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Newport News conducts second phase of long-term plan to reduce violence

Daily Press - 8/22/2018

Aug. 22--The people developing a strategic plan to reduce crime in Newport News have no shortage of ideas gathered from city residents following a pair of discussion sessions held in the city over the past two months.

The second session was held Tuesday at Denbigh Community Center and yielded pages of ideas. Central themes were creating trust and respect between adults and youth in the city and strengthening community connections to deter crime.

Tuesday's session is part of an ongoing development process for a three- to five-year strategic plan to reduce violence, inspire hope and create a better life for residents. Carrington Consulting is helping the city develop its strategic plan and led the session.

The session broke up attendees, which included police officers and other city employees and officials, into groups to discuss the role of the community and government agencies in addressing violence.

The room, filled with close to 100 people -- almost all of them adults -- acknowledged that they needed to adjust their perspectives to better understand and relate to youth.

Multiple people said they often prejudge teenagers and don't consider the challenges they might be facing. Others pointed out lack of job opportunities, positive social interactions and home stability as contributors to violence.

Following those discussions, Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew went over crime statistics, showing that crime generally is declining. In June, he said, there were six homicides. From July 1, his first day as chief, to Tuesday, there had been one homicide.

Drew said meetings like the one Tuesday were a positive step in getting more people involved in addressing crime. He said he planned to have a similar meeting in a school to ask the students about their thoughts on violence and the police.

The first session to develop the strategic plan was held in July at the Downing Gross Cultural Arts Center in the Southeast Community.

That meeting also yielded ideas to engage youth and build relations within a community, but attendees were adamant that the plan needed to lead to action. Several said they had been through similar processes to address violence but never saw much come out of them, so they were waiting to see the city follow through on their ideas.

MuRhonda Echols, head of the city's youth and gang violence prevention program, said the consultants will now sort through all the input from the two sessions and from focus groups conducted before creating a draft plan.

Reyes can be reached by phone at 757-247-4692. Follow him on Twitter at @jdauzreyes.

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