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Managing Editor SPRINGFIELD The need to address gang violence in schools and the return of foot patrols and community policing were just two of the reoccurring points made by Springfield residents at the first meeting of Mayor-elect Domenic Sarno's transition team on public safety. Headed by District Attorney William Bennett, the discussion was conducted at American International College (AIC) Wednesday night. Although crime prevention had been a major point in the Sarno campaign, only about 20 people turned up for this initial meeting. The speakers frequently mentioned the need to prevent crime by working with students and often demanded that parents be held responsible for their actions of their children. Dan Brightwell, who owns a business on Wilbraham Road near AIC, told the committee that while he has never had a break-in at his business, he has found bullet holes in his building on two occasions. When asked what he would recommend, Brightwell said that he would like to see more walking patrols, especially in the summer. Michelle Stewart, who is an elementary teacher in the Springfield school system, said she was concerned about the influence of gangs in the city's schools. She said that although gangs are not in the elementary school, as the mother of a High School of Commerce student, she knows they are in the high schools. She said that students are afraid to come forward to identify gang members who have committed an offense and that more police are needed in the high schools. The two officers assigned to Commerce, for example, are not enough. Stewart added that teachers are not trained to stop fights and have difficulty teaching when they must try to deal violent behavior. As a parent, she said there is notification about such actions as shutting down the school's cafeteria for a week after an incident of gang violence, but there is no follow-up. Stewart's husband, Benson, said, "The mentality of kids today is very different than when we were kids." Today young people are driven to get the consumer products they need for status, he explained. "None of the old stuff [approaches to youth crime] is going to work," he added. He recounted how his niece was going to be the subject of an attack by other teenage girls at her part-time job and noted the mothers of the girls who were intending to beat her up were the ones that drove them to the location. Thomas Hodge, who works with young people, said that committee members should go into the schools and listen to children themselves to understand the problem. Surveillance cameras in schools were a solution offered by Willie Johnson, who added that security officers rather than police officers should be used in schools. Johnson was one of several people who said the city should adopt a district-wide uniform plan to prevent students from wearing gang colors to school. "If they not in uniforms, they're out of school," Johnson said. Ruben Davis III, who works as a counselor at the Hampden County House of Corrections, even suggested that students going to Commerce where traditionally the curriculum was to prepare students for the business world should be wearing ties to school. Davis said the closing and the erosion of attendance of ethnic festivals in the city is due in large part by the actions of children and teens. "They have no respect," he said. Part of what he does is to work with inmates on developing pro-social skills and morals, he said. Inmates have asked him why they didn't receive such training when they attended schools. Davis said that penalties for crimes should be harsher as the same people are coming in and out of the correctional system. Bennett said the committee will have more meetings but did not release a schedule. | ||||||
