Crime summit calls on city officials to start youth council to address youth crime
30th January 2023 · 0 Comments
By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer
The New Orleans United Front hosted a crime summit at Cafe Istanbul on January 23, attracting approximately 100 attendees.
W.C. Johnson, spokesperson for the New Orleans United Front, said no one from New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell’s office attended, but New Orleans City Councilmembers Oliver Thomas and Freddie King III both showed up.
“What we learned on Monday is [that] the people want to be involved,” Johnson said. “They want to be included.”
Both councilmen were encouraged by what they saw at the event.
“Anytime the community comes together it increases our chances of success,” said Thomas, councilman for District E. “Systems can’t fix it; politicians can’t fix it alone but the community can.”
District C Councilman Freddie King III echoed Thomas’ sentiment and voiced his support for the group’s efforts.
“The crime summit was very insightful,” said King. “I saw passionate, frustrated residents that want a safer and more equitable New Orleans. It is important that we get ideas and feedback from our citizens on how to tackle our crime issues.”
Johnson said attendees came from diverse backgrounds and voiced a number of suggestions. The economy and poverty were one of the big points of discussion. Johnson referred to a Keen Independent Research firm study paid for by the City of New Orleans in 2017.
The study discovered white contractors received 91 percent of all non-city public and commercial construction projects. Black citizens received only four percent of the projects. Johnson said the stats point to Black community members having trouble starting, growing and keeping businesses in New Orleans.
The KRI study stated, “These elements create an environment that perpetuates lower than average employment and net worth among African Americans.”
“You cannot reduce housing and reduce employment and expect society to remain safe and secure,” Johnson said.
Participants also pointed to educational issues contributing to the crime problem. Johnson said many schools no longer teach civics, which leads to an under-engaged population.
“Young people have to understand how the system works in order to change it,” Johnson said.
One of the New Orleans United Front’s recommendations is to create a youth council that will give the city’s youth an opportunity to have their voices heard and help solve some of their own problems.
Some of the attendees criticized the city government for removing prayer from schools. Others said it is frustrating to live in a city where police officers assault youths but parents are not allowed to use corporal punishment on their children.
“People no longer have any fear of doing the wrong thing,” Johnson said.
As for the next step, Johnson said the New Orleans United Front is in the process of compiling suggestions from the summit, then presenting them to the mayor’s office and the City Council. Another summit will be held after the suggestions have been submitted. Johnson expressed frustration with the mayor’s response so far, especially her recent appearance on Face the Nation.
“The leadership of this city needs to regroup,” Johnson said. “They have allowed the decay and destruction to happen in this city. We have politicians who put the blame on everyone else but them.”
This article originally published in the January 30, 2023 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
