Mileage From The Violence

It seems that some are trying to get some funding or publicity from the current wave of carnage in Allentown. The Morning Call newspaper went to bat for Promise Neighborhoods, and got some funding restored for that organization.

Promoter Ed White recommended supporting a new organization he started.  By my standards, the most logical recommendation came from councilman Courtney Robinson...He recommends creating an inventory of existing activities available for young people. While little leagues for baseball and basketball have existed since my youth, there are also excellent existing facilities for after school activities. In addition to keeping school gyms open, there is the YMCA and Jewish Community Center. There are people like Pastor Jim Rivera, who has been engaging youth constructively for decades.

Realistically, those who engage in gangs and violence, resist partaking in such activities as enumerated above. While hopefully some kids will find alternatives to the street, we will also need beefed up police action. 

 

above reprinted from July of 2019 

ADDENDUM APRIL 19, 2024:Pastor Jim Rivera is starting a new program and citizen patrol called PULSE, in response to the growing drug traffic and violence occurring in the 1st Ward. I've known of Rivera for a long time. He once marched his congregation into City Council to protest Pawlowski using the Hamilton street cleaning contract as a political football. 

The developer of new apartments in the Ward on Front Street hired a private security firm to patrol, hoping to make his investment more marketable to a higher end clientele. 

Police Chief Roca and Mayor Tuerk should actually be providing the sense of security through the police department, but it's apparent to a developer and pastor that the city isn't doing its job. It is also apparent to more and more citizens everywhere in Allentown.