Street Beat |
We asked this question at the Laurel Community Festival on September 7: |
"What ideas do you have for solving the issue of violent crime in Oakland?""Get Jesus in there. If we could come together and get God in our lives, get unity. If you see some crime, tell the police. If we could get together to gather as a community if we could tell the police what's going on." Deedee Jones, Laurel resident, at Victory Outreach"I wish I had a solution, Fortunately, the violence on my street has gone down. Now, there's only an occasional water-balloon fight. On street-sweeping day, we remind each other to move their cars. Neighbors are watching out for each other." Aaron Taylor, Laurel resident, at Victory Outreach"Victory Outreach goes to the street right where there's crime and drugs. We rally with a bull horn target areas that are drug-infested. We do street evangelism. I was helped by that outreach. Many of us here were." Linda Jackson, West Oakland resident, at Victory Outreach"Been trying to figure that out for a long time. Citizens are afraid to get involved. They live in the neighborhood so are afraid to testify. We need more citizens who are not afraid." Herman Walker, Oakland police officer, at patrol car demonstration"I really don't know. I was gonna say take away guns."Anthony Akins, Laurel resident, at Victory Outreach"Besides hiring me? More police awareness, visibility."Spiderman, webslinger-at-large, at balloon-tying demonstration"Outreach. Everyone would be saved. They need to know how they could love their brother. We do that with this free lunch the second Saturday of the month. We share our faith." Gwen Bryant, Laurel resident, at Cornerstone Missionary Church lunch program"Don't know if I have anything groundbreaking. Have to educate people. It has to be the individual's responsibility. The people who are discussing it aren't the problem. They need to be made to understand they are destroying their own people. Have to start out with the perps." Jason O'Neill, KISS-FM, at Albertson's"More community involvement, more groups. Community elders need to go to schools, let them know what's going on. Start in the fifth or sixth grades and up. The majority needs home training." Raymond Henderson, grocery manager, at Albertson's"Try to convince them not to fight." "Walk away." "Tell them to stop. Leave us alone." "Only fight if it's really necessary." "Only fight when being attacked." The girls of Laurel Jujitsu, Laurel business, at Albertson's"I don't know. It seems like the more they cut back on money for schools, the more kids have less to do. Should do more funding for school programs give them something more constructive. The number one question we get is 'Do you have something for kids after-school programs?' This stuff used to be all in the school system." Norman Gee, Fruitvale resident, Oakland Public Theater table"Taking care of the kids when they are little. Don't wait until they shoot each other. I believe in spending money on them when they are two, not when they are 22. But nobody seems to care. We've got to work with them every day." Shirley Masengill, bookstore volunteer, at Laurel Book Store"Government and personalities cannot solve the problem of violence and crime. What it requires is community participation and activism. We're doing that between High St. and Fruitvale with three NCPCs and with a Safety Collaborative at Bret Harte Middle School and the elementary schools that feed into it." Don Marks, Laurel/Dimond resident, at Kids are Street Safe table |
