Little Village

......Speaking Truth: Town Hall Meeting on Violence

Residents, Community Leaders To Discuss Ways Of Keeping Chicago Safe

CHICAGO (CBS) ― CBS 2 brought together resident and community leaders Saturday night for a town hall meeting to talk about ways to keep everyone safe. The meeting explored gangs, guns and drugs, relationships with law enforcement, family structures and the effects of urban poverty.

The town hall meeting at Kennedy-King College, at 6301 S. Halsted St., was packed with 300 distinguished officials and leaders of the community.

The guest list for the invitation-only meeting included about 70 very high-profile members of the community who were tapped specifically because of their expertise or insights into gang culture or law enforcement.

Among them were: Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Church, Chicago School Board President Rufus Williams, Jesus Garcia, president of the Little Village Development Corporation, and CBS 2 legal analyst Irv Miller.

Gangs, Guns And Drugs
It's been one year since Chicago Police Officer Ron Holt lost his son, 16-year-old Blair Holt, who was gunned down on a CTA bus.

His father is paying tribute to him by participating in tonight's town hall meeting.

"We would like to honor that, in that Blair's death would be looked on as a beacon of hope," Ron Holt said.

He says Blair would have wanted to be a part of Saturday's discussion. Ron Holt says Blair asked him about gun violence before he, himself, was murdered.

"He says, some of my friends at school got killed; I keep reading in the paper and on the news about people my age getting killed, and that was his concern," Holt said.

Holt started a group called Purpose Over Pain after the death of his child. It's composed of a group of parents who have lost their children to gun violence.

"To speak to at risk youth in the schools, out of the schools, at home, to see what we can do in connecting those parents with those children and giving them some ideas on more parental involvement and giving some ideas to youth on how they can stay active, and not finding themselves so prone to gangs, guns and violence," said Holt.

It is the concern for hundreds, if not thousands.

Mayor Richard M. Daley was unable to attend the town hall meeting, but he gave his response to guns via video: "I ask everyone in the City of Chicago - turn in the guns. Get rid of the guns. Secondly, if we can ban smoking in every restaurant in Chicago, why can't we as citizens, not only of Chicago but of America, say we don't need guns in our community? Automatic weapons, AK47s, .357 Magnums are going to solve our issues? If you think a cigarette is dangerous, realize how dangerous a weapon is on our community. It is about time that you tell your Senator or Congressman. It is about time we ban these weapons."

While there is an argument over whether a stricter gun control policy as Mayor Daley advocates, or a less restrictive gun policy such as a conceal and carry law, the proliferation guns in the hands of criminals are consistently pointed out as a major issue.

"Gun violence is national policy. We've lost about 4,000 American soldiers; 4,010 in five years. We lose 30,000 a year at home; 100,000 a year because of this gun policy," the Rev. Jackson said.

Tom Ahern of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives pointed out that many of the guns used for crimes in Chicago are purchased legally elsewhere in the state.

"ATF traces annually approximately 15,000 guns that originated from the State of Illinois," Ahern said. "So that means that of those 15,000 guns that are recovered in crimes within the State of Illinois, they were purchased legally within the State of Illinois. Over 10,000 guns per year that are recovered in crimes in the city of Chicago were also purchased here in the State of Illinois."

But drugs are another, providing the financial lifeblood for gangs.

Many blame the demolition of Chicago Housing Authority high rises, saying drug dealers who used the high-rises were relocated to certain South and West side neighborhoods, where conflict erupted with established drug dealers.

Police And Communities
Police have dedicated extra attention and resources to gang violence in recent years, most notably Targeted Response Unit, a group of officers that since 2003 has moved from district to district to crack down on violence.

Weis said he has taken note of the increase in murders since last year. He added his officers are working on solving the problem by building bonds with all members of the community to help intelligence-based policing.

"We have reached out to all our area commanders and district commanders to tell them to look very hard at what's going on in their districts and areas and try to be one step in front of the criminals. A lot of crime does happen on Friday and Saturday nights, so we go throughout the week trying to identify the most critical areas so we can put the necessary resources in place as a deterrent and to respond quickly in case something breaks out," Weis said.

Weis wants more guns off the streets and more cops on them. He wants to move dozens of officers from desk duty to the streets, and arm them with heavier firepower.

But many residents of high-crime communities say they do not trust police, saying they harass and intimidate residents. Weis has that issue must also be addressed, having made discipline against rogue officers a top priority.

"We absolutely need to have the cooperation, the trust, the confidence of our community to work with us so they'll point us in the right direction," Weis said. "I know there are things that have happened in the past year that have tarnished the confidence… but if you look at those incidents, it's a handful of officers who are doing that."

"I'm here to tell you today that the police officers are here to serve you," Weis added. "But we truly, truly need your help."

Poverty, Education, Employment And Families
In cities across the country as well as rural towns, neighborhoods have fallen on hard times, businesses have left, and residents have sunken into poverty.

The Englewood neighborhood is one such area. The neighborhood was once a rail hub with manufacturing, and street after street of thriving businesses. But that changed many years ago, and police say where this poverty and unemployment, there is also violence.

The Little Village neighborhood on the Near Southwest Side also suffers from extreme poverty.

"So many times, we have to choose between eating or paying a doctor's visit, and many times we have to suffer with certain illnesses instead of paying the doctor," said Felipe Cabran.

Cabran is convinced the poverty that overshadows Little Village is connected to another problem -- the violence that is ripping the neighborhood apart.

Experts say research shows the poorest communities are also the deadliest.

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) said job opportunities were vital to combat poverty.

"Why do we start putting an emphasis on summer jobs -- which is like a month or two of jobs -- when we need on the South Side of Chicago full time, career jobs and career opportunities on the South Side of Chicago?" Jackson said. "I represent some communities where there are 60 people for every one job."

The need for strong family structures was also pinpointed as vital to preventing violence before it starts. As the father of a 4 1/2 month old daughter, Tyrone Forman worries about violence. As a professor of sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, he knows a major cause.

"When the family structure falls apart, I think what happens oftentimes is that something seeps in to fill that gap," Forman said. "People find peer networks are in any way gang-related, you worry about the kids being socialized into the behavior which leads to the kind of gun violence that we're seeing today."

But when the family breaks down, many community centers step up to provide a home away from home, and many say more of them are needed in the communities that struggle most.

A need for strong education is also often highlighted. The Chicago Tribune reported a 44 percent high school dropout rate among Chicago Public Schools.

CPS President Rufus Williams said the dropout rate was unacceptable.

"We need to first focus on education. The truth is the instances that we're talking about are young people on young people, and it's getting younger and younger every year. We know that our short-term and long-term solution is education." Williams said.

Furthermore, Williams said, schools are safe for youngsters.

"We know that our schools are safe. When you look at the statistics of what's happening with children, it does not happen during the time in which they're in school. What we need is an opportunity to have them in school for longer," Williams said.

Signs Of Hope
But with all the frustration and despair that gang violence has brought, there are signs of hope.

Jorge Alfaro was shot at the age of 15 at Kedzie and Armitage avenues when he and his friends were mistaken for gang members. He was paralyzed and now must use a wheelchair, but he did not stay stuck for long.

At the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, he found new mentors who showed him what he could do despite his injury. And now he is part of the peer mentoring program at the institute.

Jorge is glad he took a different path than some of his peers.

"I came from a neighborhood where there was a lot of gang violence, and I chose not to be in a gang, and I made a good life," he said. "I actually like my life today. I love my life."

But the fact remains that violence still plagues the Chicago area, and the search is on for solutions.

Jesus Garcia said reaching out to youth has been beneficial.

"If we're going to do things to make a difference in the community, we have to be respectful of young people and invite them to bring their ideas," Garcia said. "We convened over 450 youth at the Little Village-Lawndale High School and they came from all over the city. What happened? Good things happened."

Legal Analyst Irv Miller said teens need to know the law.

"All the laws in the world are not going to work unless these 15- and 16-year-old kids already know what these tough laws already are, because I am tired of walking into a police lockup -- I am a defense attorney -- and having the kid ask me, 'What am I looking at?'" Miller said. "And I have to light the light bulb for him, so he knows he's going to spend a good part of his adult life behind bars."

You can see the town hall meeting in full in the video clips to the right.