Councilman Anthony Byrd speaks during a meeting about the Violence Reduction Initiative in the City Council Building on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The meeting, allowing the public to share their opinions on the VRI, was put together by Councilman Byrd.It takes a village to raise a child, but it also takes a bank account.
And community members at a public meeting Thursday night agreed that bank account needs to be fatter than the $600,000 proposed for social services in Chattanooga's signature anti-gang effort, the Violence Reduction Initiative, over the next two years.
Chattanooga Councilman Anthony Byrd, who called the meeting, said he thinks $1 million in the upcoming city budget is a good start. He's going to push for that and see if Hamilton County government will match it.
And that money should go not to a single agency but be spread among the tutors, the coaches, the mentors and the street-level programs that work to keep the city's young black men from falling into lives of gangs, drugs and violence, Byrd said.
"I'm tired of seeing these kids get killed every day out on the street, tired of them not getting the education they need," he said.
Many of the 60 or so people who gathered in the city council chamber work in those hands-on programs, and they clapped and audibly encouraged speaker after speaker who talked about trying to save young lives. The teachers and coaches, the mentors and police officers and community workers agreed on the basics: a consistent male presence, a proper model of manhood, someone to look up to, and a focus on education.
The $600,000 in the budget now is "peanuts, throwing crumbs at a problem," said Kevin Muhammad of the Nation of Islam.
The two-pronged premise of the VRI is that gang members who renounce violence and crime can get help with education, job training and placement and other services to help them succeed in society. Those who keep shooting can expect heightened attention from police and prosecutors.
While the approach has shown some success elsewhere, Chattanooga's rate of shootings and gang violence hasn't significantly shrunk since the VRI was introduced in 2014. The Times Free Press reported early in 2015 that figures from social services provider Father to the Fatherless for adults getting jobs or enrolling in school were significantly below the city's claims. The paper has asked the city for F2F's 2017 records on Jan. 29 but has not yet received them.
Kevin Muhammad holds up a copy of Demetric Muhammad's book "How to Police the Black Community" during a meeting about the Violence Reduction Initiative in the City Council Building on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The meeting, allowing the public to share their opinions on the VRI, was put together by Councilman Anthony Byrd.F2F was the city's chosen provider in January - of just two that responded to requests for proposals - when the administration decided to refocus the VRI on steering young men away from trouble rather than trying to rehabilitate them after they're in the judicial system.
"We shouldn't let decisions made by 13- or 14-year-olds follow them the rest of their lives," Sgt. Josh May, VRI coordinator for the Chattanooga Police Department, said at Thursday's meeting.
But when asked to vote on a contract in January, council members balked, saying their repeated questions and information requests hadn't been satisfactorily answered.
Last week, the council and the administration both said they were looking for a way forward. Meanwhile, the existing contract with Father to the Fatherless has expired.
Troy Rogers, the city's public safety coordinator, was visibly frustrated over the expired contract that meant no social services for VRI participants.
"If you've got an issue with VRI, you blame me. I'm in charge of this," he roared into the microphone. "Stop badmouthing an organization that is today working without pay."
Byrd said Thursday he'd like to see a pumped-up budget, handled by an existing, stable nonprofit organization with greater accountability and distributed by a committee of local people who are now involved in youth programs.
He invited the audience members to stay involved, contact their council and commission representatives and focus on working together to keep attention on the issue.
Most agreed there are no easy answers, and no cheap ones, either.
"Crime didn't start yesterday, and it won't end tomorrow," Rogers said.
And Brainerd High Principal Charles Mitchell added, "We're going to pay on the front end or we're going to pay on the back end."
Council members Demetrus Coonrod, Russell Gilbert, Darrin Ledford, Erskine Oglesby and Ken Smith also attended the meeting, as did Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Beck.
Contact staff writer Judy Walton at jwalton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6416.