Bronx Youth Call For End To Violence In The Borough
A group of young Bronx residents gathered Wednesday to call for an end to violence in their community. NY1's Dean Meminger filed the followings report.With the effigy of a teenager's body in their hands, youth and activist groups rallied Wednesday outside State Supreme Court saying the violence in the Bronx must stop.
"Within a week and a half there were three murders in our area, it was tragic and it is continuing," said Lisa Ortega of Rights for Imprisoned People.
Police statistics show from the beginning of the year up to August 1, there have been 76 homicides in the Bronx -- 17 more than by the same time last year -- or a 28 percent increase.
And it's not only guns that were involved. Twenty people have been knifed to death, including an 18-year-old girl who was stabbed in the neck last month.
One teen who attended the rally says her friend was killed back in May and it has left her numb.
"It is like I don't care about a lot of things no more. I just deal with what I got to deal with," said Asia Clanton of For A Better Bronx.
The Bronx district attorney's office and the New York City Police Department say although crime is up this year in the borough it is still down by 35 percent from 2001, and by more than 80 percent from 1990. Still, the two agencies say they are keeping a close watch on the latest crime trends.
"There is a lot of retaliation going on. Where in the past there may have been a shooting and maybe a retaliation shooting, but now there is a ping-pong affect. There is one, then two, three and four," said Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson.
Two men who took part in the rally tell NY1 they have each done more than 20 years in prison and were recently released. They say they don't want to see others make the same mistakes.
"Since I have been out I have been doing some mentorship on my own. And a lot of the kids are really listening, because when somebody comes to them they feel has street credibility -- as bad as that is that you have to do crime and all this for you to look like you have some credibility. But most of the kids I talked to and I tell my story, they listen to me," said former prison inmate James Rivers.
"This is not television, there are people are dying and you could be on of them if you get into one of these disputes. You may be victorious today, you may have the upper hand today, but tomorrow your family could be going to your funeral," Johnson said.
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