PRENTISS SMITH
Leaders lead, actors act, and pontificators pontificate. It is time for the mayor of Shreveport to step up and lead this city in a time when crime is out of control. The citizens of Shreveport are shuttered in their homes because of the random violence that is emasculating black communities in the city.
Shreveport is sadly being looked at as a killing field, and that is not an exaggeration. Black-on-black murders in Shreveport have reached levels that have never been seen in this city, and it is time for the mayor and the chief of police to get off of their rear ends and put all hands on deck to stop the carnage we see going on every day in their city.
Every day, every evening and every night on the television screens in Shreveport, the black faces shown have reached a saturation point, and people are tired. They are fed up. Murders in March were up 1,000%. In March of last year, there was one murder in Shreveport. This year in March, that number exploded to 11, which is alarming in its own right. The overall homicide rate is up over 155% in Shreveport and climbing every day.
The question is, why? Does it have something to do with pent-up emotions because of Covid? Is it that people are on edge more because they have been cooped up for the last 14 months? I don’t think so. It is because people have lost their minds and are willing to use a gun to settle any dispute, whether it is minor or major. Guns are prolific in the black community, and everybody is “packing,” and it is scary.
The murders in Shreveport are not happening in my community, or on Ellerbe Road, or Southern Trace, or Timberline, or Broadmoor. No, they are happening in black communities where the socio-economic plight is challenging and in need of an infusion of resources and more man power. More cops on the streets and more community policing is a good place to start.
Over the last several months in Shreveport, a mother of nine was murdered, a 15-year-old was murdered, a baby was randomly shot, and the list goes on and on. It is tragic, and the mayor, who is running for re-election, is going to have to step up and lead. Crime in the city of Shreveport and his ability or inability to get a grip on this problem will be determinative of whether he will get a second term or not. At this point, the jury is still out, but the verdict does not look promising.
Currently, the mayor is on a listening and learning tour, which is fine, but it doesn’t take a listening tour to understand what people are most anxious about, and it is public safety. People want to be safe in their homes and in their neighborhoods. They want to be able to walk down the street without being shot by a stray bullet or being hassled by one of the thugs or gang members that are occupying their neighborhoods. It is bad, and everyone knows it.
That is why it is imperative that the mayor and the chief of police come up with a strategy to bring some semblance of order to these neighborhoods that are under siege. Forty-eight million dollars is a lot of money, and it could be used to hire more officers and implement zero-tolerance initiatives that target loitering, repeat offenders and street sales of drugs and other paraphernalia.
The money could also be used to hire social workers and other professionals that can be called into action for non-lethal interactions. Neighborhood mentoring programs for young boys and girls is also a component that could be vital in the fight against the scourge of crime in these neighborhoods. Public safety is the predominant conversation in these community meetings, and people in Shreveport are desperate for something to be done. That is why the majority of the $48 million windfall from the American Rescue Act should be used to shore up all components of public safety in Shreveport. And that’s the way I see it. smithpren@aol.com
THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE June 4 ISSUE OF FOCUS SB - THE INQUISITOR.