ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones and the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis are asking for the community's help in addressing the violence in the city.
Jones hosted a Thursday event discussing what can be done. It was closed to the press, but she and members of the Urban League were clear in the messaging that despite there being no quick fix, this isn't a time to sit around and hope things get better.
When referencing a weekend shooting in downtown St. Louis that left 11 people wounded and one teenager dead, Urban League Vice President of Public Safety James Clark doesn’t mince his words.
“We are in clear crisis,” Clark said. “This is a situation that doesn’t self-regulate.”
“People don’t want to hear talk,” said Will Pinkney, Director of the Office of Violence Prevention. “Young people don’t want to hear talk. We want action. We’ve talked enough.”
“What we saw play out downtown plays out every day in our neighborhoods,” said Clark.
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones admits there’s no quick fix, but beginning this weekend she’s taking steps to extend hours at the Wohl and Marquette Community Centers.
Jones told 5 On Your Side she got the idea that she got while examining how cities like Newark, New Jersey, and Tampa, Florida addressed crime.
“We have enough youth centers around here, but I don’t think we’re using them properly, or using them as much as we can,” Jones said.
That’s why the Urban League is taking another approach to fighting crime.
“We have tried to fight this from 3000 feet and it just doesn’t work,” Clark said. “We’ve got to focus on the neighborhoods, the front porch and the living room.”
By mobilizing more than 100 faith leaders in the city, Clark believes the Urban League can reach kids before they turn to life on the streets.
“Now is the time to activate the neighborhood church, and strengthen the neighborhood churches outreach ability with social service organizations that can meet the needs of the families that live in walking distance of the church,” Clark said.
“Our babies belong to our community,” Jones said. “We are long overdue to make robust investments in their health and well-being.”
“We can solve this,” said Clark. “We can create the necessary movement to turn it around, but it starts in the neighborhood.”
Mayor Jones is actually issuing a challenge to everyone in the area to come up with solutions that can be implemented not in weeks or months, but immediately.
You can submit your ideas to prevent violence in St. Louis by emailing mayor@stlouis-mo.gov.