Richmond Mayor Addresses Recent Violence in Richmond

To the Richmond Community:

Richmond's endemic, chronic violence continues to take a toll on our residents. My heart goes out to all the families who continue to suffer this violence. It is without a doubt the most pressing problem in Richmond.

The community's response and peace protest last fall (Tent City Peace Movement) created a respite and a cooling-off period of several months. The City needs to quicken its implementation of solutions. Police Chief Magnus recognizes the police cannot solve this alone. The community and other City Departments must get involved.

After many delays, the Council majority finally approved the creation of the Office of Neighborhood Safety (ONS). The fast-track hiring of the director of the ONS, which I proposed in April, has not materialized yet. Here we are in mid-September, and nothing to show for it.

By now we should have had "peace teams" organized by outreach workers and peace builders hired by the City in each of the hot spot areas of Richmond. We don't have them. The Council's majority voted down funding these positions at the budget hearing in June, and the community had to cry out loud to get this funding put back in the budget at the next month's meeting (64 speakers).

The Richmond City Council has not shown the same urgency that the community has expressed. "State of Emergency" statements are not what is needed. Instead, we need actual interventions, which have been delayed unnecessarily for months.

I have worked before and during the summer with the Tent City Peace Movement to develop ways to sustain the gains that community efforts and the police department have achieved. Obviously this has not been enough.

The sad reality is that even when homicides are down by one-third this year, non-fatal gunshot injuries remain as high as last year. This is unacceptable. As Mayor of the people of Richmond I must ask us all to mobilize and rally for peace and for justice. One comes with the other.

Let's follow the lead of the Tent City Peace Movement and re-create places of peace. Let's have as residents the urgency to defend, repair and restore our families' lives. Everyone has a role and a responsibility. Let's support the Tent City Peace protest this month. The tents will be up from September 25 - October 2nd at Shields-Reid Park, Nevin Park, Martin Luther King Jr. Park and Kennedy Park. (For more information on the Tent City Week, please contact Jackie Thompson at 510 860 3842.)

Let's assist our police officers who are doing as much as they can.

The community knows that larger and deeper solutions are needed, and the community must lead the City towards the solutions. Sooner or later the Council majority will decide that it is their responsibility to prioritize the prevention of violence from its roots, and it will decide to secure the needed funds and invest these resources in youth outreach, employment, education, conflict resolution, and family support.

We the community can create peace.

Sincerely,

Gayle McLaughlin
Mayor