Whether it was Thursday morning's shooting at Norwalk Hospital or how frequently gunshots are heard in SoNo, Friday night’s “Stop The Violence” meeting at City Hall drew around fifty people. Most sat quietly during the beginning, but as the night drew on, angry words were exchanged between longtime community activist John Mosby and Mayor Richard A. Moccia.
“Stop sugar coating,” repeated Mosby while he proclaimed that he was there to “tell the truth,” implying the mayor was not.
“I’m not afraid of the election and I tell the truth,” retorted the mayor.
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But the audience picked up on the raw emotions and what started as an evening reviewing resources and programs for the community ended with factions split on whether anyone was listening to individuals in the South Norwalk community facing tough issues.
Two programs were cited by the mayor as examples of successes: the Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program, run by Darlene Young, and the Early Gang Prevention Program, run by Jasen Getner.
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Getner’s program has shifted from primarily being focused on referrals from the police and school officials after an event has occurred to working in the schools. “We are just starting to work with the school’s to be part of their code of conduct,” explained Getner.
Reaction from the audience was surprise that there were gang prevention programs in the schools. Terano Higgs, whose daughter is graduating in June, said, “There are problems in Norwalk High and no one is doing anything about them. I never heard of this program.”
Getner responded that the program originally only dealt with youth who had been arrested.
Amos Brown Sr., whose family has been at the center of several violent incidents, including the murder of his son Amos Brown Jr. last November, asked, “What about our youth? We have to get them earlier than that.”
For Police Chief Harry Rilling the community is failing the city’s youth. While he spoke about the many programs that the police department's running, such as community policing and school resource officers, he kept returning to the dilemma that the people who know the people committing the violent crimes aren’t talking to the police.
Yet Rilling admitted, “Prisons don’t rehabilitate very well. Jason’s [program] keeps them out of the criminal justice system.” The criminal justice system, Rilling said, is a downward spiral.
The programs that Rilling pointed to are designed to reach out to youth before they get into trouble. The police department sponsors football and tennis programs and a summer camp program for students between the 5th and 6th grades.
“There are costs associated with the programs,” said Rilling, “but we don’t turn anyone away who can’t pay. The Police Athletic League offers scholarships to those who can’t afford the camp.” The camp fees range between $100 and $150 for a two week session that includes meals, he said.
Moccia said that “government can only do so much. We need more parental involvement, more community involvement.”
For several years the police have been frustrated by the lack of cooperation in identifying assailants by both victims and witnesses to violent assaults. The “no snitch” street cred that has kept victims from identifying their attackers and witnesses from helping the police has delayed and prolonged investigations. Lt. Shawn Wong Won said, “If you trust us in a time of need, why not trust us a little bit further.”
Wong Won presented three ways that anonymous tips can be left for the police: a link off the Norwalk Police web site, calling (203) 854-3111, or texting to CRIMES (274637) keyword NPD.
Chiquita Stephenson, one of the organizers of the meeting, summed up how the community could get more involved. “Enough talk, we need action. We’ve heard what programs there are, now it’s time to ask, ‘how do we fill the gaps, fill the concerns' that have been stated.' We need to create a task force to put meat to these issues.”
Judy Meikle said, “There is a lot of focus on enforcement and gang intervention but violence prevention strategies are vital and need to be well coordinated throughout the community. I would love to see a task force with stake holders from all sectors, particularly our young people.”
But young people were not in attendance at the meeting. The room was filled with mostly clergy, Common Council members and community activists, who have attended these types of meetings for years citing similar problems.
“Are we listening to everyone?” asked Ernie Dumas. “You have to hear first before you can help someone.” Dumas said Norwalk was in turmoil.
The previous night, Dumas brought up to the SoNo Alliance, a neighborhood community group that meets at the Norwalk Police Station, that street lights were still out in parts of South Norwalk. The discussion, as it had been in the four preceding months, was a “passing of the buck” of who was responsible for lighting issues in South Norwalk.
According to a Feb. 10 email from David Shockley, a request was made by the SoNo Alliance in January 10 “about the need for brighter streetlights to deter illicit activities on corners, to enhance overall neighborhood security for pedestrians, and provide greater visibility to officers on patrol.”
According to Shockley, the response from City Clerk Ellen Wink was to refer the matter to the Common Council and the Police Commissioners.
The Alliance had identified key locations on South Main Street from Concord Street to Novak Street, Belle Avenue from South Main Street to Chestnut Street, and Woodward Avenue from Sheridan Street to Lawrence Street.
Common Council President Rick McQuaid said, “It used to be a simple thing, a group would get together bring it to the attention the Health and Welfare committee, then it would get passed on to the police department. In the course of 6-8 years that I was chairman, we did close to 35 street lighting projects.”
The street lighting issue isn’t just about brighter lights. For weeks, many street lights in South Norwalk have been out, with no response from either the city or South Norwalk Electric and Water.
A check of street lights on South Main Street revealed three lights out, including the one in front of police headquartwers at the corner of Monroe Street.
“It shouldn’t take six to eight weeks to change a light bulb,” said McQuaid. “The system is broken. We need to get the light bulbs fixed.”
Rilling agrees that the streetlight issue is a safety issue. “It’s important that the lights that are there are lit,” he said. “We do need action.”
“We can talk the talk, but we need to walk the walk” he said. “We as elected officials and police departments and other city agencies can be part of this whole solution, but we can’t be the only part. We have to have the community working together in collaboration.”
Stephenson plans on setting up task force groups to address solutions. Rilling encourages those task force groups, but cautioned, “Instead of saying you didn’t do this or didn’t do that, let’s hear 'what can we do.’ ”
Moccia agreed to look into the lighting issue.
