Uma Ramiah Photo
In the wake of a fatal Newhallville shooting of a popular bike mechanic and “straight edge” vegan punk musician, a community group already working to break the cycle of violence in the neighborhood gathered to express the urgency of their cause.
“We see Mitchell [Dubey]‘s death as a part of a pattern, a pattern we’re compelled to break,” said Newhallville-based civil-rights attorney Michael Jefferson, after speaking at a press conference Monday evening. He and more than a dozen other community members, business owners and clergy gathered in front of television cameras at the Newhallville Community Center on Dixwell Avenue to denounce the violence.
Dubey, 23, was shot to death last Thursday on Bassett Street, prompting an overwhelming outpouring of grief, support and vocal response.
“But our initiative didn’t come about because of Mitchell’s death,” Jefferson continued. “Long before this horrible tragedy occurred, there were other tragedies — and they were victims of the same thing Mitchell was a victim of.”
And these murders resonate with each one of us, he said.
“We grieve for him because he was human,” Jefferson continued. “Not because he was white.”
Jefferson — a neighborhood attorney — is part of the Promise Land Project, which seeks to reduce violence in a six-block radius of Newhallville with one of the highest crime rates in New Haven.
After Thursday’s shooting, the goals of the project were thrown into sharp relief.
Jefferson outlined the Project’s objectives. They include:
• Creating of a violent offender registry.
• Raising the mandatory minimum sentence from two to five years for anyone convicted of carrying firearms illegally.
• Creating an “Anti-Gang” injunction that would bar “high-risk offenders” from certain activities, such as loitering in certain areas and associating with others on the list.
Jefferson said the neighborhood hasn’t had much support from other parts of the city. He said he hopes that will change. “What impacts people in Newhallville will eventually impact people elsewhere,” he said.
The Promise Land Project would also encourage Newhallville residents to speak out against the violence, and to make themselves visible, said one of its founders.
“One of the things we all have to keep in mind is we’re dealing with a very small, but lethal element in our community,” said Pastor Donald Morris, executive director of the Christian Community Commission, which started the Promise Land Project. “Most of our citizens are law abiding, want tranquility, want a place for their kids to grow up, for elderly parents to walk without the fear of being shot down or mugged or robbed. And that’s not asking a lot.”
Whoever shot this young man on Bassett Street should be taken off the streets, Morris told the press.
“A man opens his door to you, is no threat and you shoot and you fire a bullet in his chest? You are a predator.”
“We want you out of the Newhallville community,” he said. “In fact, we want you out of the city.”
After reading this article, I am disheartened and concerned because I value a different approach to these problems. The result of this proposal is to kick people out who don't conform to a certain behavior to thus solve the problems of those behaviors. It will not address WHY people are engaging in these behaviors. Yes, you can get rid of the rotten eggs as you might say and then a whole new group of them will show up if you don't get to the root issues causing people to have illegal firearms, join gangs, etc...
Across the board, stiffer sentences do not prevent crime. The research is available by short google search. It is also a divisive move that gets rid of people not problems. Address the reasons people have illegal firearms and you will rid the city of them or you will just create a revolving door for folks to go in and out of prison never getting the help they need to get on track. Break the cycle of violence by finding and healing the roots of it.
Offender registry options have effects worse than the existing problems. It would create another group of "unwelcome" people in the community who again, will not have the reasons "WHY" addressed. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us well, people are never the problem. Offender registries do not build community, they divide people. If you want community, find ways to include people not exclude them. Try community centers, mentoring groups, or even restorative circles to build the sense of community, not divide it into good people and bad people. It only gives people more reasons to prejudge an already prejudged group. (Not to mention that it send these folks to other communities without addressing their issues or helping them get on track, a sort pass the buck tactic so to speak.)
Barring "high risk" folks their autonomy and freedom from being in certain places creates more problems too! Find ways to include not exclude folks so they feel connected to their community not cut off. Take the energy you would have spent on this legislation and invest it into job programs for these "high risk" folks. In fact, how about we find out "why" they are high risk and what can we do to lower the risks to everyone.
How about legislation that stops the board of ed from expelling "at risk" youth and instead helps them by addressing the reasons they are at risk? How about building community centers and supporting more youth activities, more organized sports, and more educational programs. These are the long term solutions to violence not punitive measure proven to just increase the numbers of our prisons.
Enough with the punitive approaches to crime and violence. This country needs more restorative practices that heal communities not punish its members. Put more energy into things like the Juvenile Review Board and mediation programs to help folks solve conflicts before they get violent.
We would all like to see less violence and more peaceful communities. I have dedicated my life to just that. I just think we have to stop with the punitive measure that we know don't work and move to the stuff that builds empathy, compassion and yet still protects law abiding citizens. It is time to get creative, innovative, perhaps even a little daring if we want to solve the issues of violence in our city.