100+ Call For Action vs. Rising Crime

Top police brass, city officials, and residents gathered in Fair Haven on Friday night to seek community solutions to the city’s increased gun violence, challenging police while resolving to work together.

They met in the cafeteria of the Family Academy for Multilingual Exploration, just blocks away from a Tuesday non-fatal shooting at the Grand Cafe on East Pearl Street. It was one of a string of five shootings in four days, three of which were fatal, drawing out emotions of fear and frustration for those gathered.

“Right now we’re in the darkness, and I’m sick of it,” said attendee Shirley Lawrence.

The three-hour-plus meeting drew 120 attendees, including several police district managers and 12 Democratic candidates for alder.

The meeting came on the heels of an online grassroots session held with around 60 Fair Haveners the night before, which ultimately created a list of immediate action steps and formed the Fair Haven Community Safety working group.

The Thursday meeting was hosted by alder candidate Sarah Miller, social-justice activist Kica Matos, and housing authority chief Karen DuBois-Walton. Participants resolved to revoke the liquor license of the Grand Cafe, which they said fosters crime in the area, as well as ​“occupy the corner” on East Pearl Street, enlisting community members in a campaign inspired by Minneapolis activists.

On Friday night, Mayor Justin Elicker and Police Chief Renee Dominguez presented a number of citywide initiatives being taken to stem violence, including Project Longevity, Project Safe Neighborhoods, and an increase in walking beats.

Dominguez highlighted a number of successful raids made in recent days, including an arrest and seizure of two guns just that morning. Youth employment programs, according to city youth worker Ronald Huggins, were able to offer summer jobs to every applicant for the first time this year.

Dominguez also spoke of the factors influencing this particular rise in crime, referencing multi-gang conflicts and rivalries leading to targeted homicides. Responding to gang activity in several neighborhoods has stretched resources thin, she said.

During public comment, frustration surfaced over and over, with residents speaking passionately from experiences of losing loved ones and living in the neighborhoods in fear.

“I’m tired of the band-aid,” said Apostle Loria Morrison, a pastor and social worker overseeing the funeral of 14-year-old Tyshaun Hargrove, who was killed on Aug. 25. ​“Gun violence is the symptom of a community that is bleeding. If you really want to help this community, you will help formulate a plan to bring wealth to these families.”

Still, as the night wore on, finger-pointing was kept to a minimum. Instead, a general consensus of a unified community response emerged.

“We’ve got to defend our hoods by any means necessary,” said Magaly Cajigas, who recounted growing up amid violence in the Hill. ​“We need to come together, start having vigils, rallying, walking in a group. I will join you. I will walk with you.”

“It takes a village,” added Trel Morrison, who works with young men in a mentorship program and lost a mentee to gun violence. ​“Bring the village back — it takes all of us.

Many residents spoke highly of the officers present. Officers, in turn, begged the community to help them do their jobs. Assistant Chief Karl Jacobson asked those present to call 866 – 888-TIPS with any information, and also identify friends and relatives living in the city who could be a part of upcoming classes of new officers.

“The police need you,” he said. ​“Everyone in this room: please become recruitment officers for the NHPD. We can’t get people from New Haven without you.”

Jacobson also noted that he previously staged drug buys at the Grand Cafe while working undercover for the state’s narcotics unit. ​“I’ll sit with you, and we’ll do it together,” he told DuBois-Walton.