Atlanta security fee will get outpouring of suggestions on youth violence prevention

Atlanta safety commission gets outpouring of feedback on youth violence prevention

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The funeral program for Zyion Charles, one of many youths killed on the seventeenth Road bridge over Thanksgiving weekend. (Photograph by Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Dozens of residents from numerous backgrounds commented on the prevalence of youth violence for practically two hours throughout a particular assembly referred to as by Atlanta’s Public Security Fee.

Public audio system stuffed an Atlanta Metropolis Corridor committee room Tuesday night time after town referred to as a particular assembly to obtain enter and methods for combatting youth violence in Atlanta.

The three-hour assembly was referred to as after Zyion Charles, 12, and Cameron Jackson, 15, have been fatally shot in Midtown on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. 4 different minors additionally have been injured through the incident. And on Saturday, 77-year-old Eleanor Bowles was fatally stabbed inside her Buckhead dwelling.

Three teen suspects have been arrested in connection to the Midtown taking pictures. A 23-year-old man was arrested in connection to the Buckhead stabbing.

On Tuesday, the moms of youngsters who skilled gang violence mentioned the system is neglecting the group. Former workers from the general public sector mentioned the dad and mom and the group are liable for instructing youngsters proper from flawed early on within the faculty system.

Victims of gang violence advised the fee youngsters are being influenced by fashionable tradition, akin to music artists who’re additionally gangbangers. Nonprofit leaders mentioned the federal government wants to achieve out to the kids that aren’t already collaborating in publicly-funded leisure applications.

A person who mentioned he was beforehand jailed on drug costs advised the committee that Atlanta wants a stronger community-based violence intervention program. Richard Wright, a 2021 mayoral candidate, urged educated Black males to do professional bono group service with youngsters within the metropolis for 4 hours a month.

“We’ve obtained a non secular downside,” mentioned Ken Johnson, a former NFL defensive lineman for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Atlanta Metropolis Councilwoman Keisha Sean Waites urged the nonprofit leaders to contact her workplace to assist town deal with youth violence. Metropolis Councilman Michael Julian Bond mentioned the federal government can’t change what occurs inside of somebody’s home, however he proposed town and the college system enact new legal guidelines regarding youngsters.

“It is a disaster in our metropolis,” Bond mentioned. “There are plenty of issues that policymakers can do for that captive inhabitants that we now have a lot authority over that we’re not utilizing.”

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