Clergy to city: Fund our programs to fight violence, or else

[hippiechick]

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061019/LOCAL/610190467

Clergy to city: Fund our programs to fight violence, or else
Group wants $25 million or says it will slow stadium work


About 50 mostly black ministers threatened Wednesday to slow work on the new Colts stadium unless the city pledges $25 million a year for community-based anti-violence programs. The ministers said they were frustrated that Mayor Bart Peterson has so far declined to commit to their plan to pour money into programs run by the faith community.

Bishop T. Garrott Benjamin of The Light of the World Christian Church said the group wants to work with the Peterson administration to help stop crime. But he criticized the city for supporting a $1 billion project for a new stadium and expanded Indiana Convention Center while not finding a fraction of that amount to invest in its citizens. "The city seems enamored with bricks and mortar," Benjamin said. "We love our city and our Colts, and we're excited about the new stadium, but it becomes for us a symbol of our oppression."

<snip>

The ministers' campaign comes as early jail releases, a rise in crime and a slew of homicides this year have drawn attention to the need for greater crime-fighting resources. Last month, the City-County Council passed a $1.1 billion budget that calls for $36 million in new anti-crime initiatives.
Peterson has worked closely with the ministers' group so far, joining them for peace walks and other activities to push community ties.

Their action Wednesday -- a closed-door meeting with the mayor, followed by a news conference without Peterson and in which they announced their plan -- signaled a chill in that relationship that could pose a public relations challenge for the mayor.

... more at link ...

[izzybeans]

1. I agree

there is no way they are going to stop this pattern of violence without doing more than taking punitive policing measures.

Peterson needs to do more than participate symbolically in peace walks. The rise in crime and homicides is not unique to Indianapolis; it is common to every city experiencing a concentration of poverty within particular neighborhoods of the city. Spending money on infrastructure, schools, and local business expansion would be more important than the Carl Brizzi method of rounding up the children after dark. The neighborhoods experiencing this increase in crime need more than police, they need the resources that sustain a vibrant community. There is only so much a small group of concerned citizens, like this minister's group, can do alone.

[hippiechick]

2. Absolutely - and what really curls my toes ...

... is that Mitch and Brizzi and all the Puggies are trying to lay this 'crime spree' at Bart's feet - like no other city in the country is experiencing anything like it.

Anyone with half a brain cell knows the relationship between a bad economy and rising crime rates.
Between lack of educational opportunities and rising crime rates.
People who can't put food on their families or see a way out of the hood by traditional means, will use whatever means they can, to survive.

And the constant barrage of "you're with us or against us"/bomb 'em back to the stoneage bullshit on the MSM only reinforces to average peeps that hey, the only way to get yours is to bust a cap in someone's ass. Negotiate? Reasoning skills? Nonconfrontation? That's for sissy liberals.

Argh. I hate how far this country has regressed in the last 5 years. :cry: