PEORIA — High levels of concern about youth crime and violence in Peoria were voiced Wednesday night at a Peoria Park District Board meeting where dozens of community members gathered to express their anxieties, fears and potential solutions to the issue.
The discussion about violence, specifically violence among young people, was prompted by Peoria Park Board Board President Robert Johnson, following two shootings at Peoria parks, one of which left a 17-year-old dead at Bradley Park.
Those gathered Wednesday night included pastors, parents, outreach workers and a host of others who all, at the very least, agreed on one thing: Something needs to change in Peoria.
“I am hurt and very, very disappointed in what is going on in our city today,” Peorian Evelyn Young said Wednesday night. “Solutions, I think we need to beef up the police department more, we need stricter laws, we need parents getting more involved. We need more for the young people to do.”
Young, and many of the other speakers, talked about how much things have changed in Peoria and at Peoria parks since they were children growing up in the city. Some speakers said they do not feel safe at Peoria parks any longer, while others said they still felt like the parks were safe spaces and the real issues at stemmed from root causes of crime, like poverty, plaguing Peoria’s youth.
On April 26, 17-year-old Jarvis Allison Jr. was shot and killed at Laura Bradley Park. Earlier that same day, two other teens were shot and injured at Stadium Park on the 500 block of East Lake Avenue.
Irene Lewis-Wimbley, the director of the Southside Community Center, said historic redlining in Peoria was still playing a factor in the violence and poverty Peoria sees today. She, too, said the violence being committed in Peoria is being done by less than 50 families and the violence is not random but is retaliatory in nature.
Lewis-Wimbley said she denounces fear and will not stop going to Peoria parks. A solution, she said, includes things like community centers, places where youth can go and feel supported.
“They’re desperate and, of course, they’re gonna come and rob you, there’s nothing to eat at home. I can show you my phone, pictures of empty refrigerators,” Lewis-Wimbley said. “‘Pastor Irene, can you help?’ They’d love to be able to help take care of the, the younger kids, can we give them a job? Let them clean up our parks. Let them have ownership of our parks. Put an honest buck in their pocket. You can drive down right now, probably Montana (Street) and I’ve got half a dozen of my kids trying to sell you chips and pop they bought with their momma’s food stamps because they’re just trying to get something.”
Some of the most pointed and powerful remarks of the night, however, came from Demario Boone, the director of school safety for Peoria Public Schools.
Boone made wide-ranging comments, including some critiquing voices who said parents need to be held legally accountable for their children’s actions, while also going on to say that historic redlining in Peoria was still a factor in the crime seen in the city today.
Peoria, Boone said, was a community rich in resources but poor in collaboration and these were not issues Peoria would be able to police its way out of.
His strongest remarks of the night, however, came when he began talking about the political implications of violence in Peoria.
“Finally, the ballot box, you know what a city, a council, a park district board, a school district board, you know what they care about by where they put their money behind,” Boone said. “I can’t be PC (politically correct), I really can’t. We know Peoria cares more about an HVAC system in the Twin Towers than they do crime and poverty. That should make you think about where your village is and it should let you know who to vote for and who to vote out.”
Boone, in his comment, was referencing a proposed plan that would see the city loan the Twin Towers Place condominiums in Downtown Peoria $2.5 million to make repairs to the buildings. The loan would be repaid through a tax increment financing plan.
Boone went on to emphasize that voters, particularly voters in South Peoria, need to make their voices heard through voting.
“If the south end turned up and we knew we could flip a mayor election, knew we could kick people out of city council, knew we could keep people up, I bet you your roads would be right. I bet you there would be a doctor’s office down there. I bet you we wouldn’t be sitting there waiting for a grocery store,” Boone said. “That’s the mindset the village has to be in.”
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria residents voice concerns about violence after park shootings
Reporting by JJ Bullock, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
