Gathered in Brainerd on Tuesday, students and community leaders sat at round tables to try and work out one of Chattanooga’s most pressing problems: how to stem rising rates of violence involving young people.
The adults in the room — many working in schools, churches or social services — looked for answers from the roughly 100 students from Brainerd High School, The Howard School, Tyner Academy and Chattanooga Prep attending the summit.
“The ages of the suspects and victims involved in these crimes get younger and younger and younger,” Chattanooga Police Chief John Chambers said during a panel to open the summit.
Chambers and other city and county leaders on the panel at Brainerd Crossroads said they know that violence often arises when basic needs aren’t being met.
“We got to work ourselves backwards and address every single one of those issues, one at a time, from a holistic perspective,” Chambers said.