CLEVELAND — As the temperatures continue to rise, concern is rising, too, throughout the city of Cleveland because it has been a violent, deadly week. Just days after Mayor Justin Bibb held a press conference on the importance of summer safety, five people were shot and killed in the city in a 36 hour span.
The summer brings memories of sadness for Anthony Jones. He lost his best friend, Tommy Lavelle, during the summer of 2019.
“When you lose somebody to gun violence, it’s not something you really can ever heal from. You carry that pain around forever,” said Jones.
Lavelle was 19 years old when he was shot and killed at a gas station near Lee and Harvard roads in Cleveland in August of 2019.
“He never got to have kids of his own, never got to walk his daughter down the aisle, just stuff like that, key moments in your life that are taken away so early,” said Jones.
Bibb touted his plan to make sure, moving forward, there will be fewer families and friends like Jones who are dealing with the loss of a loved one.
“This year, the numbers aren’t where I want them to be. I think all of us are outraged by the level of violence that we see on our streets,” Bibb said at a press conference last week. “As every member of our administration will tell you, I will not stop looking for additional resources and more tools to keep Cleveland safe, whether it’s expanding violence interrupters or making sure that we have recovery homes for victims of gun violence, or supporting our faith-based leaders to help us walk the streets to reduce violent crime. On the law enforcement side, more investments in police. On the violence prevention side, it’s really investing in a long-time comprehensive approach.”
He said Cleveland Police will be leaning on technology, like the ShotSpotter system, and partnering with other agencies to focus on gang and narcotics reduction.
Bibb added that community recreational centers will have programs running through the summer, at no cost, to combat idle minds.
The idea of keeping kids active and busy is something that is important for Jowan Smith. She is a youth mentor and the founder of the non-profit organization 1000 Ties which focuses on educating young men with life skills to eliminate barriers.
“I would suggest parents look into summer programs; most of them are free. You can go and take your children, and they can be a part of something during the day, and they also have a lot of evening programs, too,” she said. “Idle minds; we want to keep them as busy as possible.”
She added that communication is important, too.
“Letting our children feel safe communicating with us. A lot of times, you have that parent-child relationship, but we have got to find that middle ground, where they’re comfortable talking about different things so that they don’t get wrapped up in certain situations,” said Smith.
She is concerned about the violent and deadly week in Cleveland.
“I’m always nervous at the end of the year that all my babies will be back the next year,” she said. “It’s a huge fear, you know? You hear the stories about children being shot just riding in the car; at what point are we supposed to feel safe? We need to think about our community. Just put the guns down.”
It’s a concern for Jones, too.
“Find a hobby, go to the pool, do kid stuff. Just do kid stuff,” he said. “It’s not worth it.
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