Neighborhood Associations Sponsor Community Forum on Shootings
The Eastside Pioneers, Meadow Park and Slatterly Park Neighborhood Associations invite you to a community wide forum on the epidemic of neighborhood shootings in Rochester. The forum will be at 7 PM Sept 11 at the Boys and Girls Club, 1026 East Center Street, in the gym. These are some of the local officials that will be present: Steve Thompson, director Rochester Police Department Narcotics and Gang Unit, Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem, a representative from Victim Services, City Housing Inspector Susan Legare-Gulden, and Olmsted County Sheriff Chief Deputy Mark Darnell.
Elected officials and candidates for public office are strongly encouraged to attend. Given the time limitations, we will only have time for introductions of elected officials and candidates, there will not be time for speeches.
Our neighborhood associations are alarmed at the rising tide of drive-by shootings in Rochester. We feel threatened in our homes and in our neighborhoods. We want at a bare minimum to feel safe in our homes and free enough to walk, unafraid, through our neighborhoods. We strongly believe that the primary function of our city and county government is to provide public safety. These driveby shootings are a threat to our public safety. They are not a fad, as some would say, committed by a select few, but instead represent a disturbing trend in public violence that threaten not only to destroy our neighborhoods but the economic viability of our city as well.
It is our desire to hear from law enforcement, the county attorney's office, victim services, the city housing inspector's office and others with regards to the shooters and the shootings they committed not only in our neighborhood but throughout our community. We feel that each one of these public officials from the various service agencies might be able to supply us with answers as to why it happened and what we can do, collaboratively, to keep it from happening again.
The neighborhood associations are seriously committed to improving public safety. We are currently developing committees that will address a number of issues, including public safety issues, across neighborhood boundaries. We are also developing a request for a systematic approach for city and county government to address public safety issues. Our September 11 meeting, at the Boys and Girls Club, represents the beginning of a concerted effort by Rochester's neighborhoods to seek collaborative efforts to improve public safety and to enhance the quality of our neighborhoods.
Kevin Fleming has created a blog on the subject be sure to check it out at:
http://blahblahrochestermn.blogspot.com/2008/09/broken-windows-and-shots-fired.html
