Bringing peace to angry streets

Violent crime fell 14 percent in Minneapolis during the first half of 2008. Crimes by youth declined even more. ThreeSixty reporters examine why.

p(byline). Titiana Perry

__One day this summer I was walking to the store with my cousin, Porsha. When we got to the corner, a red car drove past, crowded with boys. Someone yelled, "Porsha!" and I turned and looked. Next, the driver got out, went in the back trunk and pulled out a big gun.__

__Without giving it a second thought, I turned around and jetted home, and Porsha was right behind me. Not until I found her on my front porch did she tell me that the gun the boy had pulled out was a paintball gun. I thought it was a real gun. When I ran in the house, not only was I unable to breathe, but it took me about five minutes to catch my breath and calm down.__

Recently published statistics show that violent crime in North Minneapolis has dropped 17 percent so far this year and by as much as 37 percent since 2006. Though the numbers show positive improvement, incidents like the one between the boys and us show that there is still room for improvement, which is why the city came up with the Blueprint For Action.

The "Blueprint For Action":http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/communications/YouthViolencePrevention_home.asp is a plan put in place last January to help prevent youth violence in Minneapolis.

The Blueprint has a variety of steps, which cover the spectrum of violence. They aren’t just aimed at violence prevention but also education and reform for young people who have already gone down the wrong path.

• For example, one step sets a goal of connecting every young person to at least one trusted adult, especially in high-violence neighborhoods.
• Another step involves getting involved at the first sign that a young person is at risk for committing violence. For example, the city has opened a new Juvenile Supervision Center where teens who’ve done small things wrong get connected to community help other than juvenile detention.
• The third step entails reestablishing young people who have gone down the wrong path. One idea would be to connect young offenders with job skills, school and health care.
• While the final step would be to undo the culture of violence in the community. For example, the city could get tougher on people who sell illegal guns or profit from those sales.

h3. Big plan, limited resources

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak believes these steps will help set youths on the right path.

"I want to use every person in this community to bring this to every corner of the street,” he said.

Rybak, the Minneapolis City Council, community leaders and public safety experts all joined together to help create the Blueprint.

According to the mayor, the city spent about $200,000 to expand summer youth activities and is trying to get foundations to contribute $200,000 to support the Minneapolis Youth Congress and $200,000 for other youth programs. Money has also gone into creating a new Juvenile Supervision Center -- an alternative to juvenile detention -- and strengthening outreach and diversion programs.

There’s support for the Blueprint in the city hall. "I think the Blueprint is pretty good," said city council member Don Samuels, who represents North Minneapolis.

"It's not just a feel-good... program that the city just threw together," added police Lt. Bryan Schafer, who heads the new juvenile unit in the Minneapolis Police Department.

The mayor acknowledged that money to pay for the Blueprint is hard to come by. In fact, when state budgets were tight a few years ago, Minneapolis lost $4.3 million in state funding for after-school and other youth programs. The mayor noted that the programs for young people are often the first things to be cut.

“Cutting programs for youths has serious and sadly deadly consequences,” Rybak said.

h3. Getting the word out

Another challenge is that a lot of people don’t know about it.

Rachel Babbitt, a social worker in North Minneapolis, agrees that a collaborative effort to address youth violence is essential, but she’s never heard of the Blueprint for Action.

North Minneapolis Resident Tanden Brekke likes the idea of the Blueprint; however, he too believes the plan needs to be communicated to the public better.

"There's not enough communication between the police department and neighbors," said Brekke.

Rybak acknowledged the Blueprint for Action needs to be more visible so community members can understand what it is and what it’s there for.

"North Minneapolis has more potential for growth than any other part of the city. It's been down, it's seen horrible things," said R.T. Rybak. "I have a tremendous amount of hope for North Minneapolis."

He believes the plan would work for the youths in the neighborhood

The biggest question is whether or not people will buy into The Blueprint.

Seventeen-year-old Akeem Anderson also likes the idea, but also has another.

"In order to make a change, it has to start with yourself," he said.

__He’s right. Blueprints are important, but real change starts with individuals.__

__I think back to that particular day. Here’s what I’d like to say to that boy with the gun:__

__Why would you do that?__

__You scared us so much.__

__You shouldn’t play around with fake guns, or real weapons. Make the right choice. Get a good education, get a job, and live life to the fullest.__