Criminals in Monroe are shooting at Monroe Police officers…again. Again, the city leaders are hosting press conferences announcing that shooting at police officers is unacceptable and will not be tolerated, as criminals ignore them.
Monroe Police Chief Victor Zordan and Mayor Ellis hosted a joint press conference over the weekend in response to a suspect who fired at a police unit that was in pursuit.
The suspect was ultimately arrested along with others in the suspect’s vehicle. No police officer was injured.
In his presentation, Chief Zordan repeated his tough talk that violence, especially against police officers, will not be tolerated.
The Mayor said the city knows the names of the gangs and gang members who boldly identify themselves on social media. He said the city plans to arrest gang members.
The Mayor also said he planned to take action against judges who allow suspects charged with violent crimes such as murder and attempted murder to make bail. As fast as the city police arrest suspects, they make bail.
A year ago, the police chief gave a similar tough talk after unknown suspects fired on police officers at Parkview Apartments.
None of the tough-talk reduced the violence.
The Mayor is urging the community to become more concerned and more vigilant.
We think the Mayor is right. Violence is a community problem that must be addressed in a FUBU style (For us, by us) with government backup.
We have seen the violent crime problem escalate in our community in the 1960s, and we also saw how it was resolved. It took nearly six years to take effect, but it worked. There were shootings and murders every week that grew increasingly worse. One even happened in the lobby of Carroll High School.
Some can remember the violent neighborhood gangs of that era. The great-grandchildren of those gang members are now this generation’s problems. We called one gang the “Atkin Quarters” gang; today, their great-grandchildren call themselves the “AQ” – Same neighborhood, same folks, but a different generation. The gangs have names like “YNN” and “Duece5” but they are from the same parts of the hood as their great grandparents.
When gangs were shooting and killing in the 60s, the community, led mainly by James Hughey and a small army of coaches, marshaled all the gang leaders together in a giant truce meeting in the Carroll High School gym.
It was a heated four-hour session. No cameras. No News media, politicians, or police. Hughey and the coaches wrestled a truce out of the gang members.
At the same time, the government-backed up Hughey’s efforts by establishing a massive recreation program in the city that redirected young boys away from gang membership. The city passed a recreation tax and hired a small army of mentors to work with youth in football, baseball, drama, music, art, swimming, and other pursuits.
The city even sponsored talent shows, midnight basketball, and many other activities to cut legs from underneath the gangs.
While that was underway, the police conducted massive arrests of the older gang members. They bailed out but were arrested for every crime they committed, large or small, until they were no more.
The community took action, and the city put up the big bucks to finance the action. It wasn’t cheap, but it worked.
The same strategy used to break up great-grandpa’s gang violence will probably work on grandpa’s great-grandchildren.
If not that plan, there needs to be another.
What’s for certain, is that this is a Black community problem that is growing. We need to step up to the plate, but we will need our government to back us up with the dollars it will take to implement an effective plan.
