by Joel Addington
Contributing Writer
Gunshots took the life of Dawn Weston’s co-worker and friend last month.
The Northside resident quickly formed Operation SOAP (Save Ourselves and Peers), which took to the streets to march against gun violence.
Weston now wants others to follow her example.
“We hope this will be a lot of walking, not just talking,” she said at Edward Waters College, where the first of two crime and safety forums were held Monday by the Jacksonville City Council’s Public Health and Safety Committee.
More than 150 people attended the forum that lasted close to three hours as businessmen, community leaders and residents gave their views on crime and how to prevent it. However, the question now for many is where do the city, law enforcement and the community go from here?
“We live here and talk with the people here,” said Weston. “The problem is intervention. There are no programs out there for (at-risk youth) before they go to jail. They tell them you can’t get help unless you’re arrested.”
Council member Mia Jones agreed.
“Once they get in the system, it’s like working against the grain,” she said.
Others spoke about improving education, beefing up funding for organizations that make the most impact, creating more job opportunities, re-employment and restoration of voting rights of felons and tougher penalties for first-time offenders.
Rev. Edward King Jr. suggested two very concrete ways to promote what he called “asset development” in depressed neighborhoods.
First, he said the City Council should pass a living wage ordinance.
“And I’m not talking about $6.50 or $8.50 an hour,” said King. “I challenge the City to think about that.”
He also asked Council members to require that City contractors hire a minimum percentage of their workers from Jacksonville zip codes with high unemployment rates.
“It’s something we can do to increase assets of the poor,” he said.
Businessman Jack Dodge called for better communication between the public and law enforcement and more frequent meetings like the one held Monday night.
“If we met on a quarterly basis, once every three months, we could not just talk about what we want to do, but get updates on what we are doing,” he said. “Let’s stop talking about this and start doing it.”
The next Forum on Crime and Safety is Dec. 10 at 6 p.m. at the Wayman Ministries Spirit of Life Worship Center, 1176 Labelle St. For more information, call Council Director Cheryl Brown at 630-1452.