. 22 at the Pine Bluff Convention Center.
We have a sobering challenge before us, yet we also have the capacity to meet this violence head-on and save our children.